Conditioning - cool garage or fridge cold?

[Nial]

I've got a batch of Youngs Americal Amber Ale that's been in the brew fridge at 20 Deg C since bottling a couple of weeks ago.

Is it best to condition it cool, in the garage, or cold in the fridge?

I'm doing my best not to drink this too soon!

Thanks for any input,

Nial.

 

[Bigjas]

I am interested in peoples thoughts on this too. I have brewed the Youngs American Amber Ale too and it is very cloudy. I followed the instructions but left it in the FV for 2 weeks rather than what the instructions said to do. I then left it at 20c in the pressure barrel for another 2 weeks and it is now in the fridge at 8c and has been there for just over 2 weeks. Will it get clearer over time or do I have to accept it will stay cloudy? It tastes fine, maybe a bit too hoppy for my liking.

I thought storing it cold would help clear it?

I am very new to brewing btw

Thanks

Jas

 

[sven945]

I have neither a garage nor a fridge big enough to fit anything approaching a full batch in! I'm tempted to try and build a slightly insulated wooden box outside for the summer or something, or is consistency important for the cold storage?

Or I could just not care about cloudy beer!

 

[Cwrw666]

I am interested in peoples thoughts on this too. I have brewed the Youngs American Amber Ale too and it is very cloudy. I followed the instructions but left it in the FV for 2 weeks rather than what the instructions said to do. I then left it at 20c in the pressure barrel for another 2 weeks and it is now in the fridge at 8c and has been there for just over 2 weeks. Will it get clearer over time or do I have to accept it will stay cloudy? It tastes fine, maybe a bit too hoppy for my liking.

I thought storing it cold would help clear it?

I am very new to brewing btw

Thanks

Jas

Storing your beer for several weeks will allow it to clear naturally as the yeast settles. You'll also find that over time the yeast becomes so compacted that when you pour your beer you can get most of it out without disturbing the yeast.
I keep my bottled beer in a cool room at the back of the house and the above is what I find - so you don't need to refrigerate your beer to get the same effect.

Having said that I couldn't really give a toss whether my homebrew is sparkly clear or not as it doesn't affect the taste.

 

[Greenhorn]

I'm all for cooling it as cold as it will go without freezing. I've conditioned my three (so far) AGs in a spare fridge in the garage. They get two weeks at room temp to carbonate and then got into the fridge at about 2°c for two weeks.

At that temp two weeks might be a bit of overkill, but they've all come out crystal clear so far.

 

[geetee]

I'm all for cooling it as cold as it will go without freezing. I've conditioned my three (so far) AGs in a spare fridge in the garage. They get two weeks at room temp to carbonate and then got into the fridge at about 2°c for two weeks.

At that temp two weeks might be a bit of overkill, but they've all come out crystal clear so far.

Cooling as low as possible helps to get rid of chill haze. If you can get the temp down to 2°C and your beer is clear than it will remain clear when you transfer to a domestic fridge prior to serving.

 

[Leon103]

Cool as low as you can get it

 

[Covrich]

I put what I can in my beer fridge and the rest go in the garage and they go in the fridge as and when space becomes available.

What is peoples opinions on lagering Ales?

 

[Spoon]

Ales tend to only taste better over time upto a point. If you lagered an ale you'd end up with something between the two, probably not really as much flavour as an ale, but with off flavours for a lager and the yeast will mostly be dormant anyway.

Yeasty beers (heffeweizen) are best drunk ASAP.

Hoppy beers - lose their aromas and then flavors over a few weeks to months.

Malty beers - tend to improve over time.

Higher ABV beers take longer too as they stress the yeast more so it takes longer to clean up.

So an IIPA is a balancing act between hops and the need to let it condition out the off flavors of the alcohol.

Whereas Lagers are left a long while to let the remaining yeast really clean up the beer.

My method is:
1) condition is as warm as possible for a week or two to keep the yeast active and cleaning up.
2) condition as cold as possible to clear it.
3) Store in the garage.

 

[Nial]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

This is clearing quite well already but I'll stick it in the fridge (spare one in the garage) for at least a week and see what happens.