Capping/corking a belgian for aging

Noob belgian brewer here. I am planning my first belgian brew, either a tripel or a quad, and had a question about how to age it. Can I just bottle as normal with my hand-capper, or should I use the bigger bottles and belgian corks?

Thanks for the advice!

movet22 said:

Can I just bottle as normal with my hand-capper, or should I use the bigger bottles and belgian corks?

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Either way will work great. For example St Bernardus uses caps and corks with the same aging expectations. You can aways "class up" your capped bottles for cheap by dipping them in wax. Bulk age for as long as possible imo.

Go for the Belgian style bottles and corks. They will look awesome and you will impress your friends with your class. But also I think they will just work better for Belgians. Not sure on the why, haven't brewed one yet. But I do drink a lot of em and 9/10 I would say are corked. You could also do half and half for the sake of experimenting?

Yeah, I am planning on brewing this and then not touching it for a year. We'll see how long I can actually hold out.

Thanks for the help!

First of all you need a pretty good corker to use the belgian corks. I don't believe they are preserved any better than a capped beer. The presentation is very nice though.

I use Oxygen absorbing caps for aged beers (most Belgians are in this category for me). A regular cap would work fine too, just try to minimize any oxygen introduced while filling the bottle. I use std 12 oz bottles. Dipping in wax again is a nice presentation, but probably not necessary for normal cellaring times. Maybe some benefit if you are aging longer than 3 years, I dunno.

I like the idea of a capped beer and then dipping it in wax. Its economical-chic hahaha

Swarley88 said:

Go for the Belgian style bottles and corks. They will look awesome and you will impress your friends with your class. But also I think they will just work better for Belgians. Not sure on the why, haven't brewed one yet. But I do drink a lot of em and 9/10 I would say are corked. You could also do half and half for the sake of experimenting?

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It's all marketing, same thing on wax. That being said, I cork a lot of beer because I like opening corked bottles.

OP no reason to do anything other than oxygen barrier caps unless you want to. Careful with the wax if you go that way for aesthetics. Most commercial waxed beers and almost all the waxed homebrews I've had have had way to much/wrong wax and a completer PITA to open.

We usually utilize swing tops for our Belgians but have capped hundreds of them with no difference in quality. My only suggestion would be to perhaps gain more experience in brewing Belgians before wanting to cellar one away for up to a year. Some Belgians do better with long aging than others, and many Belgians taste great in just a couple of months. It might be a good idea to refine your technique and make a quality Belgian worth storing for a year before brewing your first one, locking it away for a year and finding it didn't turn out the way you thought it would...

We brew a lot Belgians, some we let sit for 6-12 months and some we begin drinking at 2-3 months... depends on what we are looking for, ABV, and style. Whatever you choose to do, have a good time. Brewing Belgians can be a lot of fun...

One reason that a lot of Belgian beers come in Champagne-style bottles is because they're very strongly carbonated. A regular beer bottle can only handle ~3 vol of CO2, the thick walled Belgians can handle a lot more. I don't think it has anything to do with aging. Presentation and carbonation are the reasons.

zachattack said:

One reason that a lot of Belgian beers come in Champagne-style bottles is because they're very strongly carbonated.

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true but there are many types of thick glass bottles that can be capped. i have enough thick glass bottles (champagne and otherwise) for 3 batches. duvel is an example of a beer that comes capped.

Oh I agree. I'm not saying they have to have to be in Champagne-style bottles, I'm just saying that's why many breweries use them for the larger formats. Most of the Belgian styles (domestic or imported) I've seen come in corked 750 mL bottles or smaller capped bottles. A small (330 mL) Westmalle bottle is made of nice thick glass.

there are a number of corked bottles that can be capped if you get a 29mm bell for your capper (and 29 mm caps, obviously).

sweetcell said:

there are a number of corked bottles that can be capped if you get a 29mm bell for your capper (and 29 mm caps, obviously).

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That's another great idea. I raided the neighbor recycling bins after new years to bottle my high co2 ciders. Many of the Champange bottles have a 'lip' you can cap as well as cork. The 29mm bell is not compatible with hand cappers though , you need a bench capper.

Totes said:

The 29mm bell is not compatible with hand cappers though , you need a bench capper.

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Here you go. $2.99 if you have a Red Baron wing capper.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/29mm-bell-female-threads-red-barron-new-agata.html

solbes said:

Here you go. $2.99 if you have a Red Baron wing capper.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/29mm-bell-female-threads-red-barron-new-agata.html

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Arrr! Salt in the wounds! Oh well, I wanted a bench capper anyways. (damn LHBS)

True Belgians are highly carbonated, almost twice as much pressure as a standard ale. Regular beer glass isn't built to hold that much pressure, thus the heavy duty champagne style bottles and corks used for true bottle conditioned Belgians. If you plan on cold storage or lower carbonation, you should be fine.

PDX_T said:

heavy duty champagne style bottles and corks used for true bottle conditioned Belgians.

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the thick glass is needed, but the corks aren't required. a well-pressed cap can handle the pressure just fine.

sweetcell said:

the thick glass is needed, but the corks aren't required. a well-pressed cap can handle the pressure just fine.

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good point

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/750-ml-belgian-style-beer-bottles-crown-finish.html

It's probably safest to use the special thick glass bottles for bottling highly carbonated Belgian beers, but I use regular 12 oz and 22 oz bottles at 4.0 vol CO2 without any issues.

You can also use 26mm crown finish champagne bottles if your LHBS has them.

Capping is a little easier to do, but if you have a corker already corked bottles are undeniably cool. You do need a special corker and there is a little bit of a learning curve for corking champagne and Belgian beer bottles that require the cork to be seated to a certain depth.