2 1/2 weeks too early to bottle porter?

[StophJS]

This is sort of revisiting the thoroughly discussed "how long in primary" discussion, but I don't have a lot of experience brewing porters and was hoping to get some opinion on aging the style specially.

Tomorrow would be a convenient time for me to bottle a robust porter I put in primary on the 11th. I used Nottingham yeast. In others' experience, would I be sacrificing quality by bottling tomorrow? Can I reach the same point of quality by bottle aging a little longer? Thanks.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

i'd leave it... it will condition in bottles over time. but in my experience, bulk aging in the fermenter is a lot more effective than aging bottles.

 

[StophJS]

i'd leave it... it will condition in bottles over time. but in my experience, bulk aging in the fermenter is a lot more effective than aging bottles.

I was mostly going to bottle to free up my fermenter so I can try out my new patio burner tomorrow; maybe I'll just finally pick up another bucket tomorrow. I know some people talk about turning around beers in a couple weeks. Still curious as to what characteristics mean a beer should be aged longer. With the porter it seems fairly obvious for some reason.

 

[Calder]

You can age in the bottle or the fermenter. It will be a lot cleaner leaving it in the fermenter.

One thing with dark beers is that there are a lot of fine roast grain particles in suspension. Drink it young and you will be tasting the grain and drinking the particles. Leaving it longer, will allow the liquid to absorb more of the roast flavors and allow the fine particles to drop, making it a cleaner and smoother beer. If you take these particles across to the bottle, some will be disturbed when pouring and you will get them in the glass. Allowing them to drop in the fermenter will allow you to bottle a cleaner beer.

This is just one example of how beer improves with bulk aging. There are many complex changes going on; and with the exception of a very few styles, beer with live yeast will improve with bulk aging.

 

[Snowhere]

I condition my higher gravity beers (porters, scotch ales....) for a full 2 months in carboys before bottling. That is why I have 6 fermentors, 2-8gal, 2-6.5 gal and 2-5 gal so I have flexability. My current porter is 6 weeks in the bottle so 3.5 months since brewing, and I have not even drunk one yet! Luckily I am still living off my last porter (9 months old) and my Octoberfast (6 months old).

 

[mikelikesit2000]

Let it sit. It may be done fermenting, but the yeast is still active cleaning things up, IMHO.

 

[StophJS]

Thanks Calder, lots of good information there. I had never heard that about the roast grain particles but it does make sense. Snowhere, sounds like you've got your pipeline on lock down. I only have one fermenter to accommodate a 5 gallon batch but I'm definitely going to grab another one tomorrow.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks Calder, lots of good information there. I had never heard that about the roast grain particles but it does make sense. Snowhere, sounds like you've got your pipeline on lock down. I only have one fermenter to accommodate a 5 gallon batch but I'm definitely going to grab another one tomorrow.

I hate to mention it but you are making a mistake. Don't grab one fermenter, get 2 at least. You can have 3 brews going at once that way and won't be so tempted to hurry to bottle a batch just to free up your fermenter. :rockin: