An AGE old question.

I brewed a Belgian Dark Strong/ Belgian Quad about 7 weeks ago. It sat in the primary for 5 weeks, and I recently racked it to a keg.

Nevertheless, I plan to age this beer for about 8 weeks before tapping it, so I have 6 weeks left.

I normally carbonate in the kegerator for 2 weeks @ ~38F before tapping.

Should I age this refrigerated in the kegerator, or should I leave it at room temp for the next 4 weeks?

What is the difference between cold conditioning vs. room temperature conditioning?

Anyone?

Schnitzengiggle said:

I brewed a Belgian Dark Strong/ Belgian Quad about 7 weeks ago. It sat in the primary for 5 weeks, and I recently racked it to a keg.

Nevertheless, I plan to age this beer for about 8 weeks before tapping it, so I have 6 weeks left.

I normally carbonate in the kegerator for 2 weeks @ ~38F before tapping.

Should I age this refrigerated in the kegerator, or should I leave it at room temp for the next 4 weeks?

What is the difference between cold conditioning vs. room temperature conditioning?

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Can you re-explain your plan? You said you plan to age it 8 weeks before tapping , and brewed it 7 weeks ago--so that makes it seem like you plan on tapping it in 1 week. But then you say you have 6 weeks left. The math doesn't add up.

Age it cold to clarify/condition. No reason to keep at room temp unless you don't have room in the serving system. Fermentation is done after 7 weeks (if your hydrometer tells you so). Done is done. Cold helps clarify.

SumnerH said:

Can you re-explain your plan? You said you plan to age it 8 weeks before tapping , and brewed it 7 weeks ago--so that makes it seem like you plan on tapping it in 1 week. But then you say you have 6 weeks left. The math doesn't add up.

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I don't count fermentation time as aging/conditioning. This was a big beer, and it didn't completely finish fermenting until week four. I left it another week to allow clean up by the yeast.

When I say I plan to age/condition for 8 weeks, that is 8 weeks post fermentation. It seems that aging or cellaring beer means to leave it in a secondary for as long as necessary. Although I don't have a cellar or a fermentation chamber that I can leave the beer in to age at ~50F, my question spawned from the fact that we age our bottled beers for 3 weeks for carbonation, yet they get better the longer they age. My assumption would be the longer a beer ages in the keg the better it will get too, seems logical.

Since we age bottled beer at 70F for at least 3 weeks (for carbonation, but longer for better beer) I assmed keeping the keg at room temperature, for whatever the aging period deemed reasonable, would be acceptable just like bottle conditioning.

Does this make sense? FWIW I am in no huge rush to derink this beer, I want it to be ready.

What, you cannot age it at "cellar temperature?" :cross:

Higher temperatures accelerate the conditioning process. Lower temperatures slow it down, and accelerate settling and clarity. Cellar temperature is around 55F, the same as many natural caves, a happy medium, and is your best bet for long-term storage. For eight weeks on a big beer, you can age it at 70F. Technically, you will be reducing the shelf life relative to cooler conditioning, but if you are anything like me it will not be around long enough to matter.

jeffmeh said:

if you are anything like me it will not be around long enough to matter.

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Exactly!