Fermintaion time

MeLovinBeer · Jan 31, 2015

I brewed a Russian imperial stout about a week ago. I was wondering how long should I wait until I should keg it? What psi should I set the keg at and how long?
Thanks

LLBeanJ · Jan 31, 2015

For a RIS, I'd give it about a week beyond when the krausen drops before kegging. Then let it age for a month or two. when it comes time to tap, aim for about 2.0 vols, which would be about 6-7 psi @ 38°F. If your fridge is colder or warmer than that, you can use this handy dandy carb chart to figure out at what pressure to set it.

kh54s10 · Jan 31, 2015

LLBeanJ said:
For a RIS, I'd give it about a week beyond when the krausen drops before kegging. Then let it age for a month or two. when it comes time to tap, aim for about 2.0 vols, which would be about 6-7 psi @ 38°F. If your fridge is colder or warmer than that, you can use this handy dandy carb chart to figure out at what pressure to set it.

I would go longer that this for a big beer like this. Probably about 3 weeks primary. Keg it and leave it alone for the month or two, but it may take 3-4 or longer for the beer to mature. I made a 10% winter warmer that took 6 months to age enough to taste good, and was best at a little over a year. I brewed it in December 2011 and still have a few bottles. It is well past prime but they are still good.

LLBeanJ · Jan 31, 2015

If we were talking about bottling, I'd agree, but for kegging, it should pretty much be done within a few days after the krausen drops, with a few more days for yeast cleanup beyond that. Once in the keg it can age as long as necessary. Of course, there's no harm in doing a 3-4 week primary, it's just not something I do.