Aging and Storage
(In progress) For this page, Aging and Storage will refer to the conditioning and aging of beer in its final package (bottle, keg, etc.). The conditioning process includes the changes that take the beer from its state at packing to the state in which it is intended to consumed. The term aging will be used on this page to discuss changes in the conditioned beer as it is aged further. Storage conditions and their advantages and disadvantages will be discussed. Aging of beer before packaging is discussed in various brewing pages on the wiki and will not be discussed here.
For simplicity, this page will mostly refer to what is going on in a bottle, but the same changes and processes occur in other package types, albeit at different rates, and 'bottle' can be replaced with 'keg' or another final package.
Contents
Bottle conditioning
(in progress) Bottle conditioning is the process and changes that takes a beer at packaging time to beer that is ready to drink. This can include development of carbonation, microbial growth, development and reprocessing of off flavors, 'bottle shock' and other changes.
Warmer storage
Pedio 'sickness'
(To do)
Cellaring
Cellaring, or extended age in the bottle once the beer is ready to drink, is common for many mixed fermentation beers. Cellaring is typically carried out at cooler temperatures.