Ideal Maturing Conditions?

[symphony1975]

hey there.

am new to brewing and have a set up with a fridge(tempmate) for fermentation barrels then i bottle and put bottles in a second fridge(with another tempmate) for secondary fermentation, keeping them at 19-20 degrees for 7 days then they go into a cupboard in the shed for maturing (no sunlight!).......the shed is yer standard corrigated iron shed with NO insulation....i live in melbourne and am concerned with killer hot days coming that it may adversly affect the maturing of the beer.....i have asked a few guys and get the old 'nah, she'll be right' but my limited understanding of brewing tells me it cant be good for the brews.......so the question is....will temperatures in the mid 30's during the day bugger my beer?! i know that low temps are ideal but what temps are acceptable? i dont want to taste my brews after summer and find them funky!

cheers

 

[hughyg]

hey there.

am new to brewing and have a set up with a fridge(tempmate) for fermentation barrels then i bottle and put bottles in a second fridge(with another tempmate) for secondary fermentation, keeping them at 19-20 degrees for 7 days then they go into a cupboard in the shed for maturing (no sunlight!).......the shed is yer standard corrigated iron shed with NO insulation....i live in melbourne and am concerned with killer hot days coming that it may adversly affect the maturing of the beer.....i have asked a few guys and get the old 'nah, she'll be right' but my limited understanding of brewing tells me it cant be good for the brews.......so the question is....will temperatures in the mid 30's during the day bugger my beer?! i know that low temps are ideal but what temps are acceptable? i dont want to taste my brews after summer and find them funky!

cheers

with all those fridges get a keg!!
but more seriously mid 30s isnt ideal.

 

[marksfish]

a constant temp is the best for storage of your fine brews, the lower the temp you can store your beer at the longer its storage life.

 

[manticle]

So how do most people without a cellar store large amounts of bottled beer?

I have a fair bit, some of which I want to age. My house isn't even insulated so keeping constant temps with these is well nigh impossible. I can maintain temps on my fermenters with lateral thinking and effort but I'm stumped when it comes to seven+ milk crates full of bottled beer.

 

[marksfish]

styrofoam boxes ex the green-grocers hold 18 longnecks, if kept in the coolest part of the house should keep your brews fairly constant

 

[happy benno]

So how do most people without a cellar store large amounts of bottled beer?

I have a fair bit, some of which I want to age. My house isn't even insulated so keeping constant temps with these is well nigh impossible. I can maintain temps on my fermenters with lateral thinking and effort but I'm stumped when it comes to seven+ milk crates full of bottled beer.

my mate does the same, he has heaps of bottled beers in the shed under his work bench, some have been there for over 12 months and nothing wrong with the, we has some sparkling ale's saturday night it was like mothers milk he said it had been aged for about 14 months.

 

[manticle]

Mine too are in the shed. Shed is hot. I might try and get my hands on some foam boxes. Finally I've brewed enough beer to actually hang on to some and the weather turns nasty.


Rain you son of a bitch. Rain. I feel like spring has been stolen from me.

 

[WarmBeer]

All my beers that went though last summer's 40+ degree week became highly carbonated.

The taste wasn't really affected, but every time I poured one, I got about 3 inches of head that stayed for the life of the beer.

This year, will be bringing the supplies (likewise, about 7 crates full) either inside, or into the tempmate controlled brewing fridge.

 

[RobboMC]

I have 400 litre running fridge, picked it up 2nd hand, get em easy on eBay.
I keep about 100 bottles in the fridge at 20 deg C and still have room for the fermenter.
When bottled, new brews go straight into the fridge, held at 20 deg C with an adjustable timer.

I keep about 10 bottles in the ready to drink small bar fridge at the usual 4 deg C, and one in the house fridge.

My beer NEVER gets left outside the fridge. When we go on camping holidays it even travels in the fridge
( yes, we take the bar fridge on holidays with us!)

Manticle, one word for you mate FRIDGE

 

[brettprevans]

mega breweries bottle no matter what temp it is....those cartons sit on pellets during the summer in say 40C heat. lugged round for ages in maybe even hotter heat i the transport truck.... etc.. whilst not ideal, once the beer is brewed it doesnt matter so much.