conditioning beer
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Hi, so I go through primary fermentation, and are we then saying that secondary fermentation happens in either barrel or bottle? My thoughts when I get to bottling are to siphon from FV to a sanitised bottling bucket (little bottler attached) prime the whole lot and bottle away, is this correct or should it sit in a new clean bucket for a while first, away from the risk of dead yeast giving off flavours?? So many questions!
Cheers
NLBH
Cheers
NLBH
I normally put my priming solution on my sanitised bottling bucket, siphon on to that and let it sit for 30-60 mins just so it settles down a minutes
Ok, thanks, I'm just to get my head round whether secondary fermentation and conditioning are different things!
McMullan
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When you prime, the beer goes through a mini fermentation under pressure in the bottle/keg, to produce carbonated beer. I prefer to leave my brews in the primary FV for up to 3 weeks. When they are conditioned, i.e., bright (clear), taste good and saturated with CO2, I'll package them. Further conditioning occurs in the bottle/keg. Good beer isn't static. It changes continuously over time, for better or worse.
I tend to rack to a corny after primary fermentation is complete. Sometimes I lob a mesh bag full of hops into the corny as well.
I don't prime my beer with sugars etc. I usually burp the corny to expel air, then pressureise to about 20-30psi and leave for a week or two, burp off the excess CO2 and serve. Seems to work OK as I dont like overly fizzy beers.
I have heard that leaving the hops in can lead to a grassy/vegetal taste but I have not experienced that yet.
Any thoughts on this approach?
I don't prime my beer with sugars etc. I usually burp the corny to expel air, then pressureise to about 20-30psi and leave for a week or two, burp off the excess CO2 and serve. Seems to work OK as I dont like overly fizzy beers.
I have heard that leaving the hops in can lead to a grassy/vegetal taste but I have not experienced that yet.
Any thoughts on this approach?
Tony1951
Bungling Amateur
I've put hops in about four recent pressure barrels and have had no issue either. In fact, I read somewhere that quite a few small breweries do the same to add a hop aroma hit to their beers. Unlike you, I just put the leaf hops in the barrel without being in a bag. In two of the barrels I did find one glass each with a leaf in it, but that is all. When the barrels are empty and I open them, the hops are floating about on the surface of what is left. It must just be the odd stray leaf that sinks to the tap area (bottom taps in my case).
McMullan
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If the beer is cool, it should be fine, I've heard. Depends how long the beer hangs around. Mine doesn't get much of a chance to turn 'grassy' :whistle:
Conditioning is what happens after fermentation. Fermentation is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohol and CO2 by yeast and/or bacteria. When we add priming sugar, we create another stage of fermentation. This could take place after a conditioning stage, and will be followed by additional conditioning in the bottle or keg. That's my understanding. Conditioning in different types of vessels and at different temperatures affects the way the beer conditions, I believe.
