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Author Topic: Stratification...  (Read 5114 times)

Offline lonnie mac

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Stratification...
« on: November 20, 2009, 11:09:16 pm »
So in another thread, I was mentioning my problem of what I thought was stratification. I ferment in a 10 gallon pot, and used to just transfer into two 5 gal kegs one at a time with my degraded 10 year old hose... It took me a few years to finally figure out that my first keg always tasted different, maybe stronger than my last keg when I finally got to it... Sometimes I would drink the whole first keg and say dang! That was GREAT! I would tell myself that I will just bottle from the second keg for competitions when I finally get to it, only to find that the second keg didn't taste the same, much different than the first keg. I attributed this to stratification. So while a lot of you have already figured this out LONG before I (with my smoke ridden tongue!) I did want to pass this tip along to my friends... :)


« Last Edit: November 20, 2009, 11:11:08 pm by lonnie mac »

Offline majorvices

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Re: Stratification...
« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2009, 08:11:04 am »
I don't think it is possible to have stratification in fermented beer. The only time stratification happens at all is in extract brewing. I have never noticed it in AG brewing and it has never happened in my fermentation. Just think the level of stratification that would be happening on the big guys systems if this was the case! You would have vast differences from beer to beer.

There must be something else to your kegging issue. Perhaps storage? What temp do you store your second keg at?

Offline lonnie mac

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Re: Stratification...
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2009, 08:33:02 am »
Ah! Well sure you can have stratification my friend, but I was not clear actually. I am talking about particle stratification. Beer is beer!

The pic above is a very rare instance with a Saison at room temp. My fermetations never see the light of day, nor exceed 65 degrees. Storage is inside my bar! :)

So sediment is a physical process as you know, and that takes time. Even at crash cooling for a week or two... This is just my way of ensuring that whatever I have, it is exactly the same...

Offline crabber

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Re: Stratification...
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2009, 08:59:40 pm »
I am confused by your use of the term stratification.  If you're saying that the beer somehow settles into layers with different densities, I don't think this is happening.  If you're referring to the fact that beer changes flavors as yeast, hops, and trub settle out, yes that is true.
If you use a CFC, I also believe it is possible to have differing levels of bitterness and hop aroma if you split the batch into multiple fermenters, if your beer has any late hop additions.