Let beer age after secondary?

[Davevjordon]

My first beer is only on day 5 of fermentation (all grain IPA). I've been seeing a lot of "age 4 weeks" after secondary fermentation. Being my first batch, of course, I'm going to be anxious.
Can anyone share their experiences with taste differences after aging vs not aging your beer?
And if I REALLY MUST age my beer, 😩 Should I age it in the kegs? That was my plan.

 

[owmatooth]

It often seems the best tasting glass is the last glass from the keg. For me that would be at about the 2 week mark. Aging is good, but I only worry about it when its not tasty from day 1. I tend to get a tinny off taste in some of my lighter beers in the first week of carbonating in the keg. Still trying to figure it out, but it seems to go away after fully carbonating and sitting for a week or so.

If it tastes great, drink it. If not so great, leave it for a month, it'll mellow and get better. If it still doesn't taste great after a month throw some fruit extract on it and call it a summer beer. Many of my most popular brews were a result of my covering up flaws in the brewing- either with dry hops or fruit extracts.

 

[Davevjordon]

Thanks, Tooth. Very good advice. I'm also having second thoughts about secondary fermenting. I was reading some replies to another person's post and a couple people pointed out the risk of oxidizing the beer during transfer (also the contamination possibilities). I know, no splashing = no oxygen, sanitize to avoid contamination. The risk, and being my first batch, I just want to end up with at least a decent beer. And not have to toss my first batch.

 

[phendog]

I've packaged a NEIPA 17 days after brew day (one of the best beers I've ever made) and have let beer sit in secondary for as long as 2 months. I currently have a Belgian Triple that still has good airlock activity 8 days after brew day.

Every beer is different, requires varying fermentation and conditioning times and I stoped paying attention to all the recommendations regarding time in primary, secondary, etc. a while ago.

Simply put, gravity readings let you know when fermentation is complete. Give some additional time for the yeast to clean up and allow your taste buds to let you know when it's ready to package.

 

[Dcpcooks]

What type of beer is it? why would you want to age it? Why would you want to transfer to secondary?

Splashing= oxidation isn't completely accurate. Exposing your beer to oxygen/ post fermentation is the problem. That can be as simple as opening the lid on your bucket unnecessarily and often.

For a normal gravity beer starting around 1.060 or so you'll need 7-14 days to get through fermentation I usually shoot for a bit longer. I don't rush it, and I'm usually looking to keg a beer at about the three week mark. Don't be tempted to play with it. Keep it closed and let it do its thing. Take gravity reading after it looks like all activity has stopped. If your in a carboy that's easy. If your in a bucket that can be harder to see. Remember airlock activity isn't a sign of fermentation per se. Yeast can still be finishing up and removing precursors for off flavors without producing large amounts of co2.

Then dry hop if it's in your design, then rack to keg or bottling bucket. I never use a secondary unless it's got a purpose. By that I mean I'm adding fruit, oak, it's a big beer that needs to age for three to six months or I'm moving it to a barrel. Otherwise your fine on the yeast cake for the entire duration of fermentation. It's safer from a contaminant or oxidation standpoint.

As you ferment o2 is taken up by the yeast, sugars are consumed and co2 and alcohol is produced. At this point you have a relatively o2 free environment in the fermentor. It will stay that way until you open the lid or allow the airlock to go dry.

 

[Dcpcooks]

It should also be said that oxidation will rob you of hop flavors in IPA's. they are far more sensitive to oxidation as hop flavors oxidize quickly.

 

[Davevjordon]

Thanks for the advice. I may just let it sit for an additional week after fermentation, keg it, give it a few days in the keg and give it a try. Thank you all.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

First off. Don't do secondary. It's Not necessary. Especially for an IPA.

Second. With IPAs you want to bottle and consume while it's young. Don't age that because it will lose hop character over time.

Note: there is a lot more information to be added to my comments. But what I said is a summarization to keep it to the point.

 

[Davevjordon]

Excellent. And to the point. My mind's definitely made up. It'll be getting kegged in about 9 days.

 

[Sadu]

Some beers are good for ageing. But not IPAs and definitely not your first batch. Waiting is the hardest part, even waiting 9 days sucks.

 

[RM-MN]

IPA's present a conundrum. The base beer needs some aging to make it the best it can be but the hop aroma fades rather quickly. I'm of the opinion (note: only opinion) that we should be making the base beer for the IPA and let that age some in the fermenter, then dry hop just before bottling so we get the aged beer with great hop aroma. YMMV

 

[oylerck]

Excellent. And to the point. My mind's definitely made up. It'll be getting kegged in about 9 days.

If you can get your beer cold before transferring the keg is should help with aging and clearing it. Wait until you have reached final gravity. I use the spigot for this reason so I don't have to open the lid. (You can also add a teaspoon of gelatin in water (160f to prep) let that sit 2 days before kegging. Us-05 yeast doesn't like to clear quickly.

Are you dry hopping? If so, dry hop in the keg warm 3-5 days. I don't see a reason to pull the hops but I also drink my beer fairly quickly.

After transferring, add co2 30psi until it stops filling and purge o2.

 

[kh54s10]

Most light ales, IPAs included, are ready to be packaged in 10 days to 2 weeks. A little longer won't hurt. I wouldn't do a secondary. I bag my hops so I don't have the hop debris. I do not age IPAs at all. As soon as they are carbonated I start drinking them. They don't last long enough for me to notice the hops fading. I will finish the batch off in a little more than a month.

 

[shoengine]

I'm going to age my IPA in a secondary for a month. Just to see what happens.

 

[Homercidal]

I'd check gravity and after stabilizes, let it sit at room temperature for a couple of day to help the yeast do clean up. Then either rack to a keg and start carbing, or cold crash. The Keg can act as a "secondary".

 

[Yooper]

I'm going to age my IPA in a secondary for a month. Just to see what happens.

Well, it will get older.

If you notice a commercial beer, it will have a date when it was packaged, and often a "best by" date. They aren't as prominently placed, like Stone's "Enjoy by......." series but in general, few beers are meant to age once packaged.

Some styles get better with age, but not many.

 

[MindenMan]

As was mentioned before a couple of things: unless you are using adjuncts (post fermentation additions such as fruit) there is no real reason to secondary. Transferring to secondary for any other reason just increases your chances of oxidation and/or contamination. If you want some age on your IPA before you add your aroma hops, leave your ale in the fermenter for a month or even two. You can add you aroma hops to the fermenter while the ale is still in it without issue in my experience. If you were making a big beer like a Strong Scotch Ale, then yes there is significant aging time required but still not "in secondary." My last SSA didn't really hit it's stride until a year after bottling and even at two years was still nothing short of amazing. When I was a new brewer, the idea of waiting a year or more before drinking a batch was way above my pay grade so-to-speak. After you get your pipeline filled then waiting on a batch of beer is no big deal as you always have other beers ready to drink. YMMV.

 

[shoengine]

I put mine in secondaries generally because I only have a single primary.

 

[RM-MN]

I put mine in secondaries generally because I only have a single primary.

That's easily rectified. The plastic bucket fermenters are only about $15, work well, and are much cheaper than dumping a batch because it got infected in secondary and better than drinking beer that got oxidized.:rockin:

 

[shoengine]

Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know when that happens.

 

[NSMikeD]

IPA's present a conundrum. The base beer needs some aging to make it the best it can be but the hop aroma fades rather quickly. I'm of the opinion (note: only opinion) that we should be making the base beer for the IPA and let that age some in the fermenter, then dry hop just before bottling so we get the aged beer with great hop aroma. YMMV

^^^^

for logistic reasons I tend to ferment 2 weeks and then let prime and condition in a keg 2 - 4 more weeks. I have noticed the long periods have lead to really improved flavor but at the expense of muting the last hop additions.

I am thinking about holding off dry hopping until a week before tapping and bumping up favoring hops.

I brewed two Sierra Nevada Pale Ales (arguably an IPA). The first one I dry hopped and spent 2 weeks in the fermentor and 2 in the keg before tapping. The grapefruit/citrus was front and center. I just tapped another one more in line with the brewery which does not dry hop. This one was 2 weeks in the fermentor and 4 weeks in the keg before tapping. It's a really good beer, but it does lack that hop pop you get with bottle of the original.

yup, conundrum