Chimay Red Clone, already brewed, seeking advice about what to do next

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The Blow Leprechaun

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I brewed a chimay red clone, roughly based on this recipe.

The actual recipe I brewed was:

6.6 lbs Munton's extra light LME
1 lb Briess pilsener DME
1 lb cane sugar
8 oz caramunich
4 oz aromatic

Hops:
.5 oz Galena (13.1% AA) for 60 mins
.5 oz Styrian Goldings (2% AA) for 15 mins
.5 oz Styrian Goldings (2% AA) for 0 mins

WLP500 with a 2L starter

OG was 1.068, SG was 1.016 a week and a half ago for about 75% apparent attenuation.

It hasn't bubbled in about two weeks.

This beer needs to be ready by March 21st - it's going to be served at my brother's wedding reception. I am considering bottling now, giving it three weeks to carb up (or more if it needs it), then lagering the bottles in my refrigerator until time to serve.

Should I do this, or should I just let it sit until the end of the month and bottle then without any lagering period?
 
I would definitely not put it in the fridge. You want these to age as fast as possible and get every iota out of the time you have. I would bulk age them in carboy for another 2-3 weeks, then bottle and leave warm.

Good luck!
 
I usually bottle condition and have found no il-effects from leaving the bottles at room temperature (usually i store them in my basement which is probably between 10 or 15C). In fact I've found that as long the beer is bottle-conditioned, it only seems to get better with age! That is assuming of course it is bottled without too much splashing/oxidation.

If it's been 2 weeks with no bubbles I'd make sure you have at least 2-3 weeks in the bottle before serving (although more is better!) to give the yeast time to wake up and do their thing.
 
+1 to not fridging them. The March 21st deadline isn't a whole lot of time, and as the beer is fairly big, you want it to age as much as it can. I'd be inclined to give it four weeks in bottles to ensure it's fully carbed, and between now and then I'd leave it bulk-aging somewhere not too cold. If you had loads of time then fridging would be great for giving a little more clarity to the beer, but in this instance I think letting it age is more important. That recipe looks great, though, and I bet it'll be a real hit! :mug:
 
I think I'm going to bottle it sometime in the near future, but not put it in the fridge.

It's already been in the primary fermenter for about a month at this point and I don't want to leave it in there too long, and I don't want to use a secondary fermenter.
 
Bottled this yesterday - the hydrometer sample tasted great, which is usually a good sign.

Gravity was the same as when I took it two weeks ago at 1.016, which gives me an abv of 6.9%. I think it's going to be really great by the time my brother's wedding rolls around!
 
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