RIC0

Recipes 

Gonna make up a RIS 5 gallon batch in the next month and was wondering if it's best to bulk age or do it in bottles??

I've got about 40 bottles aging now but wonder if I should bulk age on the next batch?

Current coconut stout went 5+ weeks before it was bottled and has sat since then. Still needs to age.

So the question is bulk aging better than bottle aging and if so why??

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*** Possum Trot Brewery ***

Beer Primary - Chittyday Stout - Belgian IPA Baby
Beer Secondary - Bubbies Belgian Tripel
Bottled - Imperial Coconut Stout - Rotten Red Ale - Bubbies Belgian Tripel - Spiced Scottish Ale - Ovaltine Stout - English Mild - Silly Scotty Ale - A Dirty Dubbell


Mead Primary - Nuttin
Bottled - Strawberry Trainwreck - Orange Spice - Blueberry Trainwreck

2013 Gallons Brewed 75

RIC0

Recipes 

Nobodies got nuttin????

__________________
*** Possum Trot Brewery ***

Beer Primary - Chittyday Stout - Belgian IPA Baby
Beer Secondary - Bubbies Belgian Tripel
Bottled - Imperial Coconut Stout - Rotten Red Ale - Bubbies Belgian Tripel - Spiced Scottish Ale - Ovaltine Stout - English Mild - Silly Scotty Ale - A Dirty Dubbell


Mead Primary - Nuttin
Bottled - Strawberry Trainwreck - Orange Spice - Blueberry Trainwreck

2013 Gallons Brewed 75

solbes

Recipes 

For a big fat RIS, I like to bulk age for 4-6 months. Longer if you can stand it. They aren't going to be great until 9-12 months anyway so if you have the carboy space that is where I would do it. You may also get a more consistent batch this way vs bottles.

The only concern with a long bulk age in secondary is oxidation. I like to put a CO2 blanket on top (from my kegging setup) and then seal it up good with an airlock. Just have to remember to top up the airlock every month or two.

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Primary #1: Empty #2: Empty
Secondary #1: Belgian Golden Strong #2: Dark Belgian Strong #3: Empty #4: Framboise Lambic
Kegged: RedHook ESB clone, Fat Tire Amber
Bottles: Surly Furious clone, Kicked by a Moose Scotch Ale, Apfelwein, Russian Imperial Stout, Trappist Dubbel, Carmelite Tripel
On Deck: Kölsch IV, Altbier II

RIC0

Recipes 

So is it not a good idea to let it sit in a primary for that long?? Do I have to rack to secondary??

__________________
*** Possum Trot Brewery ***

Beer Primary - Chittyday Stout - Belgian IPA Baby
Beer Secondary - Bubbies Belgian Tripel
Bottled - Imperial Coconut Stout - Rotten Red Ale - Bubbies Belgian Tripel - Spiced Scottish Ale - Ovaltine Stout - English Mild - Silly Scotty Ale - A Dirty Dubbell


Mead Primary - Nuttin
Bottled - Strawberry Trainwreck - Orange Spice - Blueberry Trainwreck

2013 Gallons Brewed 75

Homercidal

Recipes 

Definitely. Even though I've kept a high gravity stout in primary for like 2 months, it's still much safer to rack to secondary after a couple of weeks of primary.

I couldn't tell you why bulk aging is better than aging in bottles. Seems to me it would be better to get the beer in bottles and carbed up rather than running the risk of not having enough viable yeast to do the job. The high gravity beers can be deadly to yeast. You might need to add fresh yeast at bottling time if all the yeast in the secondary are dead.

Biohazard

Recipes 

not that long, racking to secondary for long term storage is ideal. you will start to get off flavors from the dead yeast if you are going for 6 months.

RIC0

Recipes 

Good info guys thanks.

__________________
*** Possum Trot Brewery ***

Beer Primary - Chittyday Stout - Belgian IPA Baby
Beer Secondary - Bubbies Belgian Tripel
Bottled - Imperial Coconut Stout - Rotten Red Ale - Bubbies Belgian Tripel - Spiced Scottish Ale - Ovaltine Stout - English Mild - Silly Scotty Ale - A Dirty Dubbell


Mead Primary - Nuttin
Bottled - Strawberry Trainwreck - Orange Spice - Blueberry Trainwreck

2013 Gallons Brewed 75

Xpertskir

Recipes 

Bulk age, then bottle age. If you so desire you can bulk age in the primary ON the yeast for a long while. I wont tell you how long exactly but Ive bulk aged on the yeast for 7 months with no ill effects (autolysis or other bad flavor boogeymen).

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Kegged and serving - American Wheat, Daves Porter, Outkast Kolsch, Nectar of Nuggets
Bottled: French Canadian Breakfast Stout, Edworts Apfelwein, Westminster Wit, Put that in your stout and smoke it
Fermenting: Apfelwein, Flanders Red, Skeeter Pee, Heady Topper attempt #1, Kumquat Berliner Weiss, Sabraton Accident Stout, Nelson RyePA
Upcoming: Session IPA, Yeti eqsue stout, Dark English Mild, ESB, CDA, Row 2 Hill 56, Zombiedust, Hoppy Amber, Geuze, 100% Brett Golden Ale

RIC0

Recipes 

I was thinking along the lines of 2-3 months in primary then off to bottles for 4-6 months.

Which is the same thing I plan on doing with my Tripel that is currently in a primary.

__________________
*** Possum Trot Brewery ***

Beer Primary - Chittyday Stout - Belgian IPA Baby
Beer Secondary - Bubbies Belgian Tripel
Bottled - Imperial Coconut Stout - Rotten Red Ale - Bubbies Belgian Tripel - Spiced Scottish Ale - Ovaltine Stout - English Mild - Silly Scotty Ale - A Dirty Dubbell


Mead Primary - Nuttin
Bottled - Strawberry Trainwreck - Orange Spice - Blueberry Trainwreck

2013 Gallons Brewed 75

IffyG

Recipes 

That's highly unlikely, especially given the experience of many members around here. In the years I've been on the forum, I don't think I have read any threads that were actually the result of autolysis.

That being said, I wouldn't intentionally leave a beer in primary for that long.