When I first started brewing, all of my beer was bottle conditioned. Once the fermentation had done it’s stuff, I transferred the beer to a racking bucket, added some brewer’s sugar and then bottled it. The bottles are then left at room temperature for a week and then transferred to the cellar (at about 12C). After about a week in the cellar, they are drinkable.
This method is tried and tested. It also requires the minimal amount of kit. Many commercial brewers bottle condition their beer. However, there are some drawbacks:
- You are forever cleaning and sanitising bottles – not to mention moving the crates around the place;
- You have to wait a couple of weeks before you can drink it – some beers need more time;
- The secondary fermentation does tend to leave sediment in the bottom of the bottles. There is nothing wrong with sediment, but it does put some drinkers off;
- This approach won’t work for really hoppy pale ales and New England IPA as they oxidise very easily.
So the alternative is to force carbonate the beer. In other words, pressurise the beer with a CO2 bottle. This isn’t without its drawbacks but does have the following benefits:
- No bottles to clean or move around – just transfer the entire contents of the fermenter into a keg and seal it!
- It avoids exposure to oxygen and will ensure your beer lasts longer. It works well with hoppy pale ales
- You can carbonate the beer in 24 hours, leave it to settle for a few days, then drink;
- You have beer on draft so it is ok if you only want a half and don’t want to open a bottle.
- You can always fill bottles from the keg if you feel the need to share it with friends;
- If you bottle from the keg, there will be less sediment (if any at all) in the bottom of the bottles – there’s no secondary fermentation and the beer has had a little more time to settle (leaving the sediment in the bottom of the keg).
Now, did I mention the drawbacks?
- The beer needs to be refrigerator when it is force carbonated. Basic physics – a cold liquid will absorb gas more readily than a warm liquid. In practice, this means you are going to need a kegerator – either one of the ones available on the market or build your own. If you have space in your fridge at home, all well and good. But remember the kegs aren’t small (even the half size ones) and they ideally need to be connected to a CO2 supply while carbonating.
- You are going to need a bottle of CO2 and all the gubbings (e.g. regulator, connectors, tubing) that go with it. If you want to bottle from your kegs, then you are probably going to need a second CO2 bottle.
- Space and cost. All of this additional kit costs money and takes up space. If you aren’t careful, brewing can take over and before long you and your family may start to feel that they are living in a brewery!
What do I do?
- I tend to bottle condition the darker beers – bitters and black IPAs. These are less liable to oxidise and I like the carbonation from bottle conditioning.
- Pale ales and NE IPA especially are kegged and then I run bottles off the keg as and when required.