I have a couple beers fermenting that will benefit with a little more aging: Brewer's Best Pumpkin Spice Porter and Imperial Pale Ale. With the Porter, I used the whole spice pack and everyone says it needs 2-3 months for the spice to mellow out and develop depth when you use the whole pack. On the Imperial Pale Ale everyone says a great beer but it's very big (1.081-5 starting) and benefits with some aging.
Question: what are the pros/cons affects of aging beer in a secondary vs. in the bottle? I've been leaving most of my beers for at least 3 weeks in the primary and keeping the ferm temps (all ales) in the mid to low 60's (have chest freezer/ferm chamber with a controller). Does the beer condition differently in bulk (carboy) with no carbonation vs. in the bottle? I know more time in the carboy will let it settle out more and I should end up with less sediment in the bottle in theory. But will it condition faster in one vessel/stage than another? Would like to go ahead and bottle one of them to free up my secondary for the other.
Question: what are the pros/cons affects of aging beer in a secondary vs. in the bottle? I've been leaving most of my beers for at least 3 weeks in the primary and keeping the ferm temps (all ales) in the mid to low 60's (have chest freezer/ferm chamber with a controller). Does the beer condition differently in bulk (carboy) with no carbonation vs. in the bottle? I know more time in the carboy will let it settle out more and I should end up with less sediment in the bottle in theory. But will it condition faster in one vessel/stage than another? Would like to go ahead and bottle one of them to free up my secondary for the other.