Bottling Strong Belgian Ales

[Mujo]

Hi, I will make a strong belgian ale and I was wondering if using corks similar to Unibroue's beers was a requirement?

I usually use 22oz crown caps bottles and I was wondering if there would be a real benefit to going with stronger bottles with corks...

What has been people's experience bottling strong belgian ales?

 

[SuperSynapse]

When you say "strong" do you mean High Gravity, like above 10% alcohol? Because it will need to be aged longer if it is.

I don't think it matters, the only reason for a cork now-a-days is for show, especially in beer. And you're not making champagne, so no need for strong bottles, or high pressure sealing.

Personally, I'd just use caps or do what the recipe says.

 

[Mujo]

When you say "strong" do you mean High Gravity, like above 10% alcohol? Because it will need to be aged longer if it is.

Yes, that's what I mean. I have no problem aging it longer.

If there's no practical advantage to bottling it in "bigger" bottles, I'll stick to my usual bottles.

 

[BrewThruYou]

The cork/cage is really for appearance. It's not necessary.

 

[SuperSynapse]

Yeah I've got my first two HG brews fermenting right now, and I'm going to secondary/age them in the keg. They both need to age for 6 months (after fermentation) before drinking, and can age as long as a year if I want. So be ready for that kind of a wait period.

One of the advantages to bottling small, is you can test how it is aging over the months. I did this with 3 batches of wine I made over spring, and it's great to sample a beer bottle size every blue moon to see how it's coming.

I've seen some crazy barlywines go for many years before being drinkable.

 

[RosewaterFoundation]

Well Belgian beers are usually a bit higher in carbonation than other beers and the corks and stronger bottles allow your beer to carb up to a higher point without exploding, as it would in regular bottles with a normal cap.