Oatmeal Stout question

[cwsmitty]

I am very new to this--my first batch (autumn amber) is currently in the secondary.

I just ordered an oatmeal stout kit from Midwest and will brew next week. After seeing some discussion on here about fermentation/bottling times for stouts, I have a few questions:

How long should I keep the stout in the primary?
Should I use a secondary?
What is the minimum recommend bottle conditioning time?

I am leaving town forma couple of weeks about three weeks after brewing, so I would like to bottle before I take off. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

 

[BryanJ]

Yea you should bottle it before you leave, don't bother with secondary. It will be ready when its ready, start drinking them after 3 weeks in the bottle and you can determine if it needs more time to bottle condition.

 

[shawnbou]

This is a very common question from new brewers around here, and you will hear different responses. But there are many of us who don't bother with a secondary at all anymore except in the rarest of cases. I routinely leave my beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks and my beer comes out great. I've gone 6 weeks in primary on bigger beers. The reports of long primary times resulting in off-flavors in your beer are greatly exaggerated for homebrewers making 5-gallon batches.

For an oatmeal stout, I'd probably leave it in primary for 4 weeks, but that depends on a lot of factors. 3 would produce a perfectly acceptable beer.
Even if you reach final gravity after a week, leave the beer in the primary for the rest of the time. This will give the yeast time to clean up after themselves and result in a smoother, better tasting beer.

As for bottle conditioning, 3 weeks is typically the minimum for carbonated and drinkable beer. You'll find the beer gets better for the next few weeks. I usually don't find my bottle-conditioned beers get really good until 6-8 weeks after bottling.

In your case, if you can brew at least 3 weeks before you go on your trip and bottle right before you leave, do so. You'll return home to carbonated beer that might be good enough to drink, but won't be quite at its peak yet. I would recommend storing your conditioning beers in a sealed waterproof container (Rubbermaid bin, foam ice chest, etc.) while you're away, just in case of overpriming or infections, so you don't come home to a mess of broken glass and sticky floors.

 

[klay23]

I am very new to this--my first batch (autumn amber) is currently in the secondary.

I just ordered an oatmeal stout kit from Midwest and will brew next week. After seeing some discussion on here about fermentation/bottling times for stouts, I have a few questions:

How long should I keep the stout in the primary?
Should I use a secondary?
What is the minimum recommend bottle conditioning time?

I am leaving town forma couple of weeks about three weeks after brewing, so I would like to bottle before I take off. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Brewed this exact kit early Jan. loved it, fermentation took 10 days, kegged it and it's so good I'm drinking it already. Will brew that kit again for sure!!!

 

[cwsmitty]

Thanks for all of the great info! Luckily being out of town will force me to be patient...