How long to primary/age?

I made an Indian brown ale all grain kit from Midwest, just checked gravity and everything looks good. Went from 1.072 to 1.012. So it's sitting around 8%. By far my biggest beer to date. It's been in primary for 8 days. I know big beers need more time, so how long should I primary, and how long to bottle condition? I usually primary for 3 weeks, then bottle, no secondary.

It tasted good, slightly sour and a really strong alcohol taste. Used Nottingham yeast, kept swamp cooler in the mid 60's during fermentation.

If you're dryhopping, you can do that and then bottle after 7 days on the dryhops. If you're not dryhopping, and the beer is clear/clearing, you can bottle it anytime.

So how long to bottle condition? I know normal beer is 3 weeks. How long for big beers?

I would let it bottle condition for a couple of months. Then start tasting them. I've found big dark beers need a good long conditioning period to get them right.

Yup. Bigger and darker beers take longer. Had a big porter take nearly 2 months to bottle condition last year.

Bottle it up and forget about it as best you can for 2 months. Sure, it will be drinkable in 3 weeks, but it will taste a lot better if you wait.

Would this also be the case for a nut brown ale? I know typical nut browns aren't usually big beers but wondering if aging helps

Pelican521 said:

Would this also be the case for a nut brown ale? I know typical nut browns aren't usually big beers but wondering if aging helps

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No, I see no advantage to aging many (or most) beers and a nut brown would be one of the ales that wouldn't be "big" in ABV or complex in flavors. Aging a nut brown would just mean making it old.

chungking said:

So how long to bottle condition? I know normal beer is 3 weeks. How long for big beers?

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for an IPA, that isn't all that "big". I'd drink it fresh, while the hops flavor and aroma is still predominant. Aging an IPA is a mistake, although some get stale later than others.