bulk aging vs bottle aging

[HopOnHops]

So im getting more into temperature control. Im wondering what are good temperatures for aging say an imperial stout on oak long term. Also, oak aside, is there any benefit from aging in a secondary vs aging in a bottle?

 

[bizarrojosh]

I can't answer the first question but I may be able to help on the second. If you are aging a beer in a carboy then I wouldn't worry about leaving it in there more than a month. After that go ahead and bottle and let it sit in the bottle for however long you want it to age. The benefit here is that you get it off your yeast cake and trub and don't risk any off flavors.

The exception to this "rule" are if you are doing a sour beer or if you are using oak chips or other adjuncts that will give flavor to the beer. Then you probably want to rack the beer from the primary to a secondary vessel with the wood chips/lacto/whatever and leave it for as long as needed.

Just my two cents.

 

[RM-MN]

Your beer needs temperature control for the initial fermentation, when the yeast is burping CO2 and the beer is really churning. For beers in the 1.040 to 1.060 range, that would be 3 to 5 days. Once the yeast settle into the slow phase of the ferment, room temperature is fine for aging. You would want to keep the beer in the primary until the final gravity is reached. If you want to oak or add fruit, then move it to secondary as the yeast cake will absorb much of the flavoring. It can stay at room temp in the secondary for months if you feel like it.

 

[ArcLight]

If you are planning on aging beer (say for 6+ months) then I would transfer to a carboy/better bottle after several weeks, then age in the carboy not bottles for 3 reasons:
1 - you wont tie up your bottles for 6+ months
2 - the carboy is more compact and takes up less space
3 - there will probably be less Oxygen exposure/leakage in a carboy than a bottle