Is it necessary to age a porter?

[patpend3]

Hi
Is it necessary to age a porter? is it better to rack to a secondary or can I go strait to bottling after fermentation is complete?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Generally speaking, beers with deep, roasty notes require a bit more time than lighter ones. However, with proper temperature control and a cold crash at the end of fermentation, porters and stouts can be quite drinkable in only a few weeks' time. There is no need for a secondary unless you want a true secondary fermentation (i.e., you're adding fruit or other sugars) or you intend to bulk age the beer for longer than about 4 weeks.

Bottom line:
Taste the beer before bottling. If it tastes good (and fermentation is complete), it's ready.

 

[RC0032]

But when do they come into their prime? Ed says to age his porter for 6 months

 

[Yuri_Rage]

That depends on recipe, method, and personal opinion/taste. To generalize again, the higher the ABV, and the more roasted ingredients in the recipe, the longer it will take to mature.

 

[Buffman]

But when do they come into their prime? Ed says to age his porter for 6 months

I was just about to ask this very question. I've had a robust porter aging in a secondary for just over a month and getting impatient to drink it.

 

[patpend3]

thanks Yuri
I've never considered cold crashing, but after a little research I'm thinking that it sounds like a great idea.

maybe I could bottle the porter, wait 4 weeks for the beer to carbonate, then cold condition for another four weeks?

 

[TexLaw]

I was just about to ask this very question. I've had a robust porter aging in a secondary for just over a month and getting impatient to drink it.

Stop waiting. Drink it. You don't have to drink it all. Work your way through it for several months, and see how it changes over time.


TL

 

[Malticulous]

My porter is in it's prime at 5-6 weeks, just like most of my beer beers. Aging it longer is not a good thing. Contrary to many opinions all beers do not just keep getting better with age. I really haven't had the dark malt needing more time issue (it's a watter problem.)

 

[rico567]

Stop waiting. Drink it. You don't have to drink it all. Work your way through it for several months, and see how it changes over time.


TL

This is good advice, I think. I was not until I did this, shortly after I started homebrewing, that I began to appreciate just how much difference conditioning and aging makes in beer.

The secret to aging isn't waiting- it's having a pipeline filled with beer at all stages of development, so that you're always drinking it fully conditioned / aged. It took me a while, but I'm pretty much there.

 

[Marius]

The secret to aging isn't waiting- it's having a pipeline filled with beer at all stages of development, so that you're always drinking it fully conditioned / aged.

That's right, after brewwing for a year I decided to brew every two weeks, and I promised myself not to drink a homebrew In two months, I got enough reserves to drink propertly aged beer for the rest of my life.

 

[bronzdragon]

Most of the time, the bigger the brew, the longer it takes to get really good. That doesn't mean you can't have a few before that time though.

The porter that I commonly brew is about a 1.050 brew and I leave it in the secondary for a month and then keg and it tastes fine.

cheers
~r~