OtherWhiteMeat

Recipes 

Hello, im new to homebrewing as you can see from my post count. For beers that need time to age any given amount of time, can you age it in the secondary(glass carboy) or is it better to age in bottles under compression.

AlaskaAl(e)

Recipes 

If you plan to bottle I'd say bottle conditioning would be the better way to go. I keg, personally, so I let it sit in the secondary a little longer before I keg and carbonate. It's a personal preference thing more than anything else. Either way patience is the most important part.


BTW Welcome to the forum!!

OtherWhiteMeat

Recipes 

I intend to bottle, at least for a little while. I was just asking in case i want to make something that takes, for example 2 months to age, while im drinking something else. Basicly i dont want to buy 200 bottles so i can drink one an age another.

sudsmonkey

Recipes 

beg , borrow , and steal alll the bottles you can get your hands on. You'll use them sooner or later. A cheap way out is to use plastic drink bottles. They're not as cool as glass, but can be had for nothing ( ask friends to save them for you ). Make sure the caps are tight and you won't have any problems. They also have the advantage of not turning into shrapnel if one explodes on you.
For what it's worth,
Sudsmonkey

vtfan99

Recipes 

I second that.....tell all your friends/family/etc to save any bottles they have...non twist off that is. I had my inlaws give me two cases of bottles....and I only asked them once! Also, if you buy any beer, save those bottles. I have never bought a bottle in my 3 years of brewing. When I started and let everyone know, I ended up with 5 cases of bottles in less than 2 months.

OtherWhiteMeat

Recipes 

Yeah yeah, im still waiting for friends to pull through in the bottle request, but back to my question, will a beer effectivly age in a glass carboy or should it age carbonated in a bottle?

vtfan99

Recipes 

Either way it will age. I have never experimented as to which will age better. It usually comes down to whether I need the space or not. If you have a carboy that you can afford to tie up for a while, then keep it int the carboy....assuming we're talking a secondary here. If, like me, you have a single secondary...bottle it and let it condition in the bottle. I would choose the bottle, as that is its final destination. Better to let it age where its last transition is to my glass. Just my 2 cents though.

JacktheKnife

Recipes 

I keep my bottles in plastic milk crates,
they hold 25- 12 ouncers and 16- 22 ouncers.
Having outgrown the brewery, I have 14 stacked by my bed.
They stack well, half way to the ceiling.
350 bottles or there-abouts.
One could buy bottles to get started.
But it is more fun to buy bottles, {with beer or ale in them}
My favorite 12 oz bottle is Bavarian.
The labels come off real easy, finish tham with steel wool.
I like the green glass too.

Luck J. Knife

vtfan99

Recipes 

Definitely have to agree with the Knife here. If you have trouble getting bottles from others, go to the store and buy some nice craft beers. The benefit is two fold. First you get to taste various beers that may lead you to brew something similar. Second, you get to keep the bottles. Its perfect!

wild

Recipes 

Actually if you rack it to an available carboy after secondary, it’s called bulk aging and is recommended by many brewers and meaders. I don't own a carboy and age big beers in bottles for at least a month at fermentation temps before cellaring.

Wild

__________________
On Tap -

1. 3 year old Oak Aged Bourbon Porter
2. Irish Red Rye
3. Robust Porter
4. Russian Imperial Stout
5. Mirror Pond Clone dry hopped with Citra
6. Mirror Pond Clone dry hopped with Centennial

Primary - Nada
Secondary -

From man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world. -- Saint Arnoldus