How to transport a bottle conditioned ale

I recently brewed a really nice rye IPA, my first 5 gal batch using all grain. It's pretty tasty, so I invited some friends at work to a tasting the following day during lunch break. I bike to work, and that morning I put a 24 oz bottle in a snug pocket of my backpack on my way to work. Put it in a really cold refrigerator when I got in and went to my desk. The tasting was about 3.5 hours after fridging the beer, but I wonder if it needed more time.

At home the beer has been pouring with pretty good clarity. Not really cloudy, but it was pretty cloudy when I poured it out into 3 cups for the tasting. Also, I feel like the taste wasn't quite as delicious as it is at home straight out of the fridge. This is only my 5th batch, but I'm thinking that the yeast sediment got a little roused during transit, and it needed more time in the fridge to settle back out.

So considering this, is it safe to assume that bottle conditioned beers that are transported by bike (or any other method that's not super smooth) might need a full day in the fridge to settle out before giving to your beer snob friends?

My coworkers were still highly impressed, but they had no reference point to what I have experienced with this brew. I sensed that it wasn't at its peak, but they said they would drink it at pub and it would be as good as the next IPA.

laserghost said:

So considering this, is it safe to assume that bottle conditioned beers that are transported by bike (or any other method that's not super smooth) might need a full day in the fridge to settle out before giving to your beer snob friends?

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I would absolutely try to give it a full day in the fridge if possible. Any beers you bike over will have sediment kicked up pretty good, guaranteed.

I doubt one day will be enough, but still better than nothing.

First let the brew bottle condition as long as popssible without losing flavor, that will depend on the type. Refrigerate for at least a couple weeks then transport.

badhabit said:

First let the brew bottle condition as long as popssible without losing flavor, that will depend on the type. Refrigerate for at least a couple weeks then transport.

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. . . and if transporting by bike, refrigerate at least a few more day before sharing.

Growler:rockin:

You are suffering from the amazing phenomenon where we suddenly don't think our beer is good enough for people, even though in reality it is too good. You are your own worst critic. If you want it to be glimmering it has to be refrigerated for days, and poured straight from the fridge.

bottlebomber said:

You are suffering from the amazing phenomenon where we suddenly don't think our beer is good enough for people, even though in reality it is too good. You are your own worst critic. If you want it to be glimmering it has to be refrigerated for days, and poured straight from the fridge.

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This. I always think something is off, but my beer geek friends love everything I throw at them.

bottlebomber said:

You are suffering from the amazing phenomenon where we suddenly don't think our beer is good enough for people, even though in reality it is too good. You are your own worst critic. If you want it to be glimmering it has to be refrigerated for days, and poured straight from the fridge.

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Wait a second! So when my friends tell me that my beer is better than anything they have bought at the store, they aren't just saying that because they feel obligated?!??!

bleme said:

Wait a second! So when my friends tell me that my beer is better than anything they have bought at the store, they aren't just saying that because they feel obligated?!??!

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no they feel obligated. don't get a big head.

I "bottled" some beer in a growler and so far I'm almost possitive that it taste 1000x better than out of a 12oz bottle. Also it is a lot clearer. I think the yeast add a taste we don't expect when they are suspended

Frodo said:

no they feel obligated. don't get a big head.

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i did have one of them in a head lock while they were drinking it, just so they'd tell me what i wanted to hear. :fro:

that's interesting about the growler . . . i would have thought the opposite – that successive pouring would create waves that would kick up more sediment than a pour from a single bottle. i will try one out when bottling the next batch.

i tried to pour smoothly from a 24 oz bomber, but i think it really just needed to sit in the fridge longer.

I've transported bottles that have gotten shaken up enough to foam like crazy. I just told people to expect a bit of yeasty taste when they drank it. I probably would have been OK if I had them in the fridge for a few days and had they not fallen in transit.

with my growler I only had 2 pints from it. But a lot of people discourage growler bottling because some growlers can't take the pressure of forcing carbonation back into solution (vs already carbonated beer) essentially turning them into 64oz bottle bombs.

But mine was fine for an IPA bottled to around 2.2 vols CO2

I recently moved and all of my bottle conditioned beer had to endure a 4 hour car ride. Oh the horror! I put some in the fridge, those have been there for a little over three days and they still aren't as clear as when they were sitting on the basement floor at my old place. Not that they taste bad or anything, at least in my opinion.

Clearly the OPs friends/coworkers need to drop by his house if they want to drink his beer!

thatjonguy said:

This. I always think something is off, but my beer geek friends love everything I throw at them.

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I'm under the impression that most free beer is great. Beer geek or not.

I cheers to that