Belgian Secondary in the bottle?

[Nyxator]

I'm going to be brewing some Belgian style beers soon, and after reading Brew Like a Monk, it seems to me that most (if not all) Belgian styles essentially go through their secondary fermentation in the the bottle.

Most of my searches on this topic result in people doing extended secondaries in carboys, but nothing much on doing the secondary in the bottle.

I was hoping to find out if anybody has had any experience bottling these types of beers after a long primary fermentation and allowing the secondary to take place in the bottle to carbnate and condition the beer.

My idea is to use some wine bottles and corks instead of capping these beers so they can withstand the extra pressure, but I'm still concerned about having a bunch of bottle bombs and gushers on my hands.

Has anyone else tried this?

 

[Bert]

You're probably taking about the bigger Belgian styles but I've had great luck with going secondary-less on wits. Two weeks in a glass primary and straight to bottle. Even after just two weeks in the bottle it tastes great.

 

[Nyxator]

Yeah, good point. I'm thinking along the lines of dubbel's, trippels, strong ales, etc. I can see how a Wit wouldn't benefit much from a secondary.

 

[john from dc]

if the beer is down around its estimated fg for 3 days before you bottle then you shouldn't have to worry about bottle bombs.

i've heard some talk of the benefits of bulk conditioning, but not much of an explanation. i don't doubt it, but i bet your beer would condition fine in bottles.

my reason for leaving my belgians the carboy as long as possible is that i have trouble letting bottles of beer sit around undrunk. if it's in the carboy i can't drink it, and neither can my roommate!