How do most American brewers carbonate their beer?!
Just out of curiousity.
Answers: Do they use a forced CO2 system of some sort, or do they add sugar before bottling and let the yeast take care of it.
Just out of curiousity.
The big breweries (Bud, Miller, Coors, Sam Adams) all filter their beer, this takes out any remaining yeast. Then they force carb the beer before they pasteurize it (killing any remaining bacteria or yeast).
Some of the smaller craft and micro breweries still bottle prime, where they add a small amount of sugar to the brew before bottling. This is referred to as bottle conditioning, and will cause fermentation to start back up slightly, and that is how the beer gets carbonated. These beers will have a small amount of sediment in the bottom of the bottle, which is the leftover yeast after bottle conditioning.
Commercial brewers universally use forced carbonation.
Carbonation is a product of the fermentation process.
You see - when you introduce yeast to sugar the yeast eat the sugar and in the process make alcohol and CO2 (carbonation). Before the beer is bottled it is primed with a little bit more sugarand then capped. Then when you open the bottle the excess co2 is spilled into the atmosphere.
Yes, the mass produced garbage lagers use CO2 tablets to force carbonation into the brew since they don't give it enough time to develop it on its own. In finely crafted beers it is a naturally occurring side effect of the fermentation process. Some will even add sugar during bottling to increase it.
Personally when I make my beer I just add some cornsugar and let the yeast do the work. Im a Canadian though - does my answer still count?