best option to age a stout

[fluketamer]

i finally have enough beer in my pipeline and stock of ingredients to age my stouts longer. and i would like to have some more mature stouts for the winter.
i used to bottle my stout and let it sit in a crawl space around 66 degrees for 2 - 3 months and it always gets better and better until the last bottle.

i changed over to kegging and dont have the keg or kegerator space to age. in the keg which is what i would prefer to do., short of buying another fridge and kegs whats my best option

1 leave in 5 gallon ale pale primary at 70 degrees for 2 months 3 months
or
2 rack to secondary 5 gallon ale pale and leave at 70 for two to 3 months ?


is this just going to get infected/oxidized

thanks

 

[tracer bullet]

I've been letting mine sit in the fermenter for a full month, then kegging it. Then I leave the keg under the basement stairs until winter. It does of course require a keg, but to me it's been worth it. There's minimal handling, transfers, etc. for a beer that quite honestly cost as much in ingredients as the keg itself did, not to mention my time involved as well.

I know that's not one of your #1 or #2 options but I want to suggest you reconsider.

 

[mac_1103]

So you can't fit a keg into that crawl space?

edit - on second thought, I guess the problem is that you can't spare a keg for 2-3 months.

 

[tracer bullet]

I will say that whatever you do, sanitation is super important. I mean - it's always important, but a beer that sits 6 months, even if the alcohol is high, has to be in pristine equipment. Pull every single thing apart, every O-ring, every poppet, clean every nook and cranny. Clean the inside of the dip tube with a tube brush, and so on. Your transfer hose, whatever else you use.

I had a spoiled Imperial Stout once. Once! Never again.

 

[kevin58]

Is the crawl space all you have or is there some kind of basement/cellar? I put my stouts, porters, barley wines... anything that benefits greatly with aging into a keg and just let it sit in my basement. I make sure that the keg is kept pressurized with CO2 and I leave them there a minimum of 6 months before placing the keg in the keezer. Some age for 12+ months.

That being said however, 70°F is not going to harm your beer. Historically, London brewers (and other English breweries) would store their beer in barrels outside in all weather for up to a year.

 

[WesBrew]

I think i'd go with option 2 based on what you have. Maybe drop that primary bucket in an ice bath for a cold crash after fermentation to get it clear, transfer off to secondary and let it rest.

 

[RM-MN]

would like to have some more mature stouts for the winter

Winter of which year? I aged a stout in the bottle and opened the last bottle at 2 years from bottling day. I felt it was still improving then.

 

[bleme]

Check out the Oxebar PET kegs.
At $11 each, they are a pretty affordable solution.

 

[mac_1103]

Check out the Oxebar PET kegs.
At $11 each, they are a pretty affordable solution.

I have a couple and I like them, but it's $11 for a 2.2 gallon PET bottle; you'll have to spend another $20 to turn it into a keg.

 

[lumpher]

For your given options, I'd let it primary for that time. The CO2 layer generated during fermentation will help reduce any oxidation, and keep vodka in the airlock, changing it out every couple weeks or so. Some say water is ok in the airlock, but I prefer vodka because gnats will try to get in eventually, and water won't kill the germs from them; vodka will.

 

[fluketamer]

thanks guys this stuff is great i think i will go with wesbrew and cold crash and transfer to secondary and let it "rest" for a month .

i looked into the oxebar kegs ( i liked the small sizes) for a while before settling on yaebrew 2.6 minikegs with racetrack openings. i didnt like the thought of trying to clean plastic bottle kegs with a small opening mouth.

but i see how the oxebars could have there following.

thanks

 

[Rish]

Maybe consider going back to bottling just for your stouts since you've had success with that?

 

[pvtpublic]

The problem with ale pales, or any plastic bucket for that matter, is that the plastic is oxygen permeable. Granted, it is a slow oxygen transfer, but it's faster than a wooden cask. Bulk aging would be best in a purged carboy or keg, including being better than in bottles.

 

[SFC Rudy]

I always bottle my big beers. They’re usually only drank a few at a time and I don’t want to tie up a keg and tap for months.

 

[hottpeper13]

I rack mine from primary (4-6 weeks) into a sanitized and rewetted bourbon barrel for 6-8 months then into a keg or bottle.