Lagering vs. bottle aging?

The most important thing that happens during lagering is that stuff has time to settle out. And the cold temp allows this to happen with the least amount of staling. Stuff can settle out in a bottle as easily as a keg (though it may get stirred up when you pour). The problem, as you guessed, is in introducing oxygen during transfer, so staling can be accelerated.

Some people not only lager in the bottle, but they also carbonate their lagers in the bottle. The issue with that is that the yeast, proteins, tannins, hop particles, etc. are still in the bottle, and can get stirred up when pouring. No matter how carefully you pour, nature demands that some of it ends up in your glass.

 

"Some people not only lager in the bottle, but they also carbonate their lagers in the bottle."

Lagers are advanced styles...if you are brewing lagers and don't own a kegging system or beer gun, you have your priorities ass-backwards...or like doing things the hard way : )

 

So you're saying that lagers don't belong in bottles if you are an amateur brewer?

 

No.

 

And yet my first place Dopplebock was bottle conditioned. Brew 6 weeks, kept cool another 3-4, then bottled, carbed at room temp, then aged more.

 

In my opinion, bottle conditioning results in a beer that very much resists staling. As to whether a lager will improve with additional time in the bottle (more conditioning post the lagering phase) I am very unsure. As has been discussed the principle activity during lagering is the precipitation of proteins, polyphenols, etc. Does additional precipitation occur with more time in the bottle (or keg)? I suppose that is possible but I personally have not noticed that in my bottle conditioned lagers. I would mention for the sake of discussion purposes that if a lager improves with additional time in the bottle (or keg) maybe the lagering phase was insufficient for that particular batch or style of beer? There is always debate on what is sufficient time for lagering. I personally follow the rule of thumb that Noonan states: lager 1 week for every 2 degrees P of the OG of the beer (e.g., 6 weeks of lagering for an OG = 1.048 beer).

Below is something that was posted by the moderator (a former professional brewer) on another beer forum which relates to this discussion; I agree with the below post 100%.

“My preference for priming stems from my feeling that the reproduction of the yeast before it ferments the priming sugar helps to scavenge oxygen, reduce staling and increase the shelf life of the beer. To me that's the biggest benefit of bottle/keg conditioning.

Some people may recall A-B's advertising campaign of a dozen or so years ago about the "born on" date on their packaging. That always rang false to me. It's more like a "died on" date, when the beer was filtered, pasteurized and became a lifeless commodity.”

Cheers!

 

Big Dopplebocks are one of the safer lager styles to buy...congrats on yours.