Time in fermenter vs bottle

[puttster]

If I add a week or two to the beer's time in fermenter and subtract that week from the time in the bottle, does it make a difference?

 

[jerbrew]

Kind of a vague question. Depends really on what you're talking about. You need a minimum time in the bottle for co2 in the headspace produced by the yeast after priming to dissolve into the beer. So if you're trying to avoid 2 weeks in the bottle by leaving it an extra week in the fermenter then that's really not going to work unless you're ok with an undercarbed beer.

As far as aging goes. Aging is aging and a week really isn't that long (considering many styles require months or years to hit their peak). But bulk aging ensures the beer as a whole changes the same over time since it's being exposed to the same exact conditions.

 

[puttster]

If I add a week or two to the beer's time in fermenter and subtract that week from the time in the bottle, does it make a difference?

Still wondering if there's a difference...

 

[Yooper]

Still wondering if there's a difference...

The carbonation level might be impacted- the beer might not be fully carbonated with, say, two weeks in the bottle instead of three weeks.

But as far as the beer aging, no. Three weeks is three weeks, no matter what vessel the beer is in assuming the temperature and storage temperature is the same. There is perhaps a very slight variation in a large carboy vs a small bottle over a great deal of time, but not in a week or month.

 

[kh54s10]

IMO the two are pretty much unrelated. You can age in bulk or in bottles, in this regard I don't think there is a lot of difference.

But bottle conditioning for carbonation will take the same amount of time regardless of the time in the fermenter.

That is, unless you are bulk aging for months, then the yeast left for carbonation will be low and it will either need a bottling yeast added or longer time to carbonate.

 

[puttster]

Thanks all. Yes aging was the question. I see some folks talking about leaving beer in the fermenter for weeks and weeks and I wondered if that extra time was doing anything that could not be done just as well in a bottle. Sounds pretty much a preference of style rather than substance
I was not really considering carbonation because, at least in my experience, that is like 90% done in the first few days anyway.

 

[Sadu]

I am interested in this topic myself. I record good tasting notes and with lagers in particular, it really does take 2-3 months to mellow out and turn an OK beer into a good one. At the moment I am aiming for 4 weeks bulk aging in the fridge, then 3 weeks carbonation, then if its carbonated into the fridge again for as long as is needed. Hard to find enough fridge space though.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks all. Yes aging was the question. I see some folks talking about leaving beer in the fermenter for weeks and weeks and I wondered if that extra time was doing anything that could not be done just as well in a bottle. Sounds pretty much a preference of style rather than substance
I was not really considering carbonation because, at least in my experience, that is like 90% done in the first few days anyway.

When I leave my beer in the fermenter for long periods I find that I get much less yeast sediment in the bottles although going beyond 4 weeks doesn't change much in that regard. The total time from yeast pitch to drinking great beer (especially dark beer) seems to be about the same whether in fermenter longer or bottled earlier.

Aging in the refrigerator may take longer that at room temp as all activity will be slowed at colder temps. I don't have refrigerator space to test that though so I may be wrong.

 

[TurnipGreen]

I made a wheatwine last spring that I bulk aged for about six weeks then dry hopped. It tasted great after an other two months in the bottle but the dry hop faded quickly.

This year I plan to bulk age it three or four months then dry hop and bottle, aiming for that sweet spot with the hops and the malt.

 

[Nubiwan]

I am interested in this topic myself. I record good tasting notes and with lagers in particular, it really does take 2-3 months to mellow out and turn an OK beer into a good one. At the moment I am aiming for 4 weeks bulk aging in the fridge, then 3 weeks carbonation, then if its carbonated into the fridge again for as long as is needed. Hard to find enough fridge space though.

Sadly, much of my 25 L is drank in 3-4 weeks. Bulk aging is but a myth for me.....

I brew, ferment and bottle in under 14 days. I taste my beer at one week into carbonation. Grain to glass in sub 21days. Not all like that, but it's not untypical.

Not going for any beer medals either, but I am still happy with what I brew. No way I am waiting 8 plus weeks to see how a beer tastes. What's the fun in that?

 

[Nubiwan]

I made a wheatwine last spring that I bulk aged for about six weeks then dry hopped. It tasted great after an other two months in the bottle but the dry hop faded quickly.

This year I plan to bulk age it three or four months then dry hop and bottle, aiming for that sweet spot with the hops and the malt.

Have you considered bottling is not optimal to hold the hop flavours? Find my IPAs fade in the bottle over a very short period of time. Wonder what other bottlers have experienced.

 

[TurnipGreen]

Have you considered bottling is not optimal to hold the hop flavours? Find my IPAs fade in the bottle over a very short period of time. Wonder what other bottlers have experienced.

oh yeah. No doubt about that. But there’s no way I’ll drink 5 gallons of high proof wheatwine in a reasonable amount of time. Two of those and I can’t feel my face. It would also mess up my pipe line of everyday drinking beer. I think I could squeeze a 2.5 gallon keg in the fridge. Maybe some day I’ll do that.