I have a nice RIS sitting in the primary, ready to be bottled. (OG 1.101, FG: 1.036) Now my kit instructions say I should transfer it to a secondary and age it 3-4 months. OR, if I don't have a secondary give it an extra week in the primary, bottle, then bottle condition for 3-4 months. What difference in taste, if any, could become apparent? From my understanding it's: 1. A possibility of off-flavors due to beer sitting on trub for a lengthened period. 2. It's better to age it together rather than in bottles (don't know why but I heard this along my travels somewhere)
1. How lang has the beer been in the primary? I'll leave all of my beers in primary for 3-6 weeks...and I would suggest 6 weeks for an RIS. I do not believe the sacondary does anything to improve the beer, personally. 2. Aging the beer in bottles or a secondary is still aging it...there is really no difference. It is really just different opinions, but the beer will condition in the bottle just as it would in a fermenter.
Been in for a month, but it's been at 1.036 for a week now. I threw in champagne yeast last weekend and it dropped it .02 but I'm pretty confident it won't go any lower at this point.
I have noticed a difference in taste in bulk aging compared to bottle aging, not sure what the science is behind it. On bigger beers like RIS, Barleywine, Old Ale, etc... I will usually keep it in primary for 4-5 weeks then transfer to secondary (or keg) and let it cold condition for 2-3 months before bottling (or tapping).
See, I've been under the impression that cold conditions will SLOW the needed aging process down a bit. Not on the whole scientific portion of it, but for example.. 2 months at 70* would be like 4 months at 35* type of idea. I have a big stout in a keg thats cold and on tap. It's ideally not ready to drink at all. I sample it from time to time to see how it's coming along, but it need another 2 months I think before it takes to it's own. I could use the room in the keezer for other kegs and projects and bottles, so I've been tossing the idea around of pulling it out and storing it in the house at 70* and leaving it there for a month or two to speed up the process.
Yeah that's what I was thinking too. And you have to carbonate it at room temp. I'm gonna give it another week in my primary, bottle it, carb at room temp for 2 weeks. As far as conditioning, I'll play it by beer.
I have found that leaving in the keg or secondary at 34-40 degrees for 2-3 months produces a cleaner flavor profile, than than the same beer left out at 65-75 degrees for the same amount of time. I haven't done any real experiments where I tested this theory, but I have found that since I started doing this my bigger beers seem to have improved.
Different types of cleanup happen at different temperatures. For example, at warmer temps, the yeast clean up byproducts such as acetaldehyde and diacetyl. But at cold temps, proteins and tannins (for example) clump together and fall out of suspension. So it's not that either warm or cold conditioning is inherently better, it depends on what needs to happen, and when. Staling OTOH happens faster at warmer temps.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that along the lines of biere de garde? Brewing a beer with top-fermenting yeast, then lagering or keeping it for a period of time at cold temperatures. It gives the beer a rounder, richer, and sweeter profile.
So I have seen some kits that say items like, "This will allow your fi nished beer to have more clarity and an overall better, purer fl avor. When the fermentation slows (5-7 days), but before it completes, simply transfer the beer into the carboy and allow fermentation to fi nish in the ‘secondary’. Leave the beer for about two weeks and then proceed to Bottling Day." When seeing this it seems they are suggesting that a 2nd will always help....
Most Beer Kit instructions aren't worth the paper they are printed on, and/or haven't been updated in years.
