RIS Bulk Aging

I just put my Russian Imperial Stout in primary and plan on adding some oak and bourbon in secondary. How long would you recommend I age it in secondary? Secondary is likely a better bottle or Homer bucket. Thanks.

don't do a secondary in plastic. plastic is ok for a primary because you have CO2 production from the yeast to pump out any oxygen that seeps in. secondary in glass especially if your going to be aging it for an extended period of time.

The better bottle is a better choice if you don't have glass.

I've only done secondary aging once in a bucket, with horrible oxidized carboardy results.

What was the OG on your RIS? Lagering the beer for a month or more would be good, but be wary of the oak and bourbon coming on too strong. Also, what toast level is your oak? Are they cubes or chips? If cubes, what size? All of these factors will play a part, so be ready to pull samples periodically to taste and see when it is to your liking. However that leads the problem of exposing to air when taking samples.

Do you have a kegging setup? Bulk aging in a keg under a blanket of CO2 is a good option. You can suspend the oak from a bag hooked to the keg lid. Keep it in your fridge and taste from time to time, and when the oak is feeling right just pull the bag out, then you can continue aging or carbonate.

Thanks,

The OG was 1.093. It is oak chips I believe lightly toasted. I am picking up the kegging gear this weekend. I was thinking of using one of my 1/6bbl kegs with that has a sanke connection to age after being warned off of the plastic. I like the idea of the bag for the chips. I'll certainly go light on the bourbon. I should pick up the fridge soon for the kegging so I could certainly cold crash it for a good while with a topping layer of CO2. So if I did this I don't need to put in an airlock or all the CO2 would come right out right?

The question is after a long cold relaxing soak in the keggerator will the yeast be up for carbing a bottle? I currently only have three kegs and I would like to age some of this for a significant amount of time, and don't want to take up a keg to do it. And with summer coming on they need to get filled with Saison and Wheat beers.

Thanks

Well if you'll have the kegging gear you can force carbonate then bottle.

If you want to bottle condition, there will be some yeast in suspension on matter how clear the beer looks after lagering. You can go ahead an add priming sugar and set it out around room temp to condition, but it will take longer to carb up, maybe 2 months.

I would add some fresh yeast. For 2 - 2.5 volumes of CO2 you want around 2 billion cells for 5 gallons. This is about 0.1 grams of dry yeast (properly rehydrated) or you can use 0.69 ml of a White Labs vial, or 2.5 ml of a Wyeast packet.

For priming sugar you'll want to use ~4 oz (about 113.5 grams) of corn sugar, or 3.8 oz of cane sugar. These amounts are calculated for priming at room temperature (68-70 F)

The yeast calculations are derived from this pdf http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/AdvancedBottleConditioning.pdf and the priming sugar rates from the nomograph at the back of Brewing Classic Styles. Same graph is in How To Brew.

Thanks,

I think I'll age in the Keg while carbing in the keggerator. Then when I see the need for the third keg, I'll pull it out and bottle with the "we don't need no stinking beer gun" thread. That way if I don't need the third keg anytime soon it can bulk age for a long time. Then bottle next winter for longer storage.

Thanks again for the help.

Sure, no problem. I forgot to mention one more option. You can add priming sugar and carb right there in the keg as soon as its done.