Belgian Quad - To Keg or Not To Keg, That Is the Question

[Imburr]

I have a Belgian Quad. Target ABV is 11.6% but I will only hit 9%. It has been fermenting for almost two weeks, and slowwing down. Temp started at 66, and slowly raised to 72 ish.

I am going to rack onto secondary after 2 weeks expires to add coconut. I will condition it on coconut for 2 more weeks.

Should I keg it and age it at room temp?
Should I keg and age it cool?
Should I bottle condition?

If I bottle, I understand it will probably want higher volumes (3.0?), do I really need to buy special thicker bottles?

 

[xpops]

i would first, let it secondary longer than that. you're probably going to have some fusel alcohol with that big of a beer. IMO, you're better off to bulk age it for a while before doing anything. Let those yeasties clean up their dirty work. Also - make sure you purge your secondary before transferring! i assume you have the ability since you're considering kegging.

I had this same dilemma with a 20 month old nectarine sour golden i had sitting around. I wanted to bottle condition so it could age, but finally decided to just keg it, and bottle from there. there is still yeast in suspension, and it should still age fine like that. You also wouldnt need thicker bottles as the beer is already carbed when packaging from a keg.

cheers,

 

[Kee]

I always had better luck bottle conditioning high gravity beers. They age well in bottles and will usually taste better with age. Standard bottles will easily handle 3 volumes.

 

[cubalz]

I have brewed many a quad and I always keg them, I usually bump up the Co2 to make it more effervescent. I recommend kegging it and aging it cool, this is what I have always done with great results. I do, however, question your use if a secondary. Chuck the coconut into the primary and filter it out when transferring to the keg like what is done when dry hopping.

 

[Gus_13]

I personally would bulk age the beer a while longer before adding the coconut. Like others have said these beers are better drunk with time for everything to sort out vs drinking fresh. You could age in primary for a very long time. I know the stigma against aging on yeast but at the homebrew level autolysis is hard to come by. I usually go months on the cake for my quads sometimes up to 6 months and then prepare them for bottling or kegging. You could package a few in the bottle when you keg and keep them for aging.

If you are carbing to 3vol or so, I do not recommend standard bottles. They are typically rated for 2.8-3 vol but unless you are very accurate with your sugar additions, the added safety of a thicker bottle will be good. I've had bottle bombs before and they are not fun.

You state the target ABV was 11.6 but you are only at 9 right now. What's the gravity sitting at? 2 week primary is not exponentially long for a beer like a Quad and especially if you had a high starting gravity. It could be good to know that and what yeast strain you used as well. If you have lots of residual sugars left I would definitely not package in bottles yet.

 

[Imburr]

Thanks for the replies guys! Appreciate it!

I am racking to secondary because I am splitting the 6 gallon batch into 2x 3 gallon batches, which I will add coconut to differently to test which I prefer.

The only problem with aging in the fermentor is that.. I need my fermentors back for more homebrew

OG was like .068 not sure what it is now haven't checked yet. Will probably check on Monday, which makes it 2 weeks and 1 day in the fermentor.

I used WhiteLabs 530 in a starter with 3 vials.

Any more advice is appreciated, my first dark beer/quad but that is what I want to brew.

 

[Imburr]

I could forgo splitting the batch if you think I really shouldn't, problem is that I have 6 gallons of beer and only 5 gallon kegs. To leave in fermentor means tying up 2x for a while.

 

[Imburr]

I guess I could put coconut into the 5 gallon fermenter primary like @cubalz mentioned, and take my 1 gallon and just keep it base quad to compare... Though since it fermented separately I imagine it will be different than what's in the 5 gallon carboy.

 

[Gus_13]

If the OG was 1.068 and you have calculated to 9% then you have pretty much fermented that out completely. Sounds like you may have missed your target starting gravity by a good bit. Nothing wrong with that you'll just have more of a BDSA instead of a Quad. Make sure and take a reading to know when to package for sure.

Nothing wrong with splitting it off at all. I do that a lot. It's fun to experiment.

 

[Imburr]

That 9% is just what Beer Smith tells me based on volumes and temps.

 

[Imburr]

I couldn't wait so I just went and took a quick reading, it's at 1.043 gravity after 12 days. The top is still chunky/foamy/yeasty but no airlock activity. It is tough to tell if krausen has fallen because the wort was 3 inches from the top and it fermented so violently the entire inside top of the carboy is covered and I cannot see inside.

Since I had more wort, I put 1.5 gallons into a separate carboy... That carboy has stopped fermenting and is just chilling out.

I had a VIOLENT fermentation, yeast everywhere, lids blown off. Started within like 3 hours of adding yeast.

 

[Imburr]

Recipie:

Target OG: 1.094 Target FG: 1.022 Target ABV: 10.1%%

Measured:

OG: 1.068 12-Day Measurement: 1.043

I think it has a long way to go! Reading was from the top inch though, and had chunks in it. I am waiting on my wine thief to get a middle sample.

 

[BigBlueBrad]

Now?

 

[Imburr]

OG was a mis-calc, around 1.069. FG was 1.021. ABV is low, but flavor is good.