The Double Luck Brewing Process

The Double Luck Brewing Process:

Conditioning

URL: http://www.doubleluck.com/things/brewery/process/conditioning.php
Last modified: Wed, 27 May 2009 13:22:58 -0600
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Conditioning
Conditioning

Conditioning is the process of preparing the beer for consumption. Carbonation gives beer a sharper palette and feel, and aids in the formation of the head, so important to the look of beer. In addition, the beer needs just a little aging so that the complex flavors from the various grains and hops have a chance to blend and mellow. Beers that are light in color may need to be aged for a longer time, while darker beers tend to be ready sooner.

Before beginning the process, we again use a hydrometer to read the specific gravity of the beer. This final gravity gives us an indirect measure of the amount of unfermentable sugar that remains in the beer. Alternatively, use a refractometer to obtain a direct reading. The amount of sugar that has been eaten by the yeast can be used to calculate the amount of alcohol present in the beer.

Bottle Conditioning

For most home brewers, the next step is to bottle the beer. The beer is syphoned from the secondary fermentation vessel into a (sanitized) holding vessel. A small amount (typically no more than 3/4 cup) of priming sugar is added to instigate additional fermentation inside the bottles. The beer is placed into (sanitized) bottles, and stored in a cool, dark area. A short fermentation cycle will occur using the priming sugar. The main purpose of this fermentation is the production of carbon dioxide within the sealed bottles. As the pressure builds, this gas will dissolve, carbonating the beer, which will be ready to enjoy after a few days.

The fact that an additional fermentation cycle is used to carbonate the beer should point out an additional reason why it is important to use that hydrometer (or refractometer) to determine the amount of sugar remaining in the beer. The yeasts will happily eat up the priming sugar you add. But they do not know to stop at that point, and will continue eating up all the fermentable sugar they can find, making more and more carbon dioxide, raising the pressure higher and higher. If there is too much sugar, you will learn the location of the weakest part of the glass bottle, with unfortunate side effects. (Hint: It is normally where the flat bottom is attached.)

Forced Carbonation

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At the Double Luck, however, conditioning is performed in kegs rather than in bottles. The beer is syphoned directly from the secondary fermentation vessel into a (sanitized) stainless steel keg, without adding priming sugar. The keg is stored at the appropriate serving temperature for the particular style of beer, and placed under pressure from a CO₂ tank. The constant pressure will cause CO₂ to be dissolved into the beer. As the temperature decreases, even more CO₂ will be dissolved. After a couple of days of this treatment, the finished beer is ready to serve and enjoy!

Cask Conditioning

An alternative to forced carbonation is use "cask conditioning". In concept, cask conditioning is a hybrid of the two approaches above. The beer is placed into a cask (or keg), but CO₂ pressure is not applied artificially. Instead, priming sugar is added to the cask, which is then sealed, and a short fermentation cycle occurs. This fermentation releases carbon dioxide gas, and carbonation occurs as the pressure builds.

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In their purest form, the making and serving of cask conditioned ales avoids all use of artificial conditioning methods. The use of a wooden cask is traditional, as opposed to a stainless steel keg. Since a wooden cask cannot hold as much gas pressure as a steel keg, the amount of carbonation in a cask conditioned ale is normally lower. When serving the beer, rather than pushing the beer out of the keg with pressurized gas, it is traditionally pumped out of the cask by hand using a device known as a "beer engine", as shown to the right. This is how the phrase "pulling a beer" originated. As the beer is removed from the cask, its volume is replaced by air. Unfortunately, exposure to air has a detrimental impact on beer, making the shelf life of a cask conditioned ale much less than the artificial methods. And this makes cask conditioned ales quite uncommon these days. On the other hand, cask conditioned beers are usually "dry hopped", where raw hops are placed into the cask while conditioning occurs, imparting a delicious fresh hop flavor, making them a special treat to be sought and savored!

At the Double Luck, a cask conditioned ale is not exposed to oxygen. As the beer is removed from the cask, its volume is replaced by CO₂ using a device known as an aspirator. This gadget allows gas to flow into the cask as needed without increasing the pressure inside.

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