Conditioning and temperature

[spikey]

Apologies for yet another complete newbie question

Hopefully my very first brew will soon be ready for bottling (it's 40 pints of Munton's Porter) and unless anybody points out the error of my ways, I'll be syphoning it into 115gm (5gm/litre) sugar dissolved in a bit of warm water in a clean bucket, stirring that up and bottling it, then keeping it warm-ish for a week or so. It's the next bit that's bothering me - the keeping it in a cool place.

The coolest place we've got where I can store 40 pint bottles is actually on the floor of the shed, which at this time of year only gets full sun on it for a couple of hours in mid-afternoon. Otherwise it's in shade.

If it gets too warm for too long, what's the risk - rubbish beer, exploding bottles, or both?

[adomant]

explosions are a possibility but the beer won't clear easily unless cool

[spikey]

Thanks mister. So maybe my best bet is to leave very little headroom when I bottle so I minimise the risk of explosions, then bring some bottles in and keep them in a bucket of cold water for a few days before drinking ...

[Matt12398]

You don't want to fill them right up to the crown cap when you fill them. There will probably be an inch head space in the bottle. Any more than that and you've got air more air on top of your beer which you don't want too much of.

I just condition my bottles inside and they clear nicely. Somewhere warm just means at around fermenting temperature 18-20ºC. Have you got a cupboard under the stairs or some spare room in a kitchen cabinet where you can leave them for a couple weeks?

[spikey]

You don't want to fill them right up to the crown cap when you fill them. There will probably be an inch head space in the bottle. Any more than that and you've got air more air on top of your beer which you don't want too much of.

I just condition my bottles inside and they clear nicely. Somewhere warm just means at around fermenting temperature 18-20ºC. Have you got a cupboard under the stairs or some spare room in a kitchen cabinet where you can leave them for a couple weeks?

Cheers Matt. An inch of headspace sounds good to me. I wish we did have room under the stairs, but we don't. Your kitchen cabinet suggestion's got me thinking though ...

[Matt12398]

I think in an ideal world if you have somewhere cooler to finish them off it will make the yeast fall out of suspension quicker and therefore clear quicker but it also means lugging them about into different locations unless you have the luxury of a temperature controlled brewing fridge.

I've not been brewing very long but have found that they have conditioned up nicely indoors and taste amazing. I'm now choosing my kit beer over shop bought beer because it's so good. I'm sure after tasting your first one you'll be looking to do more.

[lovelldr]

From what I'm aware, the reason for cold conditioning is to help the co2 to be absorbed by the beer better...

The longer it's kept cooler, the better it'll absorb and the smaller the bubbles that are made...