Bottle Cabronation

Hi All–Question about bottle conditioning. Did my first all grain batch (Harvest Ale) After bottling using the conditioning tablets, I let the beer age about 4 weeks in garage (prob 50 during day, a little cooler at night) and then put it in the frig and it came out great, nice carbonation.

I did a second brew, which was a Mexican style. The recipe book I had said after bottling to condition it at around 38 which is what my garage frig is so I put it in there. I am only two weeks in and popped one to try it and it was FLAT. Does it take longer to carbonate at a colder temp or was the book off base and I should have conditioned at a warmer temp?

[quote=“Swells”]Hi All–Question about bottle conditioning. Did my first all grain batch (Harvest Ale) After bottling using the conditioning tablets, I let the beer age about 4 weeks in garage (prob 50 during day, a little cooler at night) and then put it in the frig and it came out great, nice carbonation.

I did a second brew, which was a Mexican style. The recipe book I had said after bottling to condition it at around 38 which is what my garage frig is so I put it in there. I am only two weeks in and popped one to try it and it was FLAT. Does it take longer to carbonate at a colder temp or was the book off base and I should have conditioned at a warmer temp?[/quote]

bottle conditioning should always be done warm. 65-70 is ideal. 60 is doable as well. any lower and it will greatly reduce the speed at which carbonation takes place.

At 38 the yeast will flocculate and basically go to sleep. Bring those bottles inside and warm them up. Not sure where you get the recipe book but are you sure it wasnt referring to lagering? This is typically done before bottling but I suppose could be done after bottling but make sure you wait 3+ weeks for it to properly carb before dropping the temp.

Skipped a step. They need to be in a room around 70 F for 2 weeks so the yeast can eat the sugar you added at time of bottling to create the carbonation. After they are carbed, then you can age at the lower temps. With them being as cold as they are the yeast aren’t able to do their job to create the carbonation. Take them out for 2-3 weeks, then put them back cold.

mattnaik–thanks for info. Do you think they will cabonate after putting them to room temp and letting them sit? Should I pop the tops and re tablet rthem and recap?

ok thanks all for replies, will pull them asap. hopefully didnt ruin it

You should be fine. The yeast should wake up and finish the job. I would suggest giving a gentle shake to stir it up as it warms up maybe once a day. The yeast is mostly likely caked to the bottom of the bottle now.

thanks! Appreciate all the replies.

I don’t have book with me at the moment but I think I may have read it wrong, based on what everyone is saying it was a BIG mis-read. I am sure that was aging temp not conditioning…

and now that I think about it, carbing the Harvest Ale in garage I may have gotten lucky cuz it wasnt much warmer then 55 in there during day and although I say they were good, most were, we did have 2 that were a little flat…