Good evening, Beer gals and Beer Bros. I'm not extremely proficient in brewing terms so bear with me. I was drinking a great Pale Ale earlier (Propeller Pale Ale) and I noticed that on the label, it said "Naturally Aged". I could take a stab in the dark and say that maybe the brewery let the beer "age" before they bottled it but I really have no clue. Would anybody be able to elaborate on the "Natural aging" process of a Pale Ale?
It's meaningless marketing drivel. It could mean bottle conditioned, it could mean it is conditioned in the tank for a period of time. Every single beer is "naturally aged" from the moment it is racked to a conditioning tank, or packaged. There is no industry-wide definition for "naturally aged". It is just what *that* brewery choose to put on their bottle. Read nothing into it as it literally applies to every beer ever made.
nothing special mentioned on the webpage for the beer: http://www.drinkpropeller.ca/beers/12-pale_ale
One guess would be that is has been pasteurized. Pasteurization stops the natural aging of beer. But that doesn't mean it wasn't naturally aged in the bottle before it shipped
My guess would be bottle-conditioned, though I suppose if you don't see a little layer of yeasty buildup at the very bottom of the bottle once all the beer's been poured out (like in a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, there's always that faint "just enough to make the bottom of the bottle impossible to see through" off-white layer of yeast stuff down there) that might not be it.
There's absolutely no sediment in the bottle and the beer is not hazy by any means. Based on that, you could probably rule out bottle conditioning.
That's kind of true, but 'conditioning' can also refer to a period of time just sitting in a bottle or tank to allow the flavors to mature a bit.
