Bottling vs keg taste

[doon]

oops didnt read your post bribie

 

[manticle]

Here's one where they seem to have actually used some recultured yeast to see for themselves but it is 15 years old: http://www.nada.kth.se/~alun/Beer/Bottle-Yeasts/


Seymour's post on this page: http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=55818

 

[Markbeer]

Sierra Nevadas process is far different from homebrewers average bottle conditioning. they filter the beer which removes all yeast among other things then add a calculated amount at bottling to carb up.

 

[manticle]

Most commercially bottle conditioned beer follows that process.

 

[carniebrew]

There was a webpage that listed bottle conditioned beers and which ones used the primary strain in the bottling but it may not be accurate and may not be up to date. I'll see if I can hunt it up.

This reminds me, I recall from the "Yeast" book a while back where Chris White intimated that a lot of breweries say they use a different yeast strain at bottling time, in order to protect their primary strain, but in reality he believes that very few actually do this...they just want you to think they do.

 

[bear09]

OK interestingly me and the old man brew together and take a cube each. I keg and he bottles... same exact wort, same yeast, same temps - one in the bottle and one in the keg. Here are the results:

KEG:
I can be conditioned and kegged and tapped in 3 weeks (ALE). I dont force carb and I sometimes filter but rarely (just because I cant be bothered). My beer tastes very 'clean'. The bubbles are always tiny and the head very creamy and packed. The beer tastes fresh and pure and usually drinks very very well. The old man loves it and so do I.

BOTTLE:
The same beer from the bottle takes about a month before its properly carbonated and drinking well. Any earlier and there is a yeastiness about it which detracts from the goodness. From the bottle the beer has an earthiness about it which you dont have from the keg. The flavour is not as crisp and pure as that from the keg though the hops seem to be a little more pronounced. I would say that my preference is for the keg BUT ONLY JUST. The advantages of bottles I think is that they can be put away for a few months and brought out gradually... and can then be mixed and matched with other beers that you have made. I wouldnt keep a beer in a keg for 6 months... I just wouldnt (and well really couldnt ) do that.

 

[stux]

I find the beer in the keg is drinkable immediately after carbing... if you keg crash-chilled beer, and rush carb it, its drinkable.

I've normally already crash-chilled the beer for maybe 3-4 days, and its had a relatively long 2 week ferment. So all up about 3 weeks in the fermenter.

BUT it improves dramatically over 1-2 weeks in the keg. Essentially its lagering I guess.

Thus, I tend to slow-carb in the keg, ie at dispensing pressure, which takes about a week, or I juice it to 300kpa for 18 hrs or so to give it a head start. Ideally I'll wait a week to start drinking it.

It will tend to improve continuously until the keg's very best glass... and that glass is when you invariable know the next glass will blow.

Beer seems to stratify, both in the keg, and in the fermenter. I do triple batches in a single fermenter, and each keg tastes different.

 

[Rocker1986]

I noticed that on my first keg, a Bohemian Pilsner. It was at my expectations of the recipe only a couple of days after kegging it, but after a couple of weeks it had improved quite a bit and I was really enjoying it - and then it blew dry.

Conversely a bottled batch of the exact same recipe still doesn't taste as good and it's been in the bottle about 2 months now.

Like I needed another reason to give up bottling, mostly anyway :lol:

 

[bear09]

Definitely if you can leave a beer in a keg UNTAPPED for 2 weeks it improves dramatically. From 4 days old to 14 days old the difference is amazing. Its like the flavour bonds and smooths in that time.

I have NEVER waited 14 days... not once :chug: After 4 days once I know its carbed im into it. I have no self control at all.

 

[Rocker1986]

I doubt I'll be waiting 14 days either, at least until I get a bit of a supply chain going. The bad thing about this is that it will take forever to get the supply up, but the good thing about that is that it means brewing more often, and I'm not complaining about that at all...

 

[micblair]

I think drinking the beer when its ready probably makes more of a difference than natural vs. forced carb. With natural carbonation, its obvious when the beer is ready to drink.

 

[stux]

Definitely if you can leave a beer in a keg UNTAPPED for 2 weeks it improves dramatically. From 4 days old to 14 days old the difference is amazing. Its like the flavour bonds and smooths in that time.

I have NEVER waited 14 days... not once :chug: After 4 days once I know its carbed im into it. I have no self control at all.

I doubt I'll be waiting 14 days either, at least until I get a bit of a supply chain going. The bad thing about this is that it will take forever to get the supply up, but the good thing about that is that it means brewing more often, and I'm not complaining about that at all...

that's why I brew triple batches and have 5 keg spots for 4 taps.

5th keg is carbing up waiting for one of the others to blow

 

[Rocker1986]

I have 3 taps and 4 kegs currently but am probably gonna buy another couple of kegs - just in case they all blow dry close to each other at some point, I can have 3 ready to go straight in.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Personally comparing bottle conditioned to kegging is that Kegging wins in a balance of pro's and cons. You can always bottle from the keg (Draught Beer). Excuse me throwing that basic thing. Make your own portable six pack without sediment. That is as impressive and clear as your tap beer. I only bottle ferment leftover brew if I overshoot in kegging volume. The comparisons of keg/bottle ferment are different that is for sure. Just makes it all more interesting. :chug:

 

[Rocker1986]

I'm actually looking forward to getting back to my 25 litre batches (few process changes I didn't even realise I'd made had mucked this up), so I can bottle the leftovers after kegging and then compare the two types on the exact same batch, rather than just the same recipe. Should definitely be interesting.

 

[heyhey]

I reckon bottling aerates more causing it to taste way less fresh than a kegged beer of similar age.

 

[Grott]

I love the "crispness" of kegged beer but you can't beat an age bottled stout.
Cheers