Hiya,
Im about to brew my first imperial russian stout, and according to the research ive made, most ot recommend aging the beer (anywhere from 6 to 12 months), i was wondering, is this really necessary?
to my undestanding, aging is inly really necessary for us homebrewers since we cannot perfectly control o2 levels during ferm, and a few others things; basically, the lack of precise control over several variables induce in a few off flavours or undesired effects in the final beer, hence aging allows yeast to clean up after itself during this aging time.
however, most of the stuff ive read abt brewing imperial stouts suggests that aging is necessary due to the high levels of alcohol and to mellow out the roastiness. but with the above in mind, and supposing that i have the right amount of o2 in wort, correct pitching rates, good temp control, etc., would i still need to age?
Im about to brew my first imperial russian stout, and according to the research ive made, most ot recommend aging the beer (anywhere from 6 to 12 months), i was wondering, is this really necessary?
to my undestanding, aging is inly really necessary for us homebrewers since we cannot perfectly control o2 levels during ferm, and a few others things; basically, the lack of precise control over several variables induce in a few off flavours or undesired effects in the final beer, hence aging allows yeast to clean up after itself during this aging time.
however, most of the stuff ive read abt brewing imperial stouts suggests that aging is necessary due to the high levels of alcohol and to mellow out the roastiness. but with the above in mind, and supposing that i have the right amount of o2 in wort, correct pitching rates, good temp control, etc., would i still need to age?