Bottle despite layering?

After eight weeks in secondary, I am about to bottle my Belgian Tripel. However, after moving the carboy, I noticed that there was layering(I believe the term is stratification) present. The top 2 gallons were slightly darker than the bottom three. I had seen this before, but only early in primary. I'm aware that it is a part of the clearing process and the darker layer on top only appears darker due to the lack of yeast(which reflect light). I wouldn't have been surprised to see this even early in secondary, but after eight weeks?!?

My question is, should I continue with my plans to bottle or wait until the layering hits the bottom of the carboy? As best as I can guess, the worst thing that could happen going ahead with bottling is my Tripel might not be as clear as possible. I would also be confident that there is enough yeast in suspension to carbonate. However, I am willing to be patient if it will make my final product the best it can be.

What are your thoughts everyone? Bottling day rests in your capable hands.

Since it is at FG I would bottle it.

I've bottle some pretty hazy beer and it has always cleared up nicely with time. You will have a little more sediment in the bottles than if you left it to clear more but that is not a big deal.

Pretty much what I figured. I'll go ahead with bottling today.

It seems like if the layered color is sticking around that it's not yeast falling out, but instead oxidation (which darkens beer). Is that possible, that the beer had some headspace during the 8 weeks in the carboy?

Yooper said:

It seems like if the layered color is sticking around that it's not yeast falling out, but instead oxidation (which darkens beer). Is that possible, that the beer had some headspace during the 8 weeks in the carboy?

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Even if it did have head space, wouldn't racking it over to a secondary cause the release of a sufficient amount CO2 from the fermented beer to displace some if not all of the Oxygen in the carboy? I think that even if you racked super gently, at minimum it should have been enough to create a protective layer over the beers surface since CO2 is heavier then Oxygen.

Ladd said:

Even if it did have head space, wouldn't racking it over to a secondary cause the release of a sufficient amount CO2 from the fermented beer to displace some if not all of the Oxygen in the carboy? I think that even if you racked super gently, at minimum it should have been enough to create a protective layer over the beers surface since CO2 is heavier then Oxygen.

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No, not really. There may be a tiny bit of dissolved co2 released, but certainly not enough to fill the entire headspace of a vessel, or to protect it long term. Short term, maybe.

I have to disagree. Fermentation will leave the beer super saturated with dissolved CO2, which will start to dissipate from the beer as soon as you start moving it around (i.e. racking it). If that wasn't the case, lagers would oxidize during extended periods in the secondary, unless your topping up with sterile water or pumping CO2 in to displace any Oxygen as there will always be head space from leaving all the trub behind in the primary. I've left beers in secondary's for extended periods of time with all kinds of head space before and have never had an oxidation problem.

Ladd said:

I have to disagree. Fermentation will leave the beer super saturated with dissolved CO2, which will start to dissipate from the beer as soon as you start moving it around (i.e. racking it). If that wasn't the case, lagers would oxidize during extended periods in the secondary, unless your topping up with sterile water or pumping CO2 in to displace any Oxygen as there will always be head space from leaving all the trub behind in the primary. I've left beers in secondary's for extended periods of time with all kinds of head space before and have never had an oxidation problem.

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You can certainly disagree! That's the point of a forum.

I will just refer to the "ideal gas law" (basic physics), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas_law as when you put the beer into a carboy even if it is letting off some dissolved co2 (and it's not that much, it's certainly not "saturated" with it and even less "super saturated"), the carboy itself has air in it and that air is approximately 21% oxygen. Less headspace means less oxygen in the carboy, of course. And temperature plays a role (the lagering point).

If you haven't had any oxidation issues, that's great. But most of the beers I've judged in competition do exhibit some degree of oxidation, and some far worse than others. That tends to be one of the most common flaws, although in some cases it's not unpleasant in beers such as barleywines and is in fact quite expected.

Yooper said:

If you haven't had any oxidation issues, that's great. But most of the beers I've judged in competition do exhibit some degree of oxidation, and some far worse than others. That tends to be one of the most common flaws, although in some cases it's not unpleasant in beers such as barleywines and is in fact quite expected.

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I can see how having some degree of oxidation could be the most common problem, however I just think it is much more likely to be caused by splashing the beer around when moving around the fermenter, during racking/transfers and when bottling or kegging rather then during secondary fermentation. Especially if there was even a slight degree of fermentation still going on at the time it is transferred, as there will still be CO2 being generated that would further displace the O2. Once there is a blanket of CO2, even a small one, separating the surface of the beer from the atmosphere, it will protect it until it has been displaced.

Ladd said:

Once there is a blanket of CO2, even a small one, separating the surface of the beer from the atmosphere, it will protect it until it has been displaced.

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but the "blanket" of c02 in secondary is a fallacy. There is no such thing. Again, it's simply the laws of physics, and not something I made up!