Dispense
Bottle conditioned
Beer refermented in the bottle with added yeast and sugar, producing natural carbonation and excellent ageing potential.
What it does to the beer
- A secondary fermentation in the bottle carbonates the beer naturally and leaves a yeast sediment.
- The live yeast scavenges oxygen, which is why bottle-conditioned beers generally age far better than filtered ones.
- Requires care in pouring: decant steadily, leaving the sediment behind, unless the style calls for rousing it.
How it is served
| Container | bottle |
|---|---|
| Gas | None — the beer moves under gravity or its own condition |
| Carbonation | 2–4 vol CO₂ — volumes of CO₂ |
Temperatures are ranges with reasons, not targets. Cellar temperature in a British pub is a band that varies with the beer and the weather, and a degree either way is not a fault.
Styles served this way
- American wild ale
A broad New World category of mixed-fermentation and barrel-aged sour beers, often fruited, with no fixed base style.
- Australian sparkling ale
A highly carbonated, bottle-conditioned Australian pale ale, fruity and dry, traditionally poured to rouse its yeast.
- Belgian blond ale
A moderately strong golden Belgian ale, soft and lightly sweet, with gentle yeast fruit and spice and a dry finish.
- Belgian dark strong ale
The strongest of the Belgian dark ales: raisin, fig and dark caramel over substantial warmth, with a surprisingly dry finish.
- Belgian golden strong ale
Pale, very dry and highly carbonated, with intense pepper and fruit and a strength its lightness completely conceals.
- Belgian IPA
American hop intensity fermented with expressive Belgian yeast, producing pepper and fruit alongside citrus and pine.
- Belgian pale ale
An everyday Belgian ale, toasty and biscuity, with restrained yeast character compared with the stronger Belgian styles.
- Belgian single
The low-strength pale beer brewed for the monastery’s own table, dry and hoppy with full Belgian yeast character.
- Belgian table beer
A very low-strength everyday Belgian beer, historically served with meals including in school canteens.
- Berliner Weisse
A very low-strength sour wheat beer: sharply lactic, bone dry, lightly sparkling and enormously refreshing.
- Bière de Garde
A malty, rounded French farmhouse ale brewed for keeping — richer and less peppery than its Belgian saison cousin.
- British strong ale
A broad category of strong English ales, malt-led and fruity, sitting between strong bitter and barley wine.
Other ways to serve beer
- Bottle, filtered — Filtered, force-carbonated bottled beer — bright and consistent, but less resilient with age.
- Cask, gravity-dispensed — Cask beer poured straight from the tap under gravity, with nothing between the cask and the glass.
- Cask, hand-pulled — Beer that completes fermentation in the cask and is drawn by hand pump without added gas, served at cellar temperature.
- Keg, CO₂ dispense — Filtered or unfiltered beer force-carbonated and dispensed under CO₂ pressure — the standard modern draught format.
- Nitrogen dispense — Dispense with a nitrogen-CO₂ blend through a restrictor plate, giving a dense creamy head and a notably softer palate.
- Tank beer — Unpasteurised beer delivered fresh to venue tanks — the Czech format that shows a pale lager at its best.
Compare dispense methods directly on the comparison index, or read how packaging affects freshness.
Last reviewed 2026-08-15.