Russian Imperial Stout: Too early to bottle?

Hello all,
working on 4th brew now: A Russian imperial Stout.
5 Days ago it went into the bucket and has been sitting in 68 degree type temps. Going to leave the country in 7 days for 2 weeks.
was going to bottle it right before we left. This would make it in the bucket for a total of 13 days if I bottle it before I leave.
Although someone suggested that I just bottle it when I get back after my trip and let it sit in the bucket for the extra 2 weeks. I was told it can go in the basement while I am away in colder temps and it will "slow" down and will be fine.
Can I do this or should I bottle it before I go?
Thanks all!

I'd vote for bottling when you get back. A beer this big could probably use the extra time in the fermentor and at any rate wont suffer from it. Storing it in slightly colder temperature would help clean it a bit, which would also be good.

I've found that lower gravity stouts need a good 6-8 weeks before they are drinkable (I believe it is the roasted malt that needs to mellow); higher gravity versions will take even longer.

I have a RIS that I left in the primary for 4-5 weeks, not its in a secondary for probably another 6 months before I'll begin to worry about when to bottle it.

My advice for you is to forget about it for awhile, especially if you at it fermenting at 68 degree type temps (whatever that means).

yes way too early to bottle, you are perfectly safe to leave it in primary until you get back, you could also move it to 2ndary day before your trip and keep it in there for months, bulk aging is better than bottle aging, you could add oak, coffee or vanilla in that 2ndary if you wish

awesome. Did forget to mention other details to. We added an extra can of malt (3 cans dark malt total) and an extra packet of yeast to help with all the sugars.
I was thinking that this would add to the brew spending more time in the bucket anyway.
It will be hard to wait for this one to be ready.

It's always hard to wait.....

Yea, definitely too early to bottle. A big beer like that I wouldn't even cool down- leave it where it is to make sure it attenuates all the way. Since most of the crazy fermentation is done, you won't have a problem with warmer temps.

daksin said:

Yea, definitely too early to bottle. A big beer like that I wouldn't even cool down- leave it where it is to make sure it attenuates all the way. Since most of the crazy fermentation is done, you won't have a problem with warmer temps.

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Thanks so much! These are important things for me to learn.

brewbike said:

Thanks so much! These are important things for me to learn.

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Have you tried tasting it? I think if you would have done this, your tastebuds would have told you that it was not ready yet.

I just put a RIS into secondary, it was a month old and tasted like dark coffee with moonshine in it and IPA level bitterness. Definitely not ready.

I aged a 10% RIS for 5 months, 2 in secondary and 3 on burbon oak. Tastes good when i was bottling it but still needs another month to bottle condition. Longer is better imo.

I am kind of in the opposite camp. If a beer is attenuated all the way I will go ahead and bottle it and age it in the bottles. I have seen people debate bulk aging as opposed to aging in bottles and it seems to be personal preference. But again you need to make sure it is completely done or risk having bottle bombs.