Start bottle fermentation very cold???

[erritsoe]

I've just returned from a holiday to Belgium and I heard that one brewery had a new (for me) approach, when bottling the beer.

After bottling they had this schedule:

3 weeks in a fridge (10" C)
3 weeks in room temperature (20-21" C)
12 weeks in a fridge (10" C)

Has anyone tried playing with this way to do the last fermentation on the bottles. I'm used to start with 2-3 weeks in room temperature - then in a fridge...

Regards from Alex, Denmark

 

[unionrdr]

I don'y know why they'd cold crash int eh bottles first, then bring back to room temp to carbonate & condition? Seems backwards to me. Just carb & condition at room temp for 3-4 weeks on average, then a week in the fridge to clear any chill haze that may form & compact the yeast/trub on the bottom of the bottles. It'll also give better carbonation & head. Two weeks in the fridge even moreso. The last time would be lagering.

 

[FarmerTed]

It seems weird, but they may be doing it to reduce ester formation when during carbonation. Or, they may be using a lager yeast for refermentation. I have read/heard about Belgian breweries adding lager yeast at bottling. Either way, I doubt they would do it if it didn't work for them.