Pasteurizing Bottled Homebrew?

[t2000kw]

Has any one tried Pasteurizing bottled homebrewed beer once it is at the proper
carbonation level?

I wondered if the heat at 161 deg F (72 C) would create too much expansion in the
bottle and cause it to explode.

This could be useful for meads, which sometimes continue to ferment very slowly
even after a year in the fermenter.

 

[newguy]

Although I haven't done it myself, I know someone who has pasteurised one or two batches with no ill effects. Certainly no exploding bottles. I believe they mentioned they held the bottles at something like 75C for 30 minutes in a water bath.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I've been thinking about this as a way to stabilise meads/ciders - rough and ready way to do it might be to run the bottles through a cycle of the dishwasher?? Perhaps without the drying phase.

I would be vaguely nervous about the exploding bottle thing.. but if you were using heavier bottles rather than the lightweight ones the mega breweries use... I reckon it'd be OK. Still, I would allow things to cool down completely before I tried handling the bottles again.

It will most likely affect teh flavour - whether very much or not is a question, but the heat does change things (in beer at least)

 

[Bribie G]

Having grown up in the UK with a huge dichotomy between 'living' real ale on tap and the pasteurised versions in the bottle and can, I reckon I can always taste the 'twang' with pasteurised beer. In Australia this has never been an issue because the beer in the can, bottle or keg is presumably identical although I believe that many breweries such as XXXX would send out the kegged product unpasteurised to a certain radius of trade (i.e. to Brisbane Suburbs but not to Rockhampton as an example). Don't know if this is still common practice.
Thirsty Boy may be able to confirm this.

For meads this could be a winner, after all some fortified wines such as Madeira and Marsala were traditionally 'cooked' in casks in hot volcanic caves although they use concrete pits and heating coils nowadays. <_<


Edit: spelling Rockhampton is not Rockhamton

 

[OzMick]

I personally wouldn't ever bother with pasteurising home brewed beer. There is a big difference between sanitation standards comparing homebrewing and with major breweries, homebrewing we can sanitise our empties prior to filling and can go a bit further with sanitising all filling equipment thorougly. Breweries just rinse their empties, so the pasteurisation is practically a necessity (though there are sterile filling techniques).

As for kegs, the beer is typically all flash pasteurised through a heat exchange before going into a sterilised keg. I very strongly doubt there is any selective filling of unpasteurised kegs happening these days by the majors, much easier to just treat everything the same and let a warehouse deal with every customer the same.

 

[t2000kw]

I personally wouldn't ever bother with pasteurising home brewed beer. There is a big difference between sanitation standards comparing homebrewing and with major breweries, homebrewing we can sanitise our empties prior to filling and can go a bit further with sanitising all filling equipment thorougly. Breweries just rinse their empties, so the pasteurisation is practically a necessity (though there are sterile filling techniques).

I wasn't interested in the sanitation angle. I was interested in stopping fermentation in meads in particular. It seems, after fermenting for a year, I can bottle a mead, prime with 3/4 cup corn sugar, and it's fine in a couple of weeks. After about 4-3 months, it starts becoming overcarbonated. At that point, well before bottles burst open, I make that my drink of choice and get rid of it before it becomes unsafe.

If I could stop the fermentation, that would not be an issue and I could store it much longer. This might be a problem for some other brewers here with meads, and less likely , with some heavy beers (which I've never had an issue with).

 

[Muggus]

Certainly is something to consider with a mead, considering it's hard to know when it's finished fermentation.
Personally I tend to purposely undercarbonate my stronger beers and wines, after a long fermentation.
I think pasturisation could work in this instance, but there is a risk you run there, especially after having something spending so much time fermenting. Best to be extra sure that fermentation is finalised, leave it for a couple of extra weeks, rack it off yeast lees if need be, and check the gravity over the course of a couple of weeks just to be sure...and if need be, with carbonation sugars, less is the safer option.
Pretty basic knowledge I know, but the idea of pasturisation at a homebrewer level is a bit scary, and like I said, it's possible you may ruin a good brew in the process.

 

[bum]

Just try it with one bottle, if it doesn't work you've only lost one bottle not a batch.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I was thinking what bum said - next time you bottle a brew, sacrifice one bottle to the cause. Bung one bottle of your batch through a cycle on the dishwasher (or whatever) when its still only half fizzy. See if it stays undercarbonated and see if it has a lot of effect on the flavour.

 

[t2000kw]

The one bottle idea is a good one. Less damage if it bursts, less loss if it doesn't work.

As for being careful about when to bottle, I only bottle after 12 months have gone by, and I check the gravity reading a few days apart to be sure it's done. Of course, at this point there would be no discernible change only a few days apart, as any fermentation going on is going on so slowly that it doesn't even affect the clarity of the mead.

I don't highly carbonate my sparkling meads, but they seem to overcarbonate after a few months.

I'm not one to bottle a mead after only a few months because I've read that it tastes better after aging about a year, and my experience with continuing slow fermentation that I can't detect with the usual methods. Hence the question about Pasteurization.

I was hoping that someone else has been there before and tried it. I don't have any made so it will be a year after I get some honey and make a mead before I try this.

Don

 

[Darren]

Pastuerising with yeast in the bottle will cause autolysis (undesirabble flavours).

cheers

Darren

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Pastuerising with yeast in the bottle will cause autolysis (undesirabble flavours).

cheers

Darren

So it will taste just like most of the English bottle conditioned Ales we get in WA?
GB

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Pastuerising with yeast in the bottle will cause autolysis (undesirabble flavours).

cheers

Darren

True, good call Darren - you would want the absolute minimum of yeast you could get away with or things might get nasty. Still - worth a try with one bottle to see what happens.

 

[muckanic]

This might be a problem for some other brewers here with meads, and less likely , with some heavy beers (which I've never had an issue with).

Depends whether the mead is sweet or dry, where "dry" usually means a terminal gravity considerably below 0. Plenty of my normal strength beers will be 14 at bottling but more like 8 after 3 months or so, which is a bit of an eye-opener. In theory, they barely need priming, depending what age they are drunk. Most folks don't bother to measure.