Oak Imperial Stout fermentation question

[Mtdesh]

I just brewed my first batch of beer. a true brew oak imperial stout kit. instructions said to add oak 3 days after fermentation has begun and to bottle 10 days after adding oak. yest was pitched at 68. bucket has been staying around 64-66 degrees. the beer has been in fermenting bucket for 17 days now. Had intended to bottle after 14 days but didn't get to it. I still see the occasional bubble from the air lock.

Should I bottle Now? or wait until this weekend for a total of around 21 days? I figure the longer the better to insure fermentation is done

 

[SledgeH]

10 days is super short for an imperial. Yes, you can wait. It won't harm anything and will allow for the yeast to continue to work on your beer. I've had imperials in the fermentation bucket for 60 days and others on this site have let them sit for months with no ill effect.

 

[inhousebrew]

Imperial stout? Two weeks to bottling? No thank you. No offense but those are terrible directions.

Here's what I would do, brew it. Add the oak. Let it sit for a minimum of a month and then bottle. Then, age those bottles. Imperial stouts are better with age. The longer the better in a lot of cases. You could drink it sooner rather than later, or you could drink it when it is in its prime. If you bottle before fermentation has finished weakly made bottles can explode as the beer continues to ferment in the bottle creating too much carbonation.

 

[Mtdesh]

Ok.. So I managed to let it sit in primary bucket for 22 days. Today I opened it to take a gravity reading/ taste. I was a little nervous , but it looked right, it smelled right. And it taste pretty damn good.... A little bitter. FG was 1.018. kit says it should be 1.020-1.024. I want to bottle now. My question is, the oak that was added 3 days in was a powder like sawdust. There is still a lot floating around at all depths of the bucket. Should I run siphon through a strainer when I rack to bottling bucket? Or just leave it alone ?

 

[inhousebrew]

Waiting sucks doesn't it? Worst part of brewing next to cleaning...

Anyways, if you used that powdered stuff I would hold off and try and let it settle out before bottling. You hit your final gravity and then some so your safe as far as bottling goes and it would be good to let those bad boys age for a while in the bottles before drinking them but I would want that oak gunk out of the bottle. If you have a really cold part of the house/apartment/whatever you live in I would put it there for another week or so. Let stuff settle out and then rack it to bottle.

If you really wanted you could stick some cheese cloth or a muslin bag on the end of your siphon that goes into the beer.