how long to age?

[Stape]

I have two batches in secondary to clear up some. I read on here about folks leaving beer to sit more months sometimes. Is there a time-frame for aging for certain brews or is it a personal preference? Or is it like scotch or something, more age=better?

 

[homebrewer_99]

Aging in the secondary refers mostly to lagers.

What are you brewing...that'll give us more info to provide you an answer with...

 

[BierMuncher]

Just when you can't stand it anymore....set the timer for another week. You'll thank yourself.

Like HB said though, a lot depends on the recipe. General rule is a week in the primary, two weeks in the secondary and three weeks in bottles.

Again...that's a generalization.

 

[Stape]

One is a coopers wheat beer can kit, and the other is a dark stout, forget the name, but also a can beer kit. I'm starting out with kits to get the general idea, equipment, cleaning, so on.

 

[Got Trub?]

One is a coopers wheat beer can kit, and the other is a dark stout, forget the name, but also a can beer kit. I'm starting out with kits to get the general idea, equipment, cleaning, so on.

The wheat beer shouldn't be "aged". These ferment quickly are supposed to be cloudy and are consumed while still "fresh" For these I change the 1:2:3 rule to something like 7-10 days in primary, bottle and carbonate 1-2 weeks and drink.

The stout on the other hand can benefit from some aging - either in your secondary or in bottles. How long depends alot on the recipe your technique your storage temperature and most importantly your willpower!

 

[Stape]

I think I'm gonna bottle the wheat from what I have been reading. For the stout, I put it in primary, let it settle down with no bubling in the airlock, and transfered into secondary, where it sits right now, going on 4 days, its a crisp, clean looking beer, smells wonderfull and tastes good as is., so should I keep it there for another week, then bottle? Also, the wheat, cloudy as heck, but the top 2in is getting crystal clear, like it's settling down, should I wait until it clears completely or mix it up for cloudiness and bottle? I hear you shouldn't let wheat age at all, and it did ferment quick as heck.

 

[McKBrew]

The stout can age for awhile if you don't have the time to bottle, etc... Letting it sit for a couple of weeks won't hurt it a bit. Some beers like porters and barleywines can age for 6+ months.

With the hefe, don't worry about it being clear, when you bottle you are going to mix in the priming sugar, plus when you drink a hefe it's common practice to pour part of it in a glass, swirl the bottle to bring the yeast off the bottom and pour the rest in.

 

[Professor Frink]

Maybe a little , but I have a belgian wit in primary right now and I'm probably going to keg it right from primary in a few days. My kegerator only holds one keg, and it'll be a little while before I tap the wit. Would it be better to naturally carb the wit, since it's supposed to be cloudy anyway (as opposed to just letting it sit in the keg before I force carb)?

 

[BierMuncher]

Maybe a little , but I have a belgian wit in primary right now and I'm probably going to keg it right from primary in a few days. My kegerator only holds one keg, and it'll be a little while before I tap the wit. Would it be better to naturally carb the wit, since it's supposed to be cloudy anyway (as opposed to just letting it sit in the keg before I force carb)?

I would do just that. Save your CO2. If the keg has to sit anyway, prime it and set it away at 64-70 degrees. Tap it in two weeks.

I do 10 gallons and I usually connect and charge one keg and prime the other keg naturally.

 

[Monk]

A lot of people use a secondary more as a "bright tank" or clearing vessel. in other words, they are not so worried about the yeast continuing to work, but about the beer becoming clear so that it can be bottled or kegged. I mostly make bitters, pale ales, amber ales, and the occasional wheat beer. For all of these, I either bottle/keg straight out of the primary (after about 2-3 weeks), or transfer to a secondary to sit for a few days until it falls bright. Then bottle. In my opinion, most ales under 5% don't need a lot of conditioning, especially if they are pale ales where you want the hop flavor/aroma to be fresh.

Just my experience. Good luck!

monk

 

[nerdlogic]

I brewed a batch of lager in february (primary for like 9 days, diacetyl rest for 2 days, secondary for like 2 weeks just to clarify it a bit).

I have had it kegged down in my basement like all of march and april. everytime i taste it its better and better.

It works!