Hi
I'm new to brewing and am currently making up coopers pale ale with BE2 and coopers pale ale kit.
Just wanted to know how soon after you put the beer in the bottles can you put them in the fridge. Do you have to wait 2 weeks minimum? And after you put them in fridge will this affect the quality of the beer or is it best to wait longer than 2 weeks?
Any help appreciated
thanks
Carbonation time depends a lot on temperature and the yeast you used. With the Coopers kit you will have an ale yeast which will stop fermenting at under 10degC, so best to bring the bottles inside and keep them in the laundry to keep warm. Try not to get them to hot. Aim for under 25degC. They should carb up within 2 weeks, but they will get better after 4 weeks as the hop bitterness will mellow.
If you use a lager yeast, they will operate more slowly but remain active down to 4-5degC. They will also appreciate the warmer temp (inside) to carb up the bottles. Lager yeast are great to use this time of the year, as you do not need to heat the fermenter. However, fermentation can take 2 weeks at 10degC.
Best idea is to get a second fermenter asap, and have 2 brews going at once, then bottle up as you go, wait the 4+ weeks and drink some, whilst still building up a stockpile for summer. Sooner or later you will find yourself drinking beer that is at least 4 weeks in the bottle.
Once you get sick of bottling, you can consider kegging. You can drop a brew out of a fermenter one evening, chill it for 24 hours in the fridge, force carbonate the following evening, and start drinking it that night. It is still better to secondary ferment in the keg for 2-4 weeks, but if your desperate for a cold one asap, kegging is the way to go. You also save heaps of time with minimal bottles to wash.
Barry