Conditioning temperatures?

[BruinTuns]

Hey lads
I botttled my first brew two nights ago, a Coopers Stout. It wasn't the first kit I'd started but due to the short fermentation period it was the first to finish.
The instructions are to store the filled bottles "..above 18 degrees.."
But the Evil Dog kit instructions stipulate to "transfer the bottles to a warm place.." which is vague to say the least. How warm do they mean?
But I keep reading posts where brewers advise 'cold conditioning'.
Do conditioning temps differ according to the beer? Or is it that everyone has a different opinion?
Really confused now, and as always any advice much appreciated.

 

[lagerfeld]

Hi

I'm a newbie myself but I read this forum regularly and it seems to be a standard
practice to keep the beer indoors for a couple of weeks (in the bottles) and then
move them outside.

That is what I did with my Coopers Stout and it is a doing very nicely. After a week outside I tasted it and was happy. It should only get better.

 

[Joeyriles]

The two weeks in the warm is to allow the secondary fermentation in the bottles to take effect and carbonate your beer, some advise to give the bottles a shake to make sure the sugar is mixing effectively. The cold conditioning allows any particles to drop to the bottom of your bottles and clear your beer up (this can take a long time, especially with the higher ABV beers!)

With a stout it is obviously fairly hard to tell when it has cleared due to the colour; I tend to look at the bottom of the bottle to see if there's a slight browny-red millilitre of "clarity".

Hope that helps!

 

[BruinTuns]

Got it. Thanks both of you :thumb: