Franconia Beer Message Board

Gravity Dispense - O2 vs. CO2 -- Where is Jos B.?
Posted by Nick B. on 2014-08-05 04:56:08

I'm not sure that I understand this - isn't Franken beer fermenting in the lager tank, but much slower than UK cask beer?  I thought that the major difference between untergarig and obergarig was that the former fermented and matured slower?


What I've been told is that lager is generally completely done fermenting and conditioning, ergo "dead" in view of CAMRA, before it's filled into barrels or kegs. Mostly, anyway, probably with exceptions. (Paging Jos Brouwer!) The conditioning in the lagering tank is in effect a bit different than what happens with real ale conditioning, and one shouldn't really think of it as a slowed-down real ale kind of conditioning. Differences in yeast behaviour and temperature.

If that *is* true, then AFAICT lager or Kellerbier in gravity barrels will immediately start to go bad when beer is drawn off, since it has no way to protect itself, no active yeast lurking about. Hence the 10 hl beer-in-a-bag solution at Roppelt, Rittmayer (Aisch, not Hallerndorf!), and now presumably sometimes at Griess. The bag is squished, beer comes out, but no O2 comes in.

Re use in Franken: maybe not a proper cask breather but some kellers definitely add CO2 to an open cask to 'preseve' the beer overnight.  I remember that we discussed this at length re Witzgall Keller before Nick established that they did add Co2.


Erm...no, that's not what I found out. Markus (former lessee at the Keller) said they gas the barrels up whilst filling them to increase carbonation, he didn't say anything about extending the life. (Maybe this got mistranslated between my Minnesconsin -cum- Oregonian colonial accent & dialect to proper English!)
 
Followups:
                             Gravity Dispense - O2 vs. CO2 -- Where is Jos B.? by Barry on  2014-08-05 08:01:20
                               Witzgall Keller by Mark Andersen on  2014-08-05 13:24:07
                                 Witzgall Keller by Nick B. on  2014-08-06 01:57:26
                                   Witzgall Keller by Mosquit on  2014-08-11 00:06:57
                                     Witzgall Keller by Nick B. on  2014-08-11 03:08:43
                                       Witzgall Keller by Mosquit on  2014-08-11 03:15:42
                                         Witzgall Keller by Nick B. on  2014-08-11 23:45:58
                                           Witzgall Landbier by Mosquit on  2014-08-12 00:13:40
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