novice with some fermentation questions/and conditioning questions

[witster18]

I jumped in and went all grain from the start, but I'm bottle conditioning and using dry yeast just to make things easier for me.

first batch chunked, but I knew the problem.

second batch amazing blonde/american ale... couldn't have been happier.
third similar but went a little hop crazy.. good but not AS good.

now I'm fermenting a stout... here's my questions..

I noticed that fermentation doesn't take long with dry yeast - what, if any, are the advantages of keeping my beer in the fermenter past when it's done fermenting? and specifically with a stout. I'm not using a secondary and personally I'm surprised at the clarity I can achieve without it(and without an elaborate tun).

second, my bottle conditioning time on the last two batches was quick.. sure they were better in two weeks, but nearly as good after 4-5 days... this is odd because I've heard so many things about 10-20 days on here.. how much longer will my stout take to condition than my last two "clearer" beers? both abv's on the 2nd and thrid batches were around 6.1, and this stout is coming in at 6.3..... and if it's going to take longer for the stout to condition than the other two - why is that? or is it not?

 

[Psycotte]

General rule to follow is this:

The darker the beer or the higher the ABV the longer you need to condition it. These "Bigger" beers getter better as they age. The younger lighter "Session" beers are better fresher and don't need as long to age.

 

[witster18]

so considering it's black as night, and 6.3, how long might it be before it's near "maturity"...

 

[kombat]

I'm not using a secondary and personally I'm surprised at the clarity I can achieve without it

Racking a beer to secondary is actually detrimental to clarity, not helpful.

The idea that racking to secondary will result in clearer beer is a myth. In fact, the opposite is true. Racking to secondary stirs up any preciptating sediment that is slowly working its way to the bottom of your primary fermenter, and instead mixes everything back up into uniform solution (except the stuff that has already made it all the way to the bottom).

The presence of a yeast/sediment cake on the bottom of the fermenter does not mean the beer on top of it will remain cloudy.

As for your questions, another poster has given you good advice. Darker beers benefit from aging, to give the flavours a chance to blend and any harsh alcohol edge time to mellow.

 

[Psycotte]

so considering it's black as night, and 6.3, how long might it be before it's near "maturity"...

I recently brewed a Coffee Stout. I let it sit in Primary for 3 weeks. I won't drink this for at least a month after I bottle it. I have learned from be here on HBT that these folks know their Stuff. Of the 35 gallons (7 batches) I have brewed the last beer I opened in every batch was the best and I was upset with myself for rushing to drink them. I'm learning that patience pays.

RDWHAHB.

 

[RM-MN]

The stout that I have been drinking is similar to yours and it was really good at 3 month in the bottles, better at 6 months, but at a year (yes, a full year from bottling) the flavors really smoothed out. I wouldn't wait that long to start drinking it because it will be good much sooner but try to save a couple bottles for a long time to see what you otherwise might have missed.

 

[Setesh]

...the last beer I opened in every batch was the best and I was upset with myself for rushing to drink them. I'm learning that patience pays.

RDWHAHB.

This man speaks wisdom, it's all about the pipeline! Just brew like crazy for a while and build up a big pipeline, then you can settle down to once or twice a month just to maintain the pipeline. Then you can let that RIS, tripel, or barleywine sit for a year or more like it should since you have plenty of other beers to drink. Don't age APAs or IPAs though, they will hit a peak after a month or so and then they will deteriorate fast from there. If you need a beer to drink soon do something like a hefe, apa, ipa, best bitter, or cream ale. They are ready quickly, and you can keep yourself from getting into the beers that really should age that way.