I have a Rosé style beer that’s almost done fermenting. It’s a Belgian golden strong ale that I added hibiscus, black currant, and strawberries to when the SG got down to 1.010. I would like to bottle condition this in champagne bottles with a high level of carbonation and serve it similar to champagne. The OG was 1.081 and I expect it to finish around 1.000 because I added amylase. With that being said, its gonna be 15-16% from what I’ve calculated.
I would like this beer to bright but here’s where my question lies… With preventing cold side oxidation in mind… Would you guys cold crash in primary, bottle right off the fermenter, and just let the bottles hopefully get bright on their own over the months that it will take to carbonate?
Or is it possible to keg this beer and let it sit in my kegerator at something like <5 PSI for a month or so to get bright and then bottle off the keg and bottle condition from there? I didn’t know if it was possible to do such a thing… Finally, how high would you go with the carbonation level? I was thinking at least 3 volumes but with champagne bottles would you go higher? Thank you!
If you have the ability to keg I would carb in the keg and then bottle from there. This has the added level of protection that if the fermentation is not complete (because you are hinting it might not be) you can monitor it a bit longer before bottling. I have never gotten massive carbonation in high OG beers myself. I’m saying all of this as a bottle only brewer as well.
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I don’t bottle any more. If you believe there is a bit more fermenting to do, let it finish up, then push it into a keg with CO2… Seal the lid using say 40 PSI’s. And then get the carbonation going in your keezer… Is this the time for bio clear? Perhaps… You’ll pull a sample from time to time, which will pull out the sediment. Need more CO2? Turn up the pressure… Be alert to not over carb your other kegs… Once you’ve reached your desired volume, time to bottle… ALA the Mueller method…
Get a tub with starsan and ice going, put your bottles in there to sanitize and chill. Turn the pressure to that keg down to 2-3 PSI’s , put a hose on the tapper to reach the bottom of your bottles and begin… Try fill 4 at a time, cap and into the fridge… The low PSI’s should prevent the bottles from receiving too much foam during this process… The cold bottles will help keep the carbination loss at a minimum, that’s in the Rose’… I’ll be curious as to how the process works for you… I’ve used this for my Duvel style… which I keep a whole lot of those cute little bottles for…
Sneezles61
Corking for champagne bottles is a skill to be learned btw. I do it every year for my Kriek with a handheld corker
In addition to what @squeegeethree said by force carbing to a higher level you avoid the risk of bottles not being able to hold the higher level of carbonation.
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Remember long time ago there was a question. About how much gas a bottle can hold. Flip did ask this question. Our host has a chart for this.
Champagne bottles are designed to hold the pressure so that’s not a problem. Make sure to use the wire keepers. I’ve had some of mine really dig into the wire.
Oh missed that OP is using champagne bottles. They are plenty strong.
I would still bottle off the keg as the volumes of CO2 is more reliable. In addition you’ll have clearer beer. Which to me, if you’re using champagne bottles, is slick due to the transparent nature of the bottle.
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I think doing a partial keg carb and then bottle conditioning from residual sugar is risky because it’s to much guess work. Now this is an aged beer so I would transfer to a carboy and let it age/finish fermenting then bottle condition it with sugar and a champagne yeast. I do think bottle conditioning adds something to an aging beer.
Thanks for the replies everyone. So can I really carbonate this beer in the keg to 3+ volumes and then bottle without a ton of foam? I would of course take all the proper steps to minimize foam when bottling off the keg but I was thinking that letting it bottle condition to a high volume would be easier than kegging a highly carbonated beer.
Don’t see why not . Let all the pressure out of the keg put your filling tube all the way to the bottom of the bottle turn the gas on and off just enough for the beer to flow slowly.
You might want to get a device to enable this however. What some one the videos for this
Thank you. I’ve heard those Blichmann beer guns are awesome. I have the Northern Brewer version and it works well.
