hinterglem
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- Feb 19, 2012
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Hi,
I searched the forum about this and was unable to find an answer, so please forgive me if this has been covered before and I just couldn't find it, and sorry for the length of the question but...
I brewed my first beer kit about 3 months ago - a Cooper's European lager. It has been conditioning in 2 litre bottles for a couple of months, and as far as I can tell, all seems ok - the bottles are obviously under pressure (hard to the touch) so I think the secondary fermentation was successful. There is of course a sludge of yeast at the bottom of each bottle. I intend to leave it at least another month or two before trying it.
The instructions say to just pour it carefully into a glass to leave the sediment behind, or to gently invert the bottle if you are a 'cloudy beer enthusiast'. I don't like the idea of cloudy beer! And I just know that however carefully I pour, some of the yeast will end up in the glass. Also, my fridge is not big enough to chill a 2 litre bottle upright, so I would have to either lay it on its side (disturbing the yeast), transfer it somehow to smaller bottles, or drink it warm :sick:
I have read that some people disgorge beer in a similar way to champagne - by storing the bottle upside down so the yeast collects in the neck, then freezing it (whilst upside down), then opening the bottle and scraping out the yeast. However, my freezer is also not big enough to store upside down 2 litre bottles.
I was wondering then whether there is any reason why I can't just rack the beer off its sediment into another 2 litre bottle so I can chill the clear beer on its side in the fridge? I know it will lose some CO2 in the process, but I wouldn't have thought it would make a huge difference. Is there any reason why that wouldn't work or shouldn't be attempted? If I try this, would it be best to do so just before drinking, or can I let it carry on conditioning for a few months after racking? Does anybody have any other suggestions or recommendations for disgorging?
TIA.
I searched the forum about this and was unable to find an answer, so please forgive me if this has been covered before and I just couldn't find it, and sorry for the length of the question but...
I brewed my first beer kit about 3 months ago - a Cooper's European lager. It has been conditioning in 2 litre bottles for a couple of months, and as far as I can tell, all seems ok - the bottles are obviously under pressure (hard to the touch) so I think the secondary fermentation was successful. There is of course a sludge of yeast at the bottom of each bottle. I intend to leave it at least another month or two before trying it.
The instructions say to just pour it carefully into a glass to leave the sediment behind, or to gently invert the bottle if you are a 'cloudy beer enthusiast'. I don't like the idea of cloudy beer! And I just know that however carefully I pour, some of the yeast will end up in the glass. Also, my fridge is not big enough to chill a 2 litre bottle upright, so I would have to either lay it on its side (disturbing the yeast), transfer it somehow to smaller bottles, or drink it warm :sick:
I have read that some people disgorge beer in a similar way to champagne - by storing the bottle upside down so the yeast collects in the neck, then freezing it (whilst upside down), then opening the bottle and scraping out the yeast. However, my freezer is also not big enough to store upside down 2 litre bottles.
I was wondering then whether there is any reason why I can't just rack the beer off its sediment into another 2 litre bottle so I can chill the clear beer on its side in the fridge? I know it will lose some CO2 in the process, but I wouldn't have thought it would make a huge difference. Is there any reason why that wouldn't work or shouldn't be attempted? If I try this, would it be best to do so just before drinking, or can I let it carry on conditioning for a few months after racking? Does anybody have any other suggestions or recommendations for disgorging?
TIA.