1.090 OG fermentation schedule

[MrFancyPlants]

I just brewed a double biab batch and the starting Gravity came out to 1.090. How long should I plan on letting this beer ferment and then condition before drinking? I know there are a ton of variables, but I do have a temperature controller, so I can manipulate the temperature and so far I have pitched pacman on one portion of the batch and Mangrove Jack's English Ale yeast on the other portion. The Malt bill is mostly MO with less than 10% specialty grains.

 

[iijakii]

Well, it's all subjective and you're going to get lots of different opinions.

Personally I like to primary my big beers 3-4 weeks, and then bottle/keg conditioning is just kind of subjective. Since I'm impatient that means a few weeks and then I slowly drink them and regret it when the older ones are amazing.

 

[Kee]

I brew a lot of Belgians in the range. The fermentation schedule varies a lot depending upon specific yeast and whether it was a slight under pitch, etc. Oxygenation with pure O2 will shorten the fermentation. I've gone from 1.090 to 1.012 in five days, but it has taken me a month on other occasions.

Some brews taste good as soon as they are carbonated but just about all of the high gravity brews are better after a few months or even several months if not longer.

 

[strahmhv]

Brew Like a Monk is a great book on Belgian Ales, and the author explains how many of the brewers will rack bigger beers and add new yeast twice, sometimes three times. In some cases more fermentable are added, other times just yeast... occasionally a different strain.

I'd wait a week and then start taking some samples, if your fermentation is stopped or slowed down then make a fresh starter and toss it in.

 

[daksin]

It's all about gravity. For a big beer, I wait until it's come down to final gravity and then let it hang out a week at fermentation temperature to let the yeast re-metabolize any fermentation byproducts they might have left over. If it tastes good after that week, I will bottle/keg it. For small beers, that post-fermentation rest might only be a day or two.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Thanks for the input all. My previous batch was my first attempt at a cream ale and I tried to fit too much into one 5G pot(~40%eff), so I feel somewhat vindicated that I could get my brew house efficiency up over 70% this time.
I'm keeping the pacman portion temp controlled to 60f and the krausen looks quite creamy right now. The smaller English ale yeast portion, i am letting the temps fluctuate (ambient between 64 and 72f)in the basement to try and develop some fruity esters. Both batches have a lot of kettle trub on the bottom.
I am thinking that sooner or later, I will rack the different portions back together and add some fresh yeast of each type and leave it temp controlled at 65f. I could also top off that earlier cream ale attempt with a bit of the new beer. Because my efficiency was so low I ended up with double the intended bittering in the cream ale, and although this 1.090 batch has about 40ibu, I am hoping it can add some interest to the bitter cream.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I'm on day 6 and the panama jack's 70f stalled out at 1.050 two days ago.
Pacman 62f (stc-1000) is down to 1.035 and chugging.
I'm going thave to blend soon to free up the fermenters for when I double down on the recipe I haven't tasted. I'm thinking single hopping w glacier on this one for a post-modern bitter.