Bulk Aging Imperial Stout

[yard_bird]

Hi all, I’m brewing 3 gallons of RIS that I would like to oak age 3-6months. 3 gallons is about all I can manage with my mash tun with all that grain.

I have a 3gallon plastic carboy and a 5gallon glass carboy and I’m curious about the best solution. No kegging equipment available unfortunately.

1. Ferment and oak age in the 3gallon carboy. May have some O2 permeability, but greatly reduced headspace. Plus if I end up with 3.5gallons of lower OG this could be an issue (guess I could just keep boiling though).
2. Ferment and oak age in 5gallon glass carboy. Less O2 permeability, but way more headspace. If I use a blowoff tube for the whole fermentation and aging process, do I need to worry about headspace? My thoughts are that the CO2 has been generated and pushed out during ferm, any gas after fermentation in the carboy and couple feet of tubing will be CO2. I use one of those orange carboy caps with electrical tape around the seam to really seal it.

I guess I can also add some metabisulfite after fermentation to keep everything “fresh” (not quite sure how much, 75ppm?).

Bottle.

 

[lumpher]

I wouldn't age 3-3.5 gallons in a 5 gallon bottle. That's almost begging for infection or oxidation.

 

[sibelman]

Maybe get one of these?