Bottling Hypothesis in progress

[bluidshay]

Howdy folks,

I brewed a Ginger Honey Apricot beer (my first "experiment" after my first brew the plain old Ginger Honey was a big hit) and bottled it on Sunday, using a variety of bottles. All are in the same closet and in equal sunlight (slim to none). Twelve of the bottles are Sierra Nevada "shorty" bottles (which from a cleaning aspect I found easy to remove the labels from; they seem to be quite liberal with their glue but it comes off like a charm and my husband loves their IPA so we have plenty on hand).

Checked on their progress tonight, and I found slim to none particle suspension in the Sierra bottles, although plenty still in the standard bottles. Curious, I popped one open (a week early, I KNOW, I KNOW!!!)

It had a head and was pleasant to drink. Go figure.

So my hypothesis is that the "shorty" bottles expediate the carbonization process once the beer is in the bottle. I have a different brew "in the can" ready to bottle in about a week and I'll be sure to bottle a 12-pack in Sierras again to prove this theory, and my husband has a Pilsner on deck so I will also recruit him.

Has anyone else had that experience? And why is that if the "quick Sierra completion" hypothesis proves to be correct? Is it that the sediment has a shorter distance to travel? I don't buy that because the sediment is very high in the standard bottles; it's not like it's "partially fallen" to the bottom inch or two. It's visibly absent in the Sierras and all over the place in the standard bottles.

This is my pseudoscientific mind at work. Perhaps you experts will just tell me to relax and have a home brew! But I am curious to see your feedback. I love science.

Cheers,

Blu

 

[Skyforger]

That's pretty interesting. Did you fill one sort of bottle before the others? Maybe there was more sediment in the beer at the beginning/end of the bottling. Or yeast, making some carb faster than others. Heck, maybe the shorter dimensions create more contact with sedimented yeast, speeding up the process a bit.

Guesses, all. The last one I think is really unlikely. But keep us posted!

 

[VegasBrew]

This question was addressed in an episode of Brew Strong, either the kegging show or it was a Q and A show. As John Palmer explained, you are correct. It is a combination of the liquid volume and the distance the particles have to travel. JP maintains that a bottle will clear much faster than a keg will. I would assume this would also transfer to different size bottles, but to a lessor extent. I have never tested this theory buy I would be curious to see your results.

VB

 

[bluidshay]

That's really interesting, and thank you both for responding. I will let you know what happens. Looks like my fermentation is over for the one I have in the can, so I'll be bottling that Sunday, most likely.