Bottle conditioned beer much much better than same batch in keg?

[mattsearle]

I have recently brewed an APA and I filled a corny keg with most of it, then batch primed and filled 12 bottles as well with the rest. After 10 days the keg is pretty good but not exactly what I was going for. I tried a bottle and it was hands down the best beer I've ever brewed! The aroma, flavour and bitterness were all literally perfect as far as I was concerned.

I'm wondering if this is because of the extra 10 days conditioning that the bottles have had at room temperature whilst the keg has been at fridge temps? If so should I remove the keg from the fridge for a week or so, and will it come up to the same level do you think? I'd love to have a whole keg that tastes like the bottles?

Cheers

 

[RM-MN]

I think you have it right. Beers mature much faster warm than cold. When you filled your keg and immediately chilled it, you really slowed down that maturation.

 

[wilserbrewer]

How old is the beer? Sometimes I keg at 10-14 days, then let the beer condition at basement temps for a week or more before moving to the kegerator.

 

[mongoose33]

Interesting.

I'm usually cold-crashing at 2 weeks, then keg and put in the keezer, but it's often 2-4 weeks before I end up at the flavor I was looking for.

I have two beers in fermenters; I think I'll cold crash them, keg them, then keep them in my basement (ambient 65 degrees) for a couple weeks before keezering them.

 

[mattsearle]

That's for the replies guys I think you've all confirmed my suspicions so I'll take the keg out of the fridge for a bit and see how it changes! Cheers

 

[headfullahops]

I don't know that it's a good idea to bring the beer back to room temp after having refrigerated it. I can't site any sources, but I believe that is a way to degrade the quality of your beer. Might be a better idea to age it longer at serving temp. Just a thought. Cheers!

 

[RM-MN]

Interesting.

I'm usually cold-crashing at 2 weeks, then keg and put in the keezer, but it's often 2-4 weeks before I end up at the flavor I was looking for.

I have two beers in fermenters; I think I'll cold crash them, keg them, then keep them in my basement (ambient 65 degrees) for a couple weeks before keezering them.

Try one batch where you leave it in the fermenter for 5 or 6 weeks, no cold crash, keg and serve when carbonated. Look for clarity and flavor.

 

[mongoose33]

Try one batch where you leave it in the fermenter for 5 or 6 weeks, no cold crash, keg and serve when carbonated. Look for clarity and flavor.

I have a smash (Maris Otter and Styrian Celeia) in fermenter right now--just had it at 71 degrees to finish. This morning its....10 days in fermenter. Had a good vigorous fermentation with S-04. Haven't checked FG yet, maybe tonite.

The last SMASH I did in June took about 4 weeks in the keg to mellow out, and it became my son's and another friend's favorite. Was a little green for a while, then settled down.

With something like a SMASH, what might I expect from keeping it in the fermenter as opposed to simply cold-crashing it and keeping it in the keezer for a month?

 

[GHBWNY]

I don't know that it's a good idea to bring the beer back to room temp after having refrigerated it. I can't site any sources, but I believe that is a way to degrade the quality of your beer. Might be a better idea to age it longer at serving temp. Just a thought. Cheers!

This was one of my first questions regarding bottle-conditioning beer when I started out, i.e., can I condition it at room temp 3 weeks, chill it a week, bring it back up to (cooler) room-temp storage until such time I chill it again prior to consumption without it affecting flavor?

The overwhelming response was: Yes.

 

[RM-MN]

I have a smash (Maris Otter and Styrian Celeia) in fermenter right now--just had it at 71 degrees to finish. This morning its....10 days in fermenter. Had a good vigorous fermentation with S-04. Haven't checked FG yet, maybe tonite.

The last SMASH I did in June took about 4 weeks in the keg to mellow out, and it became my son's and another friend's favorite. Was a little green for a while, then settled down.

With something like a SMASH, what might I expect from keeping it in the fermenter as opposed to simply cold-crashing it and keeping it in the keezer for a month?

I'm not a chemist or biologist but it seems like there is a chemical/biological change to beers that take them from green to mature. That process progresses faster at room temp than it does when it is cold. I'm hoping that your beer will lose its "green" flavor and be ready to drink as soon as it is chilled in the keezer instead of needing to wait a month for that process to be complete. Try it one time and if I am wrong, I will apologize for suggesting it.

 

[helibrewer]

I have recently brewed an APA and I filled a corny keg with most of it, then batch primed and filled 12 bottles as well with the rest. After 10 days the keg is pretty good but not exactly what I was going for. I tried a bottle and it was hands down the best beer I've ever brewed! The aroma, flavour and bitterness were all literally perfect as far as I was concerned.

I'm wondering if this is because of the extra 10 days conditioning that the bottles have had at room temperature whilst the keg has been at fridge temps? If so should I remove the keg from the fridge for a week or so, and will it come up to the same level do you think? I'd love to have a whole keg that tastes like the bottles?

Cheers

Did you prime the keg or force carb it? The small amount of fermentation that happens during bottle conditioning helps scrub dissolved O2 from the beer. I think the true test would be to treat them both the same, priming and temperature wise.

 

[mattsearle]

Did you prime the keg or force carb it? The small amount of fermentation that happens during bottle conditioning helps scrub dissolved O2 from the beer. I think the true test would be to treat them both the same, priming and temperature wise.

I did consider this as possibly being part of it, as I didn't prime the beer that went into the keg, only force carbed it. I'll leave it a while at room temps and see how that affects it, & if it doesn't improve then next brew I do I'll batch prime the lot.
Cheers