What is warm and cold conditioning?

The word conditioning has different specific meanings in the brewing of beer. Cold conditioning likely is referring to what is most frequently referred to as lagering for the various styles in the lager family. The beer improves in flavor during this time.

Warm conditioning is likely trying to say 'non-cold' as opposed to anything warmer than ambient temps. I've never heard of conditioning a beer in a heated state.

Both have a purpose of adding some age to a beer to allow it to pass from the green stage to approach it's peak flavor for consumption. I personally feel that some styles benefit more than others from conditioning, namely hoppy beers that need the hop flavors to blend better with the malt character. Other beers don't seem to need this conditioning period, although all beers probably benefit from it. I think a lot of the conditioning occurs in the packaged stage while the beer is on its way to market. But I think some breweries hold back the beer in conditioning tanks before packaging it.

Another use of the term 'conditioning' involves beers that are packaged with a small amount of a sugar of some sort that will cause refermentation to occur inside the container to create the CO2. Homebrewers must use this method since they have no method to inject CO2 at the time of bottling. Sometimes more yeast is also added to make sure that refermentation will occur. (This is done mainly in high abv beers, because the yeast are tired and need a boost.)

Bottle-conditioned beers have a tendency to age very well unless it's a hoppy beer where degradation of the hops cannot be stopped with age. Hence a slightly further meaning to the word conditioned.

 

For our consideration: I have been homebrewing for over 25 years and I have found that the beers that have higher OG values (e.g., higher ABV) benefit from 'extra' room temperature conditioning time. If I am looking for a batch with a short turnaround time I choose to brew a lower gravity beer (e.g, an English Mild Ales is a good example).

I bottled a Quad on 6/26/21 and even though those bottle conditioned beers are carbonated now I have yet to 'crack open' a bottle yet. Maybe try one in a couple more weeks?

Cheers!

 

I don’t know how common it is elsewhere, but I can think of multiple Oregon breweries who have warm rooms for conditioning acid beers above room temperature. Most, if not all, Cascade sour beers spend some time in the warm room after packaging.

 

It’s pretty standard in Belgium (which is probably why Cascade started doing it). I think German Weissbier brewers do it too but I have no idea how common that is.

@PapaGoose03

 

Are you referring to just sour beers that are brewed in Belgium, or does the warm conditioning apply to standard Belgian styles too?

 

“Top fermented” beers.