Bottle to Bottle?

[Slive]

Hey! Just a random question. After my beer is done fermenting in the bottles, can I transfer it to a DIFFERENT bottle for serving? I wouldn't want to keep it for long, only maybe 5-6 hours or so, and I would keep it on ice.

I ask this because I just bought a couple nice-looking 1-liter bottles that I plan on giving as gifts, but all my beer is fermenting in crummy-looking brown bottles. I'd crack open a few bottles and transfer them all to the nice bottle, then take that bottle directly to the get-together.

Would that screw up the beer somehow? What do you think would happen?

 

[cubbies]

I don't know the science of it all ( I am sure someone else does), but I doubt it would work well. Think of a bottle of soda. If you crack it and take a swig, then put it in the fridge, come back a few hours later, it has definitely lost a lot of it's carb. I don't think it would go completely flat by any means, but it would not be right.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

If, somehow, you could manage to get it transferred and maintain the carbonation, there's no reason it would cause any harm to your beer, especially if you are planning to drink it soon after. But, that's a pretty big "if"...

What do you think would happen?

My guess is you'd pour, wind up with a ton of foam, make a mess, and then end up with flat beer. I don't think there's any feasible way to make the transfer (short of rigging up some sort of complex double-ended counter-pressure-filler/transfer system to transfer from one bottle to the other while keeping both bottles under pressure the whole time) without losing a significant amount of carbonation.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

My guess is you'd pour, wind up with a ton of foam, make a mess, and then end up with flat beer.

And possibly an open container violation along the way...

I agree, and it seems counter-productive to sacrifice the beer's quality for the sake of presentation.

 

[Slive]

Fair enough then, I'll let the flavor speak for itself Thanks!

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I agree that it probably wouldn't work out very well for you. If you have bottles that you want to use for presentation pusposes, see if you can find a way to cap or seal them with enough strength to support the pressure of bottle carbonation and use them when you bottle.

I have Growlers that I use for my session beers. It saves me a few trips to the fridge while I'm watching football on Sundays.