So a buddy and I are having a debate. Him and his brother just brewed their first batch of beer and I asked if he was going to use CO2 when he bottled it. He said no. In order to keep beer freshest for the longest amount of time, is it wise to use CO2 when bottling home brew?
I'm not sure I understand the question. CO2 is naturally produced during fermentation. homebrewers, any brewer, can referment in the bottle or keg to capture CO2 and produce carbonated beer. or the brewer can inject CO2 from another source, but this is not an option for a homebrewer who is bottling. beer is carbonated. should be anyway. maybe the debate should be about the presence of oxygen in beer? oxygen stales finished beer very quickly. CO2 good. O2 bad. Cheers.
Maybe you're talking about flushing the bottles with CO2 before filling them? Wouldn't carb the beer but could help with oxygen exposure.
Only the commercial brewers have the equipment that allows forced carbonation of the beer while bottling. Homebrewers have to add a tiny amount of sugar to the beer at the time of bottling, and the yeast will consume this sugar after the beer is capped, thus this small refermentation that occurs will produce the CO2 that pressurizes the bottle and carbonates the beer. It's one definition of bottle-conditioning.
You should use a sugar solution to prime your beer. Something like this should get you there: http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
