Fementation time for a big beer

[ryank020]

I have a big beer, a Belgian Strong Dark Ale OG 1.100. I brewed it on 1/29 and have checked the gravity and it has been consistent over the past 5 days at 1.019. I have read and from what I can gather, you should let bigger beers ferment longer. At this point, since fermentation seems to be complete, is it ok to rack to secondary so I can free up my primary to use for beers that won't take so long to ferment? I plan to leave it in secondary for at least 2 months before I bottle. Thanks.

 

[beergolf]

1.019 is pretty good for a beer that big. Give a few more days and then rack it to secondary. You may get a couple more points of attenuation in the secondary. I like your idea of letting it sit for a couple of months. Belgians just do soooo much better if you let them age.

 

[homebrewdad]

You'll be fine if you go ahead and bulk age in a secondary, but I think you are going to want that big beer to stay on the cake for at least three (if not four) weeks from brew date. Fermentation (i.e. conversion of sugars to alcohol) may be complete, but you'll benefit from the yeast cleaning up your off flavors.

 

[Calder]

Are you able to raise the temperature to around 80 F. You can use a big plastic tub of water and an aquarium heater.

You can often get a few more points out of Belgian strains by raising the temperature, and I expect the lower you can get the FG, the better the beer will taste.

 

[fletchsj]

sanitize a large spoon or long piece of cpvc (is my old h20 measuring stick) and gently stir up the yeast at the bottom. be as gentle as possible cause you don't want oxidation. then put it on a heating pad on low-medium for a few days. that's what id do. but definitely let it sit for a while after. still probably needs 3 more weeks on the cake. but, then again you might be as low as you can go...