Aging vs Bottle-Conditioning

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by knightlypint, Jul 19, 2012.

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  1. knightlypint

    knightlypint Initiate (0) Apr 18, 2012 New Jersey

    Hi BAs,

    I recently bought 2 bottles of Orkney Skull Splitter. I drank one and it was ok, not great. The other I'm keeping in my fridge in the hope time will works its magic, it has a 2014 BBD. When I look closely at this second bottle there's no sign of yeast/sediment, so I presume I'm aging this bottle.

    I also have 4 bottles of Fuller's 1845 in my fridge, for about a month now. 1845 is a bottle-conditioned beer, according to the Fuller's site, and if I hold the dark glass bottle up to a light I can yeast/sediment at the bottom of the bottle...so I guess I'm bottle-conditioning these 1845s.

    The clinker, for me at least, is Samuel Smith Stingo. I have 4 bottles in my fridge and there is no sign of sediment/yeast, yet Stingo is a bottle-conditioned beer.

    So my first question is...Can someone explain what's going on with Stingo?

    I have some basic understanding of aging and bottle-conditioning but I thought bottle-conditioning implied the presence of yeast/sediment, so if you can explain what's going on with Stingo I would appreciate it.

    Thanks, KP.
     
    #1 knightlypint, Jul 19, 2012
  2. Pahn

    Pahn Initiate (0) Dec 2, 2009 New York

    bottle conditioning means, exactly, that you're carbonating the beer by having yeast in the bottle eat up some sugar (usually extra sugar added at bottling time).

    your beer has already been bottle conditioned. if it bottle conditioned indefinitely, the creation of CO2 from the fermentation process would cause the bottles to explode.

    there may be further development in the bottle as you age the beer, but that development is not bottle conditioning.
     
    #2 Pahn, Jul 19, 2012
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  3. Homebrew42

    Homebrew42 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2006 New York

    You're not bottle conditioning anything, you're aging beers that incidentally are either bottle conditioned or they aren't. As Pahn stated, bottle conditioning is the act of naturally carbonating the beer in the bottle, which is already complete by the time the beer leaves the brewery.

    As far as the Stingo is concerned, if it is bottle conditioned then by definition there is yeast in the bottle, unless the bottle is disgorged after bottle conditioning as some champagne is, but that's unlikely. As to why you're not seeing sediment I can't say, are you sure the beer is bottle conditioned? Some bottle conditioned beers have very little sediment in them and it may be difficult to see, like Sierra Nevada for example.
     
    #3 Homebrew42, Jul 19, 2012
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  4. sergeantstogie

    sergeantstogie Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2010 Washington

    Unless it's a Lost Abbey
     
    #4 sergeantstogie, Jul 19, 2012
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  5. knightlypint

    knightlypint Initiate (0) Apr 18, 2012 New Jersey

    Ok, so any bottle-conditioning is most likely already complete by the time I buy the bottle? After that it's all aging?

    re Stingo: I will recheck, I could swear I read it's bottle-conditioned. But I'm positive there hasn't been any sediment at the bottom of the 6 bottles I drank over the last few months.

    Thanks, KP.
     
    #5 knightlypint, Jul 20, 2012
  6. knightlypint

    knightlypint Initiate (0) Apr 18, 2012 New Jersey

    All the info points to Stingo being a b-c beer, which I believe it states on the bottle. So I can only assume Homebrew is correct...there's so little sediment it's difficult to see. I've been pouring every last drop into my glass so I must be drinking the sediment, yet there's no trace of it in the appearance (cloudiness) or the flavor (bitterness).
     
    #6 knightlypint, Jul 20, 2012
  7. yinzer

    yinzer Initiate (0) Nov 24, 2006 Pennsylvania

    It's rare but a non-bottle conditioned beer can have sediment in it. It's just not yeast.
     
    #7 yinzer, Jul 24, 2012
  8. podunkparte

    podunkparte Initiate (0) Nov 14, 2009 Washington

    Hey Oh!
     
    #8 podunkparte, Jul 24, 2012
  9. harrymel

    harrymel Initiate (0) Dec 15, 2010 Washington

    It can still be yeast, but the beer didn't utilize that yeast to carbonate the beer. If a beer is unfiltered and force carbonated, there can still be a good sized yeast cake.
     
    #9 harrymel, Jul 24, 2012
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