I tried asking this question a couple of days ago but apparently I wasn't clear enough because it turned into a secondary vs. long-primary discussion. I've already made my decision so the question is just a hypothetical at this point.
I have a stout that was in primary for 14 days. I transferred it to my secondary fermenter and planned on letting it age or mature for another 4 - 6 weeks. Then I tasted it. It was so f'ing delicious that I couldn't decide if I should just go ahead and bottle this black beauty or if maturation would really help.
My line of thinking was this: If I know it tastes good right now and I don't know how it will taste after maturing for a few weeks, why should I not bottle it now? Does maturing really make that big of a difference?
I am 100% sure that it had completely fermented, no doubts about it. What do you more experienced guys think? Have you ever done a side-by-side taste test of a young beer (say 1 month or less) vs. an aged beer? Is it really worth letting her sit in the closet for a month all by her lonesome?
I have a stout that was in primary for 14 days. I transferred it to my secondary fermenter and planned on letting it age or mature for another 4 - 6 weeks. Then I tasted it. It was so f'ing delicious that I couldn't decide if I should just go ahead and bottle this black beauty or if maturation would really help.
My line of thinking was this: If I know it tastes good right now and I don't know how it will taste after maturing for a few weeks, why should I not bottle it now? Does maturing really make that big of a difference?
I am 100% sure that it had completely fermented, no doubts about it. What do you more experienced guys think? Have you ever done a side-by-side taste test of a young beer (say 1 month or less) vs. an aged beer? Is it really worth letting her sit in the closet for a month all by her lonesome?