I've got an extra gallon of RIS when I racked over to secondary. I grabbed an extra gallon growler and filled it past the top. I sprayed the whole thing down with star san and threw it in the fridge. Is there any benefit to carbing this extra gallon now, or would it age better in the fridge uncarbed for month or two? There's about half an ounce of head space, which was the best I could do.
Um, add oak cubes to that and age at room temp for a couple weeks. If the full batch of RIS already has oak then either leave this gallon plain in case of needed blending (over oaked), or hit it with coffee, or vanilla, or rum, or chai tea, or nibs, or raspberries, or chipotle, or something...
I would vanilla and coffee bean it myself, maybe even some nibs if the beer wasn't too bitter as it stood.. Make it heavy and blend it back into the other beer.
To actually answer your question, no, to my knowledge the presence or absence of carbonation should not significantly alter the aging process.
Carb vs no carb, probably not, but fridge vs room temp yes. Cellar temps will age it better than sitting in the fridge.
I think I like the idea of putting it back in the basement to let it age. For the record the other 3 gallons are oaking nicely. Maybe something fun for the leftover gallon, but after a few weeks and after a few tastes out of each.
I'm about to to re-brew my RIS for the year.. Last years was tasty and just not to the point it's fun to drink. Care to share you recipe, btw.. out of curiosity?
I did a Kate the Great clone. I used Knob Creek instead of port for the wood chips. I'm regretting wood chips instead of cubes, but that's what I've got to work with. The recipe was about like this: AmountItemType% or IBU 19 lbs 4.8 ozPale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)Grain76.22 % 14.1 ozBarley, Flaked (1.7 SRM)Grain3.48 % 14.1 ozSpecial B Malt (180.0 SRM)Grain3.48 % 14.1 ozWhite Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)Grain3.48 % 12.0 ozCarafa III (525.0 SRM)Grain2.96 % 10.1 ozAromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)Grain2.49 % 8.0 ozBlack (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)Grain1.97 % 8.0 ozCaramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)Grain1.97 % 8.0 ozRoasted Barley (300.0 SRM)Grain1.97 % 4.0 ozCaramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)Grain0.99 % 4.0 ozChocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)Grain0.99 % 1.50 ozMagnum [14.00 %] (60 min)Hops37.0 IBU 1.00 ozPearle [8.00 %] (60 min)Hops14.1 IBU 1.00 ozStyrian Goldings [5.40 %] (60 min)Hops9.5 IBU 1.00 ozWilliamette [5.50 %] (5 min)Hops1.9 IBU Appropriate yeast cake of 1084 Irish Ale Sometimes I get angry when they stop making a beer and sometimes I get angry that distribution in my area isn't better. Both were the case here, so I decided to brew my own. Fermentation was at 60F and was still wild enough that I had to deck out my fridge and garage floor after high krausen. After about a month it smells strong as hell, but mostly from the hops. I haven't tasted it yet. I'm kind of afraid to. This is my third batch of RIS, and by far the most expensive. I only got 4 gal out of it.
