Imperial Stout Fermentation Time - Secondary Fermenter

[Architect-Dave]

I have the Northern Brewer’s Extract Dragon’s Silk Imperial Stout. It says to rack to secondary for at least three months. I am not sure why that is necessary - Not that I am going rogue, I just do not understand why pretty much everything is just about two weeks in it. I have heard that it should be in the secondary for 6 months. So, two questions…What is the purpose of a long secondary rest? And, can I bottle the beers and allow that resting tome to occur in the bottles instead of the fermenter (I am assuming not, or else that would be the suggestion in the recipe instructions).

 

[hottpeper13]

I like to add oak and whisky to my RIS's,so putting them in secondary with soaked oak is pretty much a thing. I just bottled one yesterday that spent 6 months in a 5 gal barrel(my Black Friday brew). My big beers spend 4-6 weeks in primary and then either get kegged or a barrel. I put the kegged ones on CO2 at ambient to hold off O2,and put it in the lagerator at 33* 4-6 weeks before tapping. You can definitely condition in the bottle ,just leave it in primary for 4 or so weeks.

 

[Architect-Dave]

I like to add oak and whisky to my RIS's,so putting them in secondary with soaked oak is pretty much a thing. I just bottled one yesterday that spent 6 months in a 5 gal barrel(my Black Friday brew). My big beers spend 4-6 weeks in primary and then either get kegged or a barrel. I put the kegged ones on CO2 at ambient to hold off O2,and put it in the lagerator at 33* 4-6 weeks before tapping. You can definitely condition in the bottle ,just leave it in primary for 4 or so weeks.

Thank you. I am brewing it up now and will see how it goes.

 

[tracer bullet]

I brew my Imperials, have them in the fermenter 3-4 weeks to be sure they're fermented and to let the yeast drop out, then I go ahead and keg and carbonate them. Then they sit in the basement literally under the stairs for a few months (3 - 4) until I can't take it any more and start drinking them. I consider that under stair storage to be the "secondary" time. Letting the yeast fall out before kegging should mean I don't need to transfer the beer again for some reason... It's been working for me.

These beers are definitely better with a few months on them. I find some of the sharper roast flavors will smooth out. I use closed loop transfers so I think this is not simple oxidation but that could be part of it, haha. You can start drinking them right away too of course.

And yeah, I think bottling after a few weeks is totally fine. Homebrewers using secondaries seems to be going away. I don't think we're lowering our standards, just realizing they don't help much if at all and aren't worth the effort or contamination risk.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Bulk conditioning vs in the bottle can lead to more uniform product bottle to bottle. So it is said.

 

[mac_1103]

I do bulk condition my bigger darker beers. Usually with some barrel chips, but not always. I do a gravity closed transfer into the secondary (you can purge any container that will seal air tight, it doesn't have to be pressure-rated unless you pressurize it). People seem to like the way they turn out, but I've never done split batch comparisons or anything like that.