Why do some suggest putting bottled brews in the fridge for 2 days before popping the top? Obviously it has nothing to do with getting it cold enough as it wouldn’t take that long.
I believe the colder temps help the beer absorb the CO2 better and also help the yeasties floc to make for a clearer beer.
+1 to the good DrShroom. Chilling the beer will force the CO2 into suspension in the beer, and it takes awhile for this to happen. However, even if you just put them in the fridge and open one up an hour later, it will be carbed. The carbonation will dissipate faster though.
Aha! Thanks for the explanation to both of the good Doctors Shroom and Gonzo. I will chill accordingly and see what happens.
I think the effect of dissolving the CO2 into the beer is greatly overstated. The CO2 is produced by yeast in the beer, so it’s already dissolved in the liquid, and any amount above the threshold at which the liquid can hold the gas escapes into the headspace. It’s pretty much already saturated.
The second point, though, about suspended yeast and materials is really what is happening here. You’re cold crashing in the fridge, so suspended particles tend to drop out. The less suspended particles you have, the fewer nucleation sites you have, so the less tendency for the beer to appear overcarbonated or gush.
For the record, I like to use a secondary and bottle the beer when it’s as clear as possible, and I don’t see much difference between a beer that’s opened at cellar temperature and one that has been in the fridge for a week or two. Not that you can’t get clear beer from primary only, but I tend to suck up more gunk from the bottom of primary since I can’t see it as easily as in a glass carboy.
:cheers:
Is there a time limit as to when bottling needs to occur?
Meaning, if I were to allow a beer to rest in a secondary for an extended period of time (no cold crashing) would there still be enough yeast in suspension to allow it to bottle condition?
Not really, you could easily go a few months in secondary and still have enough yeast to bottle condition. It’ll be slower, but will still work. I usually just go a couple of extra weeks and end up with really clear beer, which you would have with the same amount of additional time in primary.
Porkchop, a man of my own heart. Glad to see its not just the Prof and I doing secondaries. I have said it a hundred times. When I switched to 10gal batches I had to use 2 carboys. So, I did a couple batches in which one was racked to secondary and one was not. The secondary ALWAYS cleared BETTER and QUICKER. These were kegged. In addition, I discovered that more sediment was present in the bottom of the keg that was primary only. As always… YMMV.
And here I thought I was going to get hammered for that comment! :cheers:
