Cellar Science

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by SovietBillCosby, Nov 11, 2014.

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  1. SovietBillCosby

    SovietBillCosby Devotee (360) Dec 6, 2013 New Jersey

    Is there an actual resource or research that describes what is going on during the cellaring process?
    From what I've gathered, the only descriptions of what's going on is the bottle is it's mellowing out or settling impurities.

    But are there factors that are actually changing? Like ABV or IBUs? Is it oxidation that occurs in the bottle or does it need to be bottle conditioned?
     
    #1 SovietBillCosby, Nov 11, 2014
  2. AndrewK

    AndrewK Savant (1,123) Oct 20, 2006 California

    A great resource for cellaring which came out recently is the book Vintage Beer by Patrick Dawson:
    http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Beer-...8&qid=1415736400&sr=8-1&keywords=vintage+beer
    You can read the first two chapters for free on Amazon, and they give a ton of good info on what is actually happening inside the bottle.

    There are some scientific issues in beer aging that are still being debated (e.g. where trans-2 actually comes from), but he gives a lot of the science of beer aging that a lot of other sources skim over.
     
    #2 AndrewK, Nov 11, 2014
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  3. SovietBillCosby

    SovietBillCosby Devotee (360) Dec 6, 2013 New Jersey

    There's actually a great reference that he uses in his book: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814605000865
    There's some really interesting research about oxidation in there, and surprising to read that we can't be certain that oxidation is primary influence for the aging process.
    Surprises me how little and old the research actually is, though.
     
    #3 SovietBillCosby, Nov 11, 2014
  4. wesbray

    wesbray Initiate (0) Feb 29, 2012 Canada (AB)

    Seconded, just started reading this and some great information in there that i've never read anywhere else.
     
    #4 wesbray, Nov 17, 2014
  5. SovietBillCosby

    SovietBillCosby Devotee (360) Dec 6, 2013 New Jersey

    Would an aged keg have the same effect as an aged bottle?
     
    #5 SovietBillCosby, Dec 8, 2014
  6. youradhere

    youradhere Initiate (0) Feb 29, 2008 Washington

    Yes and/or no.
     
    #6 youradhere, Dec 9, 2014
  7. allforbetterbeer

    allforbetterbeer Savant (1,236) Sep 26, 2009 Colorado

    Apparently there is a difference. Most people will say that the beer in a keg will age more slowly (and favorably) than the same beer in a bottle. This is based on the idea that a great deal of the aging process is driven by oxygen in the container reacting with compounds in the beer (thereby "oxidizing" it). In a keg, the ratio of total volume of beer to air is much more favorable than the ratio in a 12oz bottle (and once filled, kegs can be easily purged of remaining air leaving only Co2 which is much more stable than O2). I have little experience with trying the same beer side by side from an aged keg and bottle, but the one keg-aged beer I have tasted was wonderful (4 y/o Great Divide Hibernation). I am building a vertical of bottled Hibernation and hope that the bottles turn out as well as that keg did, but I will wait till I have at least 6 years before opening them all.

    Following the logic above, 12oz cans/bottles age faster than 750 mL bottles, which age faster than magnums, which age faster than kegs. The exception would be growlers because the twist-top and swing-top closures used on them are the weakest of all bottle closure types and are notorious for leaking over the long term.
     
    #7 allforbetterbeer, Dec 9, 2014
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