what chemical process takes place in bottle-conditioning?

[twd000]

I have brewed six batches so far, each of them turning out pretty darn good for a beginner. Each time I have tasted the "green" beer before bottling and wondered if it was going to "firm up" after a week or two in the bottle. Each time, I have been pleasantly surprised. I'm assuming keggers have a similar experience?

What is happening, chemically speaking, in that week or two in the bottle (besides carbonating)? What is making the flavors mature and the "body" increase so much in two weeks, when wines and high-alcohol beers take months to mature to drink-ability?

 

[BrewHerc]

I know one process is the absorption of Co2 by the beer, forming carbonic acid. Providing a change in the taste of the beer.

 

[lmnop]

Fermentation is the chemical process that turns the priming sugar into co2, but I assume you already knew that.

 

[twd000]

Fermentation is the chemical process that turns the priming sugar into co2, but I assume you already knew that.

yeah, so why does the one week of fermentation in the capped bottle lead to "maturing" the beer so much faster than the prior one-month fermentation in an air-locked carboy?

 

[jmo88]

yeah, so why does the one week of fermentation in the capped bottle lead to "maturing" the beer so much faster than the prior one-month fermentation in an air-locked carboy?

It does?

The problem you have with green beer and bottling is that the yeast are required to do their job all over again. They are creating some of those same green flavors again during the carbonation process that they created during the initial stages of primary fermentation.

As for kegging, you can still keg green beer. Just because it is carbed, doesn't mean it is matured. However, force carbing with co2 doesn't reactivate the yeast. Natural carbing, like bottle conditioning, causes the need for a longer conditioning time because the yeast do the work.

 

[Yooper]

yeah, so why does the one week of fermentation in the capped bottle lead to "maturing" the beer so much faster than the prior one-month fermentation in an air-locked carboy?

smaller volume? A carboy would age more evenly and much more slowly than individual bottles.

Also, the carbonic acid "bite" from the co2 provides some flavor, that "bite", mouthfeel, and body.

 

[sudbuster]

I have brewed six batches so far, each of them turning out pretty darn good for a beginner. Each time I have tasted the "green" beer before bottling and wondered if it was going to "firm up" after a week or two in the bottle. Each time, I have been pleasantly surprised. I'm assuming keggers have a similar experience?

What is happening, chemically speaking, in that week or two in the bottle (besides carbonating)? What is making the flavors mature and the "body" increase so much in two weeks, when wines and high-alcohol beers take months to mature to drink-ability?

Wow!! As a retired teacher, that's the kind of questions that are "great questions". Microbioligy will answer your questions. If you would like a profession in brewing it would serve you well. Even A BS degree would get you started. An MS, and you'd be set... Good luck Lad, and keep asking "good questions".....

 

[twd000]

Wow!! As a retired teacher, that's the kind of questions that are "great questions". Microbioligy will answer your questions. If you would like a profession in brewing it would serve you well. Even A BS degree would get you started. An MS, and you'd be set... Good luck Lad, and keep asking "good questions".....

thanks, but I already have a few years invested in a Mechanical Engineering MS! A career in brewing would have been wonderful, but I'm happy to build my knowledge as an amateur.

So far carbonic acid seems to be winning the day. So my follow-up question is regarding wine, which of course is aged without carbonation. What is the mechanism for turning one-month-old "hooch" into one-year-old fine wine?

 

[Yooper]

So far carbonic acid seems to be winning the day. So my follow-up question is regarding wine, which of course is aged without carbonation. What is the mechanism for turning one-month-old "hooch" into one-year-old fine wine?

Ain't going to happen! Wine usually has an excess of tannins and alcohol, and that needs time to meld and mellow.

For beer, it's usually acetaldehyde causing the "green beer" flavor. It's a fruity flavor, usually like green apples, that ages out and completely goes away in a short period of time, CH3CHO. It's believed to cause hangovers, but I'm not sure I buy that. It's an intermediate compound in the formation of your finished beer. That's usually the "green beer" or "young" flavor.

It's totally different in aging wine, for totally different reasons.

 

[sudbuster]

thanks, but I already have a few years invested in a Mechanical Engineering MS! A career in brewing would have been wonderful, but I'm happy to build my knowledge as an amateur.

So far carbonic acid seems to be winning the day. So my follow-up question is regarding wine, which of course is aged without carbonation. What is the mechanism for turning one-month-old "hooch" into one-year-old fine wine?

Cool, to get where you are, you are no slouch, You already have 2 chems or more so Organic chem and some professional texts, and you will know more than 90% of the amateur brewers could ever hope.....