Stout Aging

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Goober

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Does a stout have to be refrigerated while aging? I do not think I have the space to keep all those bottles of beer in the fridge, in addition to the beer I have there now. I was wondering if I could leave it in the secondary fermenter, but to do that would mean I would not be able to keep it cool.
 
If you have access to a basement this would probably be the best case scenario. Most stuff should condition in the 50's, or at least that is how I feel about it. If you bring a brew too cold you can actually impede this process. Temperature greatly affects brewing in just about all aspects.
 
you can let it bulk condititon in the secondary for a long time. try to keep temps down but its not nearly as important since the yeast have pretty much done there thing. off flavors are by products of the yeast and they have finished all the major work. it is much more important to keep temps down in the primary. i had a stout that sat in the secondary for three months and it was fine. you could even go longer if you wanted.
 
Mr wizard's comments on a conditioning temp & time question:


"As you point out, storing beer in the basement or an underground cellar reduces the air temperature to the average earth temperature of the location of the cellar. In most parts of the world the average earth temperature is about 55 ºF (13 ºC). This impairs the speed of bottle conditioning, and for many ale strains is really too cold to get much carbonation at all.

This is why bottle-conditioned beers are typically stored in warm cellars controlled to a comfortable temperature of about 75 ºF (22 ºC). This is plenty warm for the yeasties to do their work in a reasonable time frame and is not so warm that the beer starts to prematurely age because of high storage temperature. This practice is relatively common in Europe and the United States among brewers who bottle-condition their beers. Duvel in Belgium, Sierra Nevada in California and New Belgium in Colorado are three breweries I know who have warm cellars. I know that at Sierra Nevada beer is held for about a week before being released for sale. "
http://byo.com/mrwizard/1559.html

I generally condition my bottles in the upper 60s.
 
I live in the Bayou City (Houston). Most people haven't seen a basement here. And 'cool' here is the high 70's. The best I could probably do is 78 in one of my well insulated rooms.
What about IPA's? They were designed for the long and hot voyages to India. Do you think they would do alright in these warmer climates for the conditioning?
 

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