Storage/aging temp for Russian Imperial Stout?

[whoaru99]

I have a 5g carboy of RIS I made last fall, about 1.090.

It's been in my basement since then and wasn't concerned over the winter. Now, however, it's possible my basement could get into the 70s, maybe even upper 70s, over the summer.

I want to keep it in bulk conditioning/aging until fall, then bottle for winter consumption.

Do I need to do something to keep it cooler, or will the temp be fine even if it's possibly into the mid/upper 70s?

 

[whoaru99]

Hmmm...no thoughts/suggestions?

Wrong sub-forum?

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

The thing with temperature as far as aging goes is that it will affect the speed of changes. The warmer it is the hastier the changes, the colder the slower. I honestly suggest keep it roughly at the same temp as it fermented. If it gets in the 70s I wouldn't worry too much about it but I'd try to keep it close to fermentation temp.


- ISM NRP

 

[day_trippr]

I keep my big stouts in glass carboys in the one part of the house that's "kinda below grade", but the batches that see late summer temps still get pretty close to breaking 70°F for long periods. Yet they've always been well received (and heavenly on nitro - I'm having a nitecap right now and it's just wonderful. But I digress....)

I have a carboy full of chocolate double imperial stout simmering right now and it'll get close to that temperature before I keg it. So I wouldn't be too concerned about riding through some mid-70s temps. If there's a beer out there that can handle it it's a big stout.

I doubt most commercial stouts are shipped cold and gawd only knows what temperatures they see on their way to your local packy...

Cheers!

 

[cuda6pak]

Rather than make a new thread -

I have an RIS that I brewed back in January. I left it in primary for ~5 weeks, cold crashed, and transferred to a cornie and into my keezer (set at 40*). My plan was to bulk age it in the keezer and take samples every few weeks to see how it is doing, but now I'm wondering if I'm doing more harm than good keeping it at such a low temp. I wasn't planning on really enjoying it until winter. It was a big beer, 1.100 that terminated slightly high at 1.028. Should I pull the keg out and stick it in a closet? Problem is everywhere in my house has big temperature swings throughout the summer/winter so there is nowhere to bulk age it safely IMO. Last year I aged an RIS in my closet for 5 months and it turned out...OK. I suspect it had more to do with my made up recipe than the temp, but it still has crossed my mind.

So, am I gaining anything out of aging an RIS in the keezer?

 

[day_trippr]

Good question. I imagine prolonged cold conditioning would have some benefit for "character melding", but as most reaction rates increase with temperature, if one is looking for "change" it's going to happen quicker when warm.

My stouts and porters see "warm space" time mostly because I don't have room for them in cold storage anyway. I've actually taken to force-carbing the stouts and porters while warm to cut down their cold-conditioning time in deference to my pales, ipas, wheats and the like which don't like to be warm, ever.

So I don't actually have any experience with a stout that went from the fermenter straight to cold conditioning. It'd certainly be a candidate for a split-batch experiment...

Cheers!