Which Conditions Faster And Why

[bigbanko]

Hi All

I have heard beer conditions faster in a keg using co2 to carbonate than priming with sugar in kegs or bottles.

Is this so and why?


Thanks

 

[kevnlis]

Depends what you mean by "condition". If your main concern is dropping things from suspension then priming sugar would have an adverse effect by continuing the fermentation. If you are wishing to use the yeast to mop up off flavours, the CO2 pressure of the gas tank will slow this process and the final brew may never get fully conditioned depending on how it is handled.

 

[bigbanko]

Hi

I was more refering to the time it takes to be ready to drink ie bottles - 4-12 weeks longer the better.
Keg - 1-2 weeks ie kegs seeem to age faster and taste pretty good after a shorter period.

Thanks

 

[kevnlis]

The beer will condition faster because it is in bulk in a keg, vs being in a bottle.

 

[Ross]

Hi

I was more refering to the time it takes to be ready to drink ie bottles - 4-12 weeks longer the better.
Keg - 1-2 weeks ie kegs seeem to age faster and taste pretty good after a shorter period.

Thanks

If you naturally condition it can take the beer several weeks to carbonate/clear.
If you force carbonate, the beer is basically aging from day one & hence it is ready to drink quicker.
Beer also seems to mature better in bulk. Not sure if there is any science behind this though....

cheers Ross

 

[NRB]

The beer will condition faster because it is in bulk in a keg, vs being in a bottle.

Why?

 

[tangent]

i think stainless steel makes a huge difference in the speed of conditioning over glass or plastic. a food chemist was telling me something about the small scratches in steel trapping fine particles, but I'm not 100% on that, as plastic looks like a bundle of barbed wire up really close so you'd think that'd trap particles easily as well. All i know is 2 batches of beer in the fridge, 1 in a keg and 1 in a plastic jerry, the keg will taste smoother quicker (2 weeks ideal)

 

[kevnlis]

Why?

Yes I know it is debatable, and there are varied opinions as to the usefullness of conditioning at all. There doesn't seem to be any science to it which I blame for the cause of such debate.

I personally feel that my beers condition better in bulk, and that storing them in bulk for 3 days at -1C is the best way to clear a beer. It is the process that works best for me, so I stick to it. I have also never had a need for a filter using this process

There is actually science to the process of dropping the yeast and proteins at -1C but the source eludes me ATM.

 

[Kai]

If you naturally condition it can take the beer several weeks to carbonate/clear.
If you force carbonate, the beer is basically aging from day one & hence it is ready to drink quicker.

Well, technically the beer is aging from the moment fermentation finishes (or perhaps you could argue even before that). What I do find with carbonation, though, is the longer you leave a carbonated beer cold, the better the head retention and finer the bead.

 

[InCider]

I agree with you Kai. Longer time stored cool and forced carbing does make a lovely creamy head. Especially noticeable after having a few bottles now and then since I started kegging. In bottles, I find the bubbles larger and more coarse.

Cheers,

InCider.

 

[pcmfisher]

So if you were to transfer brew from fermenter to plastic cube and store it for one or two months and then bottle it, would that time in the cube contribute to any conditioning???

Is that a good idea anyway? Would it be better in the fridge or at room temp? Might improve clarity if thats an issue.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Particular styles benefit from conditioning - this is usually done at very cool temps

It really depends from where clarity problems are coming - be it chill haze or yeast in suspension or something else

Have a search for cold conditioning or CCing as it's sometimes referred to

Cheers