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Pellicle
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==Pellicle Formation In Bottles==
[[File:Pellicle bottle.JPG|thumb|Pellicle formation in a bottle a few days after packaging; courtesy of Dan Pixley]]
Often a pellicle will form on the surface of the beer inside the bottle shortly after packaging. This is no different than the pellicle forming in the fermentation vessel, and presumably occurs because of the oxygen in the headspace of the bottle. The pellicle will eventually settle out either on it's its own during aging, or when the bottle is refrigerated or disturbed. Other than for aesthetics, there should be no concern if this happens.
Pierre Tilquin of [http://www.gueuzerietilquin.be Gueuzerie Tilquin] suggests that storing bottles horizontally on their side during bottle conditioning will prevent a pellicle from forming in the bottles. This is a common practice among lambic brewers, and when Pierre stored bottles upright he saw the formation of a pellicle in his bottles of lambic <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1210209235673955/?comment_id=1210248462336699&reply_comment_id=1210254505669428&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R8%22%7D Conversation with Pierre Tilquin and Raf Soef on MTF. 01/08/2016.]</ref>. Gently tipping the bottles or even just standard handling will also dissolve the pellicle without harming the beer.
See also [[Aging_and_Storage#Bottle_Orientation|Bottle Orientation]].
==Scientific Terminology==