anchor brewery claims?

so, i picked up a sixer of anchor brewery's porter the other day, and on the bottle they say it's "naturally carbonated" but looking at it, it's obviously not bottle-conditioned. how are they doing this?

i'm guessing it's just in an airtight container of sorts, priming sugar added, then bottled just like a force-carbed beer and just staying a little above the sediment layer, but if anyone has any actual insight, that would be bueno (mostly just curious)

What is natural? What is unnatural? The supernatural?

Seriously, read an article on this recently. Natural has absolutely no legal meaning according to the FDA. You will see it on many products, but it doesn't mean anything.

that was my other thought.

CO2 is natural. So, I guess they speak the truth (in an ambiguous sort of way).

Maybe they collect and reuse the CO2 from the fermentation like the Germans are supposed to do?

Quite possibly before the beer reaches terminal gravity, the bright tank is kept sealed (aka no blow-off tube) and as the beer finishes the co2 that is produced by the yeast is absorbed back into the beer and carbonates it. Then as suggested, when it moves to packaging it is racked off above the yeast and/or filtered so it is crystal clear.

Look for a thread on here about fermenting under pressure for more info about this type of process.

Might be that the beer is just very young. Sierra Nevada bottle conditions their beers too. If you get a really fresh batch at a liquor store, you might not see any yeast precipitate at the bottom of the beer, but if you let those bottle sit around for a few months you will start to see a precipitation. Most commercial brewers will filter their beer and re-pitch yeast with 1million yeast/ml and the proper amount of sugar. At this level the beer will still be clear.

cyberbackpacker said:

Quite possibly before the beer reaches terminal gravity, the bright tank is kept sealed (aka no blow-off tube) and as the beer finishes the co2 that is produced by the yeast is absorbed back into the beer and carbonates it. Then as suggested, when it moves to packaging it is racked off above the yeast and/or filtered so it is crystal clear.

Look for a thread on here about fermenting under pressure for more info about this type of process.

Click to expand...

Yep, AFAIK this is how most "naturally carbonated" beers are done. Spunding valves are very handy.

cyberbackpacker said:

Quite possibly before the beer reaches terminal gravity, the bright tank is kept sealed (aka no blow-off tube) and as the beer finishes the co2 that is produced by the yeast is absorbed back into the beer and carbonates it. Then as suggested, when it moves to packaging it is racked off above the yeast and/or filtered so it is crystal clear.

Look for a thread on here about fermenting under pressure for more info about this type of process.

Click to expand...

I took a tour at Surly in Minneapolis last month, and this was the process they described using. They then fine-tune the carbonation using forced pressure into the bright tank. I suppose that final step could be eliminated, leaving the beer "naturally carbonated."

Couldn't they also "naturally carbonate" by adding priming sugar to a sealed tank (should they not be using the estimated seal tank during the fermentation process)? Similar to priming in a keg by adding priming sugar (or by using a spunding valve) the beer becomes naturally carbonated, without the use of external CO2, but can subsequently be bottled from the keg, leaving no yeast residue in the bottle.

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rexbanner said:

What is natural? What is unnatural? The supernatural?

Seriously, read an article on this recently. Natural has absolutely no legal meaning according to the FDA. You will see it on many products, but it doesn't mean anything.

Click to expand...

I've heard that the reason why beer (and other products with alcohol) can say things like "frost brewed", "natural carbonation", et al is because these things are regulated by the ATF (under the Dept. of Justice) and not the FDA (under the Dept. of Health & Human Services), which does not have the same rules that most of us are used finding in every other food/drink. The ATF has slightly different, but not contrary, standards.

eh2010 said:

I've heard that the reason why beer (and other products with alcohol) can say things like "frost brewed", "natural carbonation", et al is because these things are regulated by the ATF (under the Dept. of Justice) and not the FDA (under the Dept. of Health & Human Services), which does not have the same rules that most of us are used finding in every other food/drink. The ATF has slightly different, but not contrary, standards.

Click to expand...

http://fyiliving.com/diet/nutrition/what-does-natural-mean-on-a-food-label/

I wouldn't care about a food product saying "natural." People should just use their brains and buy healthy things. 5 mins of google research will tell you about any harmful preservatives you can look for, basic nutrition smarts teaches you what to value in food, and common sense tells you that a frozen meal in a box or case of juicy juice is probably not as good for you as the real thing.

Many years ago we toured the Upper Canada brewing co and I noticed their large CO2 tank and asked about it. They naturally carbonate their beers, as I suspect most breweries do. The problem is when you force filter a beer, you also degas it. The solution is to force it through the filter with an external CO2 source. By doing this, you can keep your CO2. So technically, the beer was naturally carbonated