OXIDATION TEST - Bottling Home Brew Beer!

[BeerCat]

I gave up bottling due to the change in flavour compared to kegging. After watching this video i know why. Seems obvious but i always shook mine.

 

[chthon]

I also wait a quarter of an hour before I seal the bottle or the cap, so that a part of the dissolved CO2 can already move out some air. I have brewed blond beers that where still blond after a year.

 

[simon12]

Cheers for sharing I would not have expected any significant difference except the keg being clearer.

 

[Sandimas]

Wow, thanks for sharing - bottled 160 brews and shook every one of them. I'm not going to from now on, see if I can detect a difference.

 

[DavidDetroit]

I never heard of shaking the bottles before now except to promote a stalled carbonation. I guess shaking when bottling would be to mix the sugar into the beer if you add it to each bottle or to oxygenate to help with carbonating.
The shaken beer seemed to be better carbonated in the video so maybe batch priming is a better method overall since it's conceivable that some of the sugar remains on the bottom of the bottle in individual bottle priming.

 

[Ghillie]

I never heard of shaking the bottles before now except to promote a stalled carbonation. I guess shaking when bottling would be to mix the sugar into the beer if you add it to each bottle or to oxygenate to help with carbonating.
The shaken beer seemed to be better carbonated in the video so maybe batch priming is a better method overall since it's conceivable that some of the sugar remains on the bottom of the bottle in individual bottle priming.

Yeah, batch priming in a bottling bucket with a boiled glucose solution gives the best results IMO.

 

[DavidDetroit]

Yeah, batch priming in a bottling bucket with a boiled glucose solution gives the best results IMO.

It's all I've ever done. I'm glad for the people who like to prime each bottle but I can't see it being as accurate though not everyone cares about that.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I gave up bottling due to the change in flavour compared to kegging. After watching this video i know why. Seems obvious but i always shook mine.

great post. It does also raise the issue of posting beers? they are going to get shaken in transport, so drink them after the yeast has settled? best to age beers then post rather that send a young beer via post and age it at the destination.

 

[Mungri]

Always bottle prime or prime in the mini keg but don’t shake. Only one I’ve ever had a problem with was a mini keg that was only two thirds filled. That taught me what oxidation tastes like and it’s not nice.

 

[Sadfield]

Also didn't realise people did this. One notable point from the video is that he describes the shaken beer as drinkable. Often the response to subject of oxidation is "I've always done (insert method) and never had an issue". It goes to show what damage to a brew can go unnoticed when there's nothing to compare against.

 

[Sadfield]

The shaken beer seemed to be better carbonated in the video so maybe batch priming is a better method overall since it's conceivable that some of the sugar remains on the bottom of the bottle in individual bottle priming.

I'd estimate that, as the unshaken bottle had no headspace a portion of the CO2 produced during carbonation would have been lost to filling that and expanding the bottle, before the beer carbonated.

Agree that batch priming is a better method though.

 

[BeerCat]

great post. It does also raise the issue of posting beers? they are going to get shaken in transport, so drink them after the yeast has settled? best to age beers then post rather that send a young beer via post and age it at the destination.

Although i would of thought they would be fine once carbed I have had beers in the post that i am sure were not like that when sent out. As far as i can tell the beer bottled from the keg and purged is fine.

 

[Oneflewover]

I also wait a quarter of an hour before I seal the bottle or the cap, so that a part of the dissolved CO2 can already move out some air. I have brewed blond beers that where still blond after a year.

Yeah I do this too

 

[DavidDetroit]

I'd estimate that, as the unshaken bottle had no headspace a portion of the CO2 produced during carbonation would have been lost to filling that and expanding the bottle, before the beer carbonated.

Agree that batch priming is a better method though.

Oh, yeah, totally, well said. That's kind of what I was thinking. That video was something else though, proving (if the man can be trusted and I do trust him) what oxygen can do. Very telling.
Edit: after reading comments below (no bottle with air and no shake), I have to hold off on an opinion.

 

[dan125]

Isn't the difference in the bottles due to the fact that one has O2 in the headspace and one doesn't? I'm not sure that the shaking would make much difference, other than maybe speeding up the oxidation process??

 

[simon12]

Isn't the difference in the bottles due to the fact that one has O2 in the headspace and one doesn't? I'm not sure that the shaking would make much difference, other than maybe speeding up the oxidation process??

I did think when I saw it why didn't he do a non shaken one with air in to compare, its possible that without shaking the yeast could use the oxygen before its had as much effect.

 

[BeerCat]

I did think when I saw it why didn't he do a non shaken one with air in to compare, its possible that without shaking the yeast could use the oxygen before its had as much effect.

Perhaps we should all give it a go. Would be fun to see the results. I was considering purging my bottles first which I do when bottling from the keg. All you need is a splitter from your gas and tap.

 

[BeerCat]

Isn't the difference in the bottles due to the fact that one has O2 in the headspace and one doesn't? I'm not sure that the shaking would make much difference, other than maybe speeding up the oxidation process??

I think it could be a concern with beer that takes a long time to carb like lagers. I threw a few hundred bottles out before I started kegging. They never carbed properly, cleared or got rid of the odd flavours that were not present before bottling.

 

[An Ankoù]

Interesting video. As I'd never thought of shaking the bottle the question of it's effect on oxydation had never occurred to me.
I NEVER batch prime. It's just one more transfer and chance for oxidation to take place, unless you purge with CO2 first. AND, if you use sugar granules rather than syrup, the dissolved CO2 will come out of solution in the priming bucket and not the bottle. So why does that matter?
I always charge my bottles with priming sugar in granular form and then fill the bottles. The sugar granules form nucleation points for effervescence meaning that the oxygen is driven from the bottle by the emerging CO2. I may have to top up the last one eighth of the bottle after letting it settle a minute or so if the beer produces a lot of foam. It's not difficult to get an accurate charge of priming sugar in each bottle by using the measuring spoons used in baking, but I'm lucky enough to be able to buy sugar cubes in 3g, 4g and 6g sizes. They are also available as light brown sugar (cassonade).
I've never had an oxidation problem. I lager my pilsners for a good ten months or more and the colour is just as good as when it was bottled.

 

[BeerCat]

I bottled a lager a month ago without shaking and the results seem much better. No oxidisation, will have to do a double test next time.