D. WEBER (1); (1) Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Lewes, DE, U.S.A.
Finishing and Stability
Saturday, June 7 - 8:00 a.m.-9:45 a.m.
Level 4, Grand Ballroom
Bottle-conditioning has many benefits, as well as many parameters to control in order to be consistent and successful. After seeing inconsistencies in carbonation levels, an experiment was designed to analyze the entire conditioning process, looking at microbiological stability checks, choice of priming sugar analysis, an analysis of pumping and mixing practices, and calculation checks. Issues were found in both the calculations and tank mixing, and a new calculation spreadsheet was devised, as well as changed practices to maintain mixing. After making these changes, the latest bottle conditioning run showed all beer within spec for viable yeast counts, carbonation, and desired flavor profile. Dissolved oxygen levels still showed variability, and further study needs to be done in that area. HPLC analysis will also be examined as a new potential process for choosing the best tank candidates for bottle-conditioning runs.
Daniel Weber received his BSE in chemical engineering from the University of Iowa and, after a short-lived career in specialty chemicals, began his brewing career in Iowa working at Millstream Brewery in Amana. After completing the master brewers program at the University of California-Davis, he has been brewing at Dogfish Head Craft Brewery since 2011. He is an Institute of Brewing and Distilling certified brewer and presented to the MBAA Mid-Atlantic District in 2013.
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