Lagering

[Matty]

I've got a couple of bottles of a Boysenberry Lager which I put in the fridge, about 4'C, immediately after bottling. Any one have any ideas on if/when they will mature if kept in the fridge? So far they have been in there for a couple of months.

Oliver, I remember reading in your beer log that your N0. 29 Cooper's Pilsner was still young tasting after 2 months. Did any of the bottles you kept in the fridge mature, or is this something which will never happen and I should just mature them normally?

Cheers,

Matty

[wombat]

matty, i think you'll find that all beers in the bottle will benefit from 5 to 7 days at room temperature to carbonate fully before you lock them away for the "winter".

usually, cold conditioning (which is what i assume you mean) is something that happens in a secondary fermenter to which you've added your racked off beer from your primary and some tasty fresh hops to trap the aroma into the beer. this is a very cool thing to do to lagers (and even some pale ales i hear).

i'm pretty sure that yeast has a hard time trying to carbonate a bottle of beer at 4deg C. try leaving your bottles out of the fridge for 5 to 7 days before you put them back in to lager them.

-wombat

[Matty]

Hey Wombat,

The day I put the beer into the secondary for cold conditioning in the fridge I also bottled 2 bottles to see if there was any difference. The ones racked into the secondary I left in fridge for just over 1 month and bottled them a few weeks ago and have put them in a warmish spot as normal.
I was just wondering how long the 2 stored in the fridge would take to mature and carbonate ie: 6 months, 12 months, 2 years, never..... I know that the higher the temp they are matured in, the quicker they mature, with in reason. I thought that if the lower the temp you brew at the better, then maybe the lower the maturing temp the better?

Cheers,

Matty

[wombat]

lower temp + lots of good yeast + fast fermentation = good beer.
you just have to remember that yeasts don't really like to carbonate beer at much below 9-10deg for a good lager yeast and much below 16-18deg C for a good ale yeast. carbonation only takes 5 to 7 days though and maturing is still quite a mysterious process to me so i can't really give you any useful info as to what goes on in the bottle after then (i'm a programmer, not a biochemist lol).
i've never tried (that i'm aware of) carbonating at the 10 degree C lager temp - i might have to do that
actually, as soon as i get a hold of a new lager fridge (i broke the last one), i'm going to put down a nice pilsner. i've even got a white labs wlp800 pilsner lager yeast standing by for the task. so after i bottle it out of cc'd secondary, i'm going to fridge a few bottles at between 10 and 12 deg C and compare them to my laundry shower ones (my expensive beer cellar).
hey, if anyone here lives in the shoalhaven and would like a wlp800 culture just let me know ok also, maybe if you're lucky a wlp001 culture... though i'm pretty greedy with that one.... my precious......
-wombat