After Cold Conditioning

[SJW]

I got my ESB Czech Pilsener in CC at the moment after going from 1036 to 1010 in 10 days with the 34-70 Saflager Yeast. I was just wondering after a couple of weeks in CC should i let it warm to room temp before bulk priming or bottle cold?
If i bottle cold do i have to add less Dextrose?
I was going to bottle, 21 litres, at room temp with 200grams of Dex. What do u think?

 

[wee stu]

Not sure about the science here, but I believe you should be bringing it back to room temp because of the high load of CO2 in the cold beer. Bottling cold can, I believe, make your priming amounts less accurate and apparently increase the risk of bottle bombs.

For my tastes I reckon 200g dex in 21L might give too high a level of carbonation. I normally run with about 180g. But then again I like quite gently carbonated brews.

 

[GMK]

i would bottle cold or bulk prime with the wort cold....

WIll take longer for the bottles to condition. i think it is better.
dont get as much froth from the wort as it is cold.

 

[Tony M]

This chart (Mark Hibberd, Bayside Brewers 1995) gives you a good idea as to how much CO2 you already have dissolved in your beer before priming
.

T Vol. CO2
-
0..... 1.7v
2..... 1.6v
4..... 1.5v
6..... 1.4v
8..... 1.3
10... 1.2
12... 1.12
14... 1.05
16... 0.99
18... 0.93
20... 0.88
22... 0.83
Solubility of CO2 in beer at atmospheric pressure

 

[wardy]

After primary fermentation at 8-10C for about 14-21 days, i remove from the fridge and allow fermenter to reach room temp (approx 16-18C in Melbourne). This is referred to as the diacetyl rest. I leave like this for 24-48 hours before racking and then returning to fridge to CC at -1C. I believe that the diacetyl rest also allows much of the CO2 to escape at the higher temp, therefore when the brew comes out of CC, there is no problem with higher CO2 levels... well at least i have not had a carbonation problem yet.

 

[Tony M]

I should add to that last post.
4grams of sugar per litre added to your bulk primer will give you one volume of CO2 in your beer. If you did your secondary fermentation at 20C you already have 0.88 vols. CO2 dissolved and if your target is 2.5 vols. then you need another 1.6 vols.
so....

4g/l X 1.6 X (vol. in fermenter...say 22 litre) = 140 grams priming sugar (roughly).
This a typical amount used to bulk prime brews, but if you have been making lagers at 10C, the same amount of sugar can give you a pretty lively glass of beer.

 

[Rubes]

Slight post hijack.

• How long would you say a cc ale or lager would be good for b4 you need to think about pitching extra yeast at bulk priming?
• If you pitched new yeast how much would you pitch?