Bottle conditioning without carbonation

[nik_taylor]

Hi,

I'm just getting started with my first all grain brew this weekend. I plan to make a clone brew of a British beer from Wheelers book. I'm a Brit in the US and want the final product to taste like home which means no carbonation (flat and warm!).

I have looked around a few different forums and i cant find much on how to bottle conditioning without carbonation. I'm wondering if i transfer to secondary for a few weeks to drop out residual floculant material then bottle for a few weeks.

Is this possible or do i at least need to put in a small amount of sugar to keep up the positive CO2 pressure in the bottle?

Thanks in advance.

 

[htc]

I've never experienced beer on the other side of the pond, but I was curious and looked up the carbonation levels for real cask ale, which i assume is what you're trying to copy here... Even this "flat" beer still has some CO2 in solution, and from what I've read is something like 1.2-1.8 volumes. Northern Brewer has a nifty priming sugar calculator that you can use to get where you want to be.

If you want it to be truly flat, I don't see anything wrong with bottling without any priming sugar. Although, I don't know of any beer style that is served this way.

 

[nik_taylor]

I've never experienced beer on the other side of the pond, but I was curious and looked up the carbonation levels for real cask ale, which i assume is what you're trying to copy here... Even this "flat" beer still has some CO2 in solution, and from what I've read is something like 1.2-1.8 volumes. Northern Brewer has a nifty priming sugar calculator that you can use to get where you want to be.

If you want it to be truly flat, I don't see anything wrong with bottling without any priming sugar. Although, I don't know of any beer style that is served this way.

That's exactly what i needed. Thanks.

 

[thadass]

If you ferment a beer at, say, 62F (16.7C), and can verify it did not get any warmer than that during fermentation nor during bottling, you'd have approx 0.94 Vol of CO2 already in solution from the primary fermentation.

I think bottling in that condition would be just fine, but a slight dose of priming sugar (calculated using the above calc) would work well. Be sure to enter the highest temperature experienced since the peak of primary fermentation has completed into the "Current temperature of beer (F)" field as this will help estimate the existing residual carbonation in solution.

Many British cask ales are placed in the cask with a few gravity points left to go in fermentation, or with a small dose of CO2. It's really the function of the cask system prior to serving that allows some of the carbonation to off-gas.

This is a handy chart for residual CO2 volumes, but just keep in mind you should use the highest temp the beer experienced since primary fermentation has completed. If fermentation finishes at 80F and you cold crash to 35F, you aren't magically going to absorb more CO2, because the yeast isn't producing any anymore

Note: for the Mild I made I carbonated to 1.8 and pour it somewhat violently to bring some of it out of solution, giving it a nice soft, almost-flat result.

 

[unionrdr]

Yes,even cask beers have low carbonation. But it seems to me that would gass off as the cask is emptied. Here's the priming calculator I use; http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html I tend to think bottled beers need a little bit of carbonation to keep air in the head space from just sitting there & spoiling the beer...

 

[thadass]

Yes,even cask beers have low carbonation. But it seems to me that would gass off as the cask is emptied. Here's the priming calculator I use; http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html I tend to think bottled beers need a little bit of carbonation to keep air in the head space from just sitting there & spoiling the beer...

Very nice unionrdr, I really like that calculator more than the NB one. The explanation of the "Beer Temperature" is much better for those new to the idea!

 

[unionrdr]

I just hope it helps the op as well. Even those English styles wind up with some carbonation. I've primed so far with Demerara sugar (raw cane sugar),table sugar & dextrose (corn sugar) & they all worked pretty well when made into a solution.

 

[nik_taylor]

Thanks all. This has been very helpful.

 

[Zepth]

...
This is a handy chart for residual CO2 volumes, but just keep in mind you should use the highest temp the beer experienced since primary fermentation has completed.

Slight OT but I suspected this might have been my fault a little while ago. Tried a bottle and it seemed dangerously undercarbed but I had used the current temp. I think it was around 8-10 F cooler than when fermentation stopped. I admit it was also a case of "Checking the bottle long before the calendar dictates." That rarely helps matters. Aside from that it's exactly as I envisioned.