I've noticed (like most people) that the last couple beers pulled from a keg are the best. I'm a firm believer that this is caused by length of time the beer conditions and ages in the keg. I wondered what the difference would be between bottle conditioned beer versus keg (bulk) conditioning. So I brewed up a 5 gallon batch of Ed's Haus Ale...after 10 days primary, 14 days secondary, and 4 weeks cold conditioning (while carbing); I bottled several beers using BM's bottle filler and sat the bottles next to the keg in the keggerator so they would be at the same temp as the keg. Four weeks later I pulled the last pint out of the keg and opened one of the bottles for a side by side test. There was no contest. Both beers were carbed perfect...(awesome invention BM...I can't say that enough), but the bottled beer tasted the same as the day it was put in the bottle. Very bitter and a little green. The pint out of the fridge was....well....down right awesome. So does this prove that bulk aging is better than bottle aging?.....At least I'm a convert with beer bottled off the keg. I guess beer bottle "conditioned"...that is to say with the active yeast in the bottle ages differently....but kegged, cold, and bulked conditioning/aging for me seems the way to go. Am I way off?
