bottling vs. another week on yeast cake?

[redfox]

I brewed a nut brown ale (7/28) for a special event in late September. it's been in primary for the two weeks now. OG = 1.053, FG (?) today is 1.013.

I know I'm cutting it close, time-wise.

I tasted the gravity sample, and it's not bad, but a little..."off". I'm sure the lack of carbonation & the warm temp contributed, but I think time is the most lacking thing.

oh yeah....it's extract with grains.

so my question...better to leave it on the cake for another week and cut the "aging" period by that week; or bottle it now?

The event is Sept 28th. Went to the effort of making up special labels.

Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

I brewed a nut brown ale (7/28) for a special event in late September. it's been in primary for the two weeks now. OG = 1.053, FG (?) today is 1.013.

I know I'm cutting it close, time-wise.

I tasted the gravity sample, and it's not bad, but a little..."off". I'm sure the lack of carbonation & the warm temp contributed, but I think time is the most lacking thing.

oh yeah....it's extract with grains.

so my question...better to leave it on the cake for another week and cut the "aging" period by that week; or bottle it now?

The event is Sept 28th. Went to the effort of making up special labels.

Thanks!

Aging is aging, so it can age in the bottle as well as in the fermenter if you're worried about giving it enough time to carbonate. Either would be ok, as long as it was protected from light and oxygen.

 

[redfox]

appreciate the reply, Yooper!

I remember you from my earlier stint here. took a few year hiatus, so it's kinda like starting all over.

 

[RipC1ty]

I brewed a nut brown ale (7/28) for a special event in late September. it's been in primary for the two weeks now. OG = 1.053, FG (?) today is 1.013.

I know I'm cutting it close, time-wise.

I tasted the gravity sample, and it's not bad, but a little..."off". I'm sure the lack of carbonation & the warm temp contributed, but I think time is the most lacking thing.

oh yeah....it's extract with grains.

so my question...better to leave it on the cake for another week and cut the "aging" period by that week; or bottle it now?

The event is Sept 28th. Went to the effort of making up special labels.

Thanks!

Racking now won’t hurt it. Seems like it’s pretty much done fermenting. You may see a .01 drop in gravity but I would guess most likely not. I personally would bottle now to make sure you can get the perfect amount of carbonation in case you have to let it sit longer than expected but still 4 weeks would be a long time to let it carbonate in bottles before moving to the fridge.

 

[redfox]

Thanks, RipC1ty.

 

[redfox]

I guess I'm a bit worried because I want the beer to be (at least) "very good". And while I realize it's as green as can be, the sample I tasted wasn't what I'd hoped for.

the event is special to me...it's a gathering of another group of enthusiasts I belong to. there will be some nationally known (within that circle) industry giants there.

fortunately, I won't be brewing for the entire group. The beer will be on the exchange table, as a gift.

 

[A_McG]

What's your primary vessel? If it's a bucket I'd say rack to glass or bottle it. The brown ales I've made in the past (also from extract with grains) seemed to hit peak flavor at 6-8weeks old. Timing wise you should be good, even if you secondary you will have plenty of time to bottle carb

 

[redfox]

primary is 7 gallon glass carboy.

 

[ncbrewer]

I wouldn't bottle until you're sure it's fermented out and the FG is stabilized.

I agree with this - I always check gravity twice, at least 2 days apart, to be sure it's stable.

To me, Nut Brown doesn't need extended aging. I give it about 18 days in primary and 3 weeks in bottles. You should have plenty of time. Hopefully it's just a green, uncarbonated taste that you don't like.

 

[redfox]

thanks, ncbrewer.

it wasn't horrible, just a little "off". I'll bet with a few weeks of age, it'll be fine. just wasn't sure if I should leave it in primary, or bottle it.

glad to hear it shouldn't need extended aging.

 

[redfox]

update:

I left it on the yeast cake until today. it is finished at 1.013

chilled my hydro sample before tasting it and still am not thrilled with it. I think the reason is, it's tastes too thin and dry (at least from what I expected). however, I've been on a big beer (commercial) kick lately; so my taste buds might be expecting too much.

 

[redfox]

final update:

RDWHAHB...it turned out fine! I *DID* have to shake them up (bottle conditioned) about a week before the event, because one of my test bottles wasn't carbed up when I tried it.

gave one to a friend at the event and he liked it. he was [mock] pissed when I gave his (promised) 2nd one to someone else.

one guy called me at home following the event (he had to do some digging [stalking] to find my phone #) to tell me how much he liked it.

Appreciate the reassurance from the group here! You're the BEST!