A MONSTER inside my Catalyst. Bottle age or keep in fermenter?

[Dr. T.]

I've got 5 gallons of a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout in my catalyst. My OG was about 1.1. I pitched yeast two weeks ago. Once my fermentation is complete and I've reached the gravity I'm shooting for, I'm wondering about aging. I've known people to keep(age) beer in their catalyst for several weeks to a couple of months before bottling. But could I just age in the bottle and get this out of my catalyst?

 

[Jag75]

You betcha . Just make sure it's done.

 

[RM-MN]

Once my fermentation is complete and I've reached the gravity I'm shooting for,

You need to decide which it will be, when you reach the gravity you are shooting for or when it is complete. I certainly would not bottle until fermentation is complete regardless of what the gravity is and with such a high OG that may take a fairly long time.

 

[Dr. T.]

After two weeks I'm at 1.032 with an expectation about about 1.02ish. I'll see where I'm at when I'm three weeks in. There is no visible fermentation occuring, but the rate slows down considerably at the end.

 

[sibelman]

With strong batches like this one, patience may be especially rewarding. Much happens without visible activity. I'd give it at least another two weeks before bottling.

 

[Dr. T.]

So now it seems that my gravity has stalled at 1.030. According to the recipe, I should be shooting for 1.022. This beer is pretty meaty, so I'm not expecting a bud light, nevertheless, 1.030 is a little "thick". Gravity was at 1.032 2 weeks after fermentation began. 3 weeks in it was 1.031. At that point I raised the temp three degrees to 70 F for about one day, let it rest back to 67 F, and swirled the fermenter to try and reactivate any yeast. Now I'm 4 weeks in and I'm sitting at 1.030.

Recommendation? Let it sit until I get closer to 1.022 before bottling? Maybe try pitching some yeast? Or don't worry about it and bottle anyway?

 

[hotbeer]

So is the current 68% (1.100 to 1.030) apparent attenuation what you usually get from the yeast you used?

 

[Dr. T.]

Never hit such a high og, so I can’t say. I used two dry packets us-05 in a 2L starter. They were old yeast packets, yet kept in the frig (hence the starter). Not sure if the 8 points off is worth stressing about.

 

[davidabcd]

1.030 is normal for a stout with a high OG, at least for me. Any dark, high OG beer does the same thing--finishes in the high 1.020's to 1.030. Taking it down further with something like a diastatic yeast isn't worth the trouble.

 

[hotbeer]

I've been getting 84% with US-05 direct pitched to ≈1.060 SG worts. Not sure how you determine age of dry yeast since they claim it good until the use by date on the packet. But these were within six months of receiving it and 20 months prior to what I'm assuming is the use by date of 9-2023.