Inverting bottles a week into conditioning?

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

Hi all, so my first batch has been bottle conditioning for ~10 days now. I cracked and drank one after a week just to gauge how the carbonation was going, and it actually tasted pretty good, but figured I'd let the rest remain at room temp. for at least a week. I noticed in many of them tonight a small white layer on the bottom (presumably yeast), and decided to invert them all several times to kind of stir up the yeast, just in case it helped carb a bit better. Thoughts on this technique? Hope I didn't screw up any O2/CO2 concentrations in the headspace..

 

[brewmeister13]

Really no need. That layer at the bottom is yeast and larger particles (proteins and other trub) settling out, but if they are carbonating, you don't need to mess with them. You also won't hurt them too much by mixing them around. I just wouldn't shake them. Vibrations during shipping is one cause of degradation of beer (especially hoppy beer) during transit.

 

[C-Rider]

Vibrations during shipping is one cause of degradation of beer (especially hoppy beer) during transit.

WOW...wonder if that's what causes some of my contest beers to be gushers when at home they are not. I have to ship them to other islands in Hawai`i.

 

[MrHadack]

Vibrations during shipping is one cause of degradation of beer (especially hoppy beer) during transit.

Do you have any sort of link / reference for that?

 

[MrHadack]

Do you have any sort of link / reference for that?

Nevermind-- I found a source. Sierra Nevada seems to use the term "Scalping" for this loss of hop aroma due to vibration in shipping:

"According to Nielsen, agitation during shipping can be a significant contributing factor to degradation in aroma. As a beer sits on delivery trucks and eventually finds it way to your local liquor store, the beer’s aromas can be kicked up through the head space and slowly forced out of the crown liner, a process Sierra Nevada refers to as scalping."

I'm still curious about the science behind it, though. Seems anecdotal.

 

[AntonioMartins]

I'm still curious about the science behind it, though. Seems anecdotal.

Just wondering...

Probably the movement (and temperature) make the CO2 to "go out" from the liquid, and during this process, carry out the hops aroma diluted on the beer.

P.S. sorry for the poor English.

 

[eadavis80]

I tip my bottles over sometimes in the winter to help carbonate them a little quicker as my house is only 67 in the winter so the "three weeks at 70" rule sometimes is more like a month in my house. Tipping them upside down once seems to help get them carbonated in 3 weeks or less even in the winter.

 

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

Thanks eadavis80, guess I was right!
C-Rider, how did you get your signature over 4 lines of text?