Beer Forum

I've heard a few people say that, in order for a beer to be able to condition properly, CO2 must be present.

When you all keg your beer, after fermentation and any additional time that the beer is left in the primary, do you carbonate and then let age if additional conditioning is necessary? Or do you purge your keg, then let age for whatever additional time, uncarbed?

Also, are you usually cold-aging your beers in the fridge, or leaving them out at room temperature to continue conditioning after racking from primary? I've read that the conditioning process is sped up at room temperature vs. colder temps, however it seems as if a longer cold-aging period helps to smooth out a beers flavor as well, maybe due to proteins, yeast, etc. dropping out of solution.

Just wondering about everyone's process, and specifically whether the claim that CO2 needs to be in solution for a beer to age properly is on point or not.

Thanks for any help!

I purge my kegs before adding beer to them and then once the keg is filled through the beer outpost, I will purge the top of the keg with CO2 about 5 times before adding enough CO2 to seal the keg properly.
Depending on your keg seals, you may have to add 5 to 10 PSI to get a good seal.
Outside of a 11.2% barley wine I made recently, I always store my kegs cold(generally hooked up to CO2). With the barley wine, I left it in my basement for 3 weeks before putting it into cold storage to help it condition.

Thanks krizwit!

I'm specifically interested in the affect of CO2 on the conditioning process of beer. For instance, could we theoretically condition a beer in the primary or secondary and have it come together in the same way that we witness beer doing in a bottle or keg after CO2 has been added? Aside from the obvious lack of CO2, is it possible for young, green beer to condition into the refined final product without the presence of CO2? Or are there reactions and processes that take place in the conditioning process that require CO2 to be present?

Aside from adding bubbles (which enhance mouthfeel, perceptions of dryness, bitterness, etc.), does CO2 serve any other purpose in the actual conditioning process (necessary chemical reactions, etc.)?

Many times conditioning is talking about bottle conditioned beer where you gave it some sugar before bottling. That process does best at room temp or in the 70F range so the yeast are active. If kegging then you don't need to store them at room temp. They will age just fine at beer fridge temps. Aging lets a few things happen. Yeast drop out of suspension, fine particles of roasted grains drop (making it smoother). Also some proteins may drop out or change a bit. Either bottle conditioned or kegged most of my beers seem to be better after a couple weeks. Yes I do purge the keg, fill it, then put in my kegerator with CO2 line attached to carbonate.