I used to believe that if the container is pressurized with co2 that there would be no oxygen ingress. I have since found out that is not true, even the seals on glass bottle caps are susceptible to oxygen ingress. I can’t say I understand the mechanism, but oxygen can work it’s way into a pressurized vessel. Plastic bottles are much more susceptible to oxygen ingress. The problem not only exists in beer packaging, but also in water lines used for hot water heating. PEX pipe has an oxygen barrier that is required to prevent corrosion in the boiler due to oxygen ingress. If it were possible, the line could be pressurized to prevent this.But oxygen cannot get into a vessel that CO2 cannot escape from.
What is the best way to condition beer long term? I'm talking 1 year conditioning?
Why do you believe that it is the best way?
I'm going to take a contrarian position and state that you can condition in plastic, glass, or stainless steel. I have used PET plastic bottles to condition for long-term and have not had any issues with oxidation. One reason is due to pressure. The yeast produce CO2 in the bottle. The bottle pressurizes. Atmospheric oxygen cannot get into a higher pressure vessel, particularly one that CO2 cannot escape from. Oxygen permeation of plastic is "brewing fact" that I have never seen confirmed by testing. My primary objection to plastic in storage and fermenting is scratching and creation of places for bacteria to hide. But oxygen cannot get into a vessel that CO2 cannot escape from.
There are a few articles out there about oxygen scavenging by yeast. Yeast are pretty efficient at this. You can purge the head space with CO2, but that may not be a necessity. Take a look at the graph showing the effectiveness of live yeast scavenging oxygen. In eight days, the yeast scavenges all of the oxygen.
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I suppose I've been assuming bulk aging under no pressure. While I think the original question was more to do with storing individual bottles that start out with a conditioning phase.I'm with you here. I've read that atmospheric O2 can enter sealed and pressurized containers. I've yet to see any compelling evidence of this. It flies in the face of everything I learned and practiced in the many years I worked with HVAC. One of the constants of pressure is that any flow of matter will be from the high to the low. There are chemical, and other non pressure related, reactions that may cause exchange, but not in a volume significant enough to affect a beer stored for a reasonable period of time.
I suppose I've been assuming bulk aging under no pressure. While I think the original question was more to do with storing individual bottles that start out with a conditioning phase.
I have not tried bulk aging for that length of time. I don't age too many beers, but when I do, I bottle (and add priming sugar) prior to aging.I bulk age my wee heavy and w00t stout (4-6 months) in a glass fermenter
After bulk aging, I bottle and let it condition for another 6-12 months.
I suppose I've been assuming bulk aging under no pressure. While I think the original question was more to do with storing individual bottles that start out with a conditioning phase.
What do you see as the advantage of bulk aging vs. bottle aging?