Excess Brew Going To Bottles.

[gethrog]

Hi all,
I am due to keg my second brew and this time I got the quantities right and ended up with 23 litres in the fermenter. (First brew was just 19 and was just enough for the one keg.)

I was about to keg the 2nd brew tonight and realised I will have 4 litres over. I have a few bottles and a capping machine but before I started thought I better get some advice re storage of the bottles. The brew is an American Pale ale and the kegs are going to be stored pre use at around 11 degrees. Should the bottles be kept at the same temp??

 

[Spartan 117]

Hi all,
I am due to keg my second brew and this time I got the quantities right and ended up with 23 litres in the fermenter. (First brew was just 19 and was just enough for the one keg.)

I was about to keg the 2nd brew tonight and realised I will have 4 litres over. I have a few bottles and a capping machine but before I started thought I better get some advice re storage of the bottles. The brew is an American Pale ale and the kegs are going to be stored pre use at around 11 degrees. Should the bottles be kept at the same temp??

I find the best conditions for storing bottles are out of direct sunlight and at a somewhat constant temperature
I use the bottom of my pantry for the secondary fermentation and I've had no problems yet. If you store them at lower temperatures however then i reckon the yeast would go into hybernation and not carbonate your beer.

Hope this information is accurate and that it helps

Good luck

Aaron

 

[buttersd70]

agree with spartan. Maintain bottles at around fermentation temp for at least 2 weeks to allow the carbonation to finish, then either condition in the 11 degree spot you have, or just in any relatively coo-ishl spot out of direct light, untill ready to chill for serving.

 

[Tony M]

I usually have a couple of litres over after I keg so I just run them out into a 2L coke bottle, squeeze all the air out, screw the cap on tight and drop it into the bottom of the keg fridge. When the keg is down a few litres I crack it and add the leftover beer. Never noticed a problem.

 

[joecast]

I usually have a couple of litres over after I keg so I just run them out into a 2L coke bottle, squeeze all the air out, screw the cap on tight and drop it into the bottom of the keg fridge. When the keg is down a few litres I crack it and add the leftover beer. Never noticed a problem.

i usually bottle until the fermenter shows about 19L but thats an interesting alternative. thanks Tony.
joe

 

[reviled]

I usually have a couple of litres over after I keg so I just run them out into a 2L coke bottle, squeeze all the air out, screw the cap on tight and drop it into the bottom of the keg fridge. When the keg is down a few litres I crack it and add the leftover beer. Never noticed a problem.

How do you get around carbonation when you do that? Do you have to regas it?

 

[joecast]

How do you get around carbonation when you do that? Do you have to regas it?

you would be adding uncarbed beer, so about 2L uncarbed to ~10 or 15L carbed, plus you would loose a little carbonation from opening up the keg. i imagine you might notice a slight drop in carbonation at first, but it might only take a day to re-equalize at your serving pressure.
joe

 

[raven19]

IMHO The added benefit of extra beer in the batch results in a handful of beers you can try later on and compare vs the kegged beer, or take to parties, etc. I know I shall be bottling the left over amount once my kegging system is in place.

:icon_offtopic: Will be placing order for my kegging gear once the Celli taps are in, Ross advised this week hopefully (no affiliation, etc.)

The effort to make 23L compared to 19 is not much extra...

 

[gethrog]

Thanks everyone for your input,
I have been dragged out of town on business for a couple of days, so the brew has been in the fermenter now at 3 degrees for a few days. I am guessing the yeast has well and truly stopped in any event. My intention was to add 2 carbination drops to each of the bottled remnants after kegging. Given they were at 3 degrees at bottling will it still be Ok to add the carbonation drops and then leave them at the minimum constant room temp I can find until its drinking time???

 

[debineko]

Maintain bottles at around fermentation temp for at least 2 weeks to allow the carbonation to finish, then either condition in the 11 degree spot you have, or just in any relatively coo-ishl spot out of direct light, untill ready to chill for serving.

If I may add a question that's been in the back of my mind for a while:

I know you're supposed to store the bottles in a coolish spot after 2 weeks at fermentation temp or over 18C but WHY?! What are you gaining by keeping things cool? Is maintaining a reasonably constant temp in the bottle important? And what do you risk by storing bottle in a relatively warm spot or a spot where the temp goes up and down?

The reason I ask is because I've got some bottles stored in a tin-roofed shed, so they're out of the sunlight but in an environment where the temp varies drastically between night and day, like 15-22, 11-21, 11-27 for the last 3 day, plus 5C for the tin roof factor under the afternoon sun.

Over to the panel.

 

[Spartan 117]

If I may add a question that's been in the back of my mind for a while:

I know you're supposed to store the bottles in a coolish spot after 2 weeks at fermentation temp or over 18C but WHY?! What are you gaining by keeping things cool? Is maintaining a reasonably constant temp in the bottle important? And what do you risk by storing bottle in a relatively warm spot or a spot where the temp goes up and down?

The reason I ask is because I've got some bottles stored in a tin-roofed shed, so they're out of the sunlight but in an environment where the temp varies drastically between night and day, like 15-22, 11-21, 11-27 for the last 3 day, plus 5C for the tin roof factor under the afternoon sun.

Over to the panel.

Well I'm not to sure but i reckon if it was too warm the yeast might go a bit crazy and produce too much CO2 and thats could blow up your bottless. but yeah not entirely sure

Aaron

 

[buttersd70]

from the perspective of the bottles themselves, temperature fluctuations cause pressure in the bottle to change, so if the swings of temperature are drastic, you will have high/low pressure fluctuations on the glass, which will weaken it over time...leading to possible bombs due to weak glass.

From the perspective of the beer....constant temp is better than fluctuating temperature, because bottle conditioned beer is a live product...the yeast has done its job in carbonation, and it stops working because there are no more fermentables to (readily) consume. But it is still alive, and present in the bottle. Hot conditions in particular will hasten the yeast to autolyse (consume itself), will hasten development of any off flavours and staling of the beer due to oxidation (the precursors of which may already be present).....I'm certainly not attempting to say that this will necessarily be an issue in the short (or even medium) term, but compared to storing at a constant cool temperature, it's shelf life will be less. You wouldn't leave a live culture cheese in those conditions and expect it to last...but it amounts to pretty much the same thing.

 

[InCider]

I crash chill and drink anything over 19l on kegging day. It gives you a good insight in changes to the beer profile over it's lifetime.

 

[Ross]

put the excess into a PET bottle...whack on a carbonation cap....shake for 60 seconds....& drink it :icon_cheers:

cheers Ross

 

[ForkBoy]

that's a great idea Ross!

I'll put that into practice myself...

 

[debineko]

from the perspective of the bottles themselves...

From the perspective of the beer....

That's what I wanted to hear. Certainly makes sense, esp. the cheese analogy. You just wouldn't, would you :icon_cheers: