Conditioning in keg vs the fermentor

[BryggAnton]

Hi folks! Scroll to the bottom for the actual question.

I'm planning on conditioning my extract high ABV stout. I believe i will gett 1000 different answers, but what's the basics?

The brew has already been fermenting for 9 days to kind of the FG i was counting for. ABV 9.06%. It have been fermenting in 20c (68f).

From what i can tell i have no off flavors so far, a little bit sweet and mabye some (really can't tell) diacetyl left. But this was kind of expected after just 9 days of fermentation.

I will dryhop this brew 3 days before coldcrashing it and then keg it.

So for the actual question: For how long should i let it be "conditioning" in the fermenter IN ROOM TEMP before leting it conditioning further in the keg since I'm coldcrashing it to get rid of the hops?

 

[marc1]

When it's done fermenting dry hop, cold crash, transfer to keg. Condition in your keg at serving temp.
I wouldn't cold crash, then let it warm up again to condition in the fermenter at RT.

 

[Jag75]

Don't think I've ever tried a stout that was dry hopped.

I agree with marc1

 

[Knightshade]

I'll pipe in and basically state that I started to do what you're considering a couple months back. Had cold crashed in fermenter, kegged and had set out the keg at room temp.

My hope was to let it mature a little bit and get rid of some of the fusels I was detecting. A friend of mine who has been brewing WAAAAAAAAY longer than I have said. "I wouldn't recommend that...put it back in your kegerator and let it condition in there."

 

[bobeer]

All I can tell is what I've been doing for the past 7 years since I started kegging.

I do primary fermenation at 68 degrees, then a week later I bump up the temp to 70-72 degrees for 3-4 days to let the yeast clean up those off flavors you're talking about. Then I put the fermentor in the fridge to cold crash for anywhere from 2-7 days; depending how much trub is in the beer and how cloudy it is. Then I rack into a keg, burst carbonate and roll the keg at 20-30 psi depending what kind of beer it is. I'll let it sit at that psi over night then purge it down to serving pressure and let it sit in the fridge to condition for about a week.

So you answer your question, what I would do, is let it warm up to 70-72 degrees and let it sit for a few days to wrap up primary fermentation, then dry hop for however long, cold crash, then keg, then let it condition on gas for a while since it's such a big beer.

Hope this helps!

 

[BryggAnton]

All I can tell is what I've been doing for the past 7 years since I started kegging.

I do primary fermenation at 68 degrees, then a week later I bump up the temp to 70-72 degrees for 3-4 days to let the yeast clean up those off flavors you're talking about. Then I put the fermentor in the fridge to cold crash for anywhere from 2-7 days; depending how much trub is in the beer and how cloudy it is. Then I rack into a keg, burst carbonate and roll the keg at 20-30 psi depending what kind of beer it is. I'll let it sit at that psi over night then purge it down to serving pressure and let it sit in the fridge to condition for about a week.

So you answer your question, what I would do, is let it warm up to 70-72 degrees and let it sit for a few days to wrap up primary fermentation, then dry hop for however long, cold crash, then keg, then let it condition on gas for a while since it's such a big beer.

Hope this helps!

Yeah this helps thanks! This answears my question, i were kind of checking if I'm doing it completely wrong or if there is a big no no doing it this way But i will use the technique you just described

 

[Knightshade]

I guess an important distinction is what room temp is for everybody too. It is currently 77 in my house. I don't have AC or a basement, and it was high 80s a couple weeks ago. Don't think many people would consider those keg conditioning temps?

 

[BryggAnton]

I guess an important distinction is what room temp is for everybody too. It is currently 77 in my house. I don't have AC or a basement, and it was high 80s a couple weeks ago. Don't think many people would consider those keg conditioning temps?

I recently listen to a couple of podcasts where they described that the off flavors you get from the higher temps is because yeast that is fermenting to rapidly will produce esters and diacetyl. (At recomended temperature ranges there is still a small amount of esters beeing produced and in some beer styles you want the esters)

It's normal for the yeast to produce the diacetyl during fermentation. But more rapid fermentation will produce more of it.

Later in the cykle when most of the sugars are used up, the yeast will get rid of the diacetyl but for this to happen the temperature need to get higher.

But the yeast can't simply get rid of the diacetyl by just getting warmer, it still has to consume some sugar for this to happen.

That's why you want to bring it to higher temperatures when the fermentation is about to end. [And at this stage you don't hurt the beer by bringing the temperature up since there can't be any rapid fermentation happening at this stage] (The last part marked in between [..] I'm not 100% shure about if you can hurt the beer or not)

But it's good to bring up the temperature in the end to have much less diacetyl left in your beer.

This part I'm not 100% shure about either... There will be very little esters produced at this stage also because no rapid fermentation is taking place.

So what i will do from learning about this is... Ferment in the recomended temperatures, when the fermentation slows down and you are getting near the fg you kind of predicted, bring it upp to about 21-22c 70-72F. (lower for lagers)

I really apreciate if someone can point out anything I'm wrong about!

 

[Yooper]

I never cold crash- so I rack into the keg once fermentation is done and the beer is clear (or clearing well). Then it can age at room temperature (but never over 70 degrees), or in the kegerator (for lagers).

 

[BryggAnton]

I never cold crash- so I rack into the keg once fermentation is done and the beer is clear (or clearing well). Then it can age at room temperature (but never over 70 degrees), or in the kegerator (for lagers).

I have heard that letting a stout mature in higher temperatures will let it mature mutch faster. But do they mean 70+ for stouts or is it the same for stout that i should keep it below 70?

 

[bleme]

If it's not a beer I will be drinking for a while, I'll prime the keg with sugar, transfer, purge the headspace a few times, and let it sit at room temp for 3-4 weeks (or months). 'Conditioning' has many different aspects. Some of that is yeast settling out, which happens fastest when cold. Some of it is malt and hop flavors changing, which happens fastest when warmer. Generally, brewers frown on those flavor changes in hops but it really all depends on what your goal is.

 

[BryggAnton]

If it's not a beer I will be drinking for a while, I'll prime the keg with sugar, transfer, purge the headspace a few times, and let it sit at room temp for 3-4 weeks (or months). 'Conditioning' had many different aspects. Some of that is yeast settling out, which happens fastest when cold. Some of it is malt and hop flavors changing, which happens fastest when warmer. Generally, brewers frown on those flavor changes in hops but it really all depends on what your goal is.

Integrering! I guess priming the keg with sugar is for the yeast to be able to clean up? How much sugar would you recomend for 5 gallon/19L 9.06%ABV stout?

 

[bleme]

My baseline is 125 grams but if you want a lower carb amount, you might go 100 grams. In the end, it only really matters on your first glass or four. Once you drop the volume, it will adjust to whatever pressure you serve with in a day or so.

 

[BryggAnton]

My baseline is 125 grams but if you want a lower carb amount, you might go 100 grams. In the end, it only really matters on your first glass or four. Once you drop the volume, it will adjust to whatever pressure you serve with in a day or so.

Aha so this is instead of force carbing with a co2 bottle?

 

[bleme]

Aha so this is instead of force carbing with a co2 bottle?

Correct

 

[TwistedGray]

If it's not a beer I will be drinking for a while, I'll prime the keg with sugar, transfer, purge the headspace a few times, and let it sit at room temp for 3-4 weeks (or months). 'Conditioning' has many different aspects. Some of that is yeast settling out, which happens fastest when cold. Some of it is malt and hop flavors changing, which happens fastest when warmer. Generally, brewers frown on those flavor changes in hops but it really all depends on what your goal is.

Is your minimum three weeks?

 

[bleme]

Is your minimum three weeks?

I've never tried it sooner than that. Three weeks seemed to work best when I was bottling so I just stuck with that.

 

[TwistedGray]

I've never tried it sooner than that. Three weeks seemed to work best when I was bottling so I just stuck with that.

And I went to purge mine today, nada...ugh. I thought I hit it with enough Co2 when I added the sugar to create a seal on the keg, but clearly I was wrong. Soooooo now I just whacked it with some Co2 again (no sugar this time), ramped it up, and will have to remember next time. It'll be force carb'd unfortunately...