Irish Stout Fermentation

[babelfish]

Hello, First time poster here,
I am brewing my first beer (WOOOHOOOOO!) and I went with an Irish Stout kit from my local brew shop in Ozark Mo. I am currently in the 4th day of fermentation and it seems to be chugging away just fine.
I am setup to start kegging and was thinking about doing that about one week from today. I have heard that most beers stop fermenting after 7-10 days but most dark beers benefit from continued aging. I hear the term Secondary fermenting thrown around a lot to help clear up you beer and allow it to age properly.
Can I "Secondary Ferment" in a Coney Keg since I dont have a carboy available? if I rack the beer into the keg, add about 5 lbs of CO2 and bleed out all the oxygen then disconnect the CO2 line should'nt that removed all threat of oxidizing while still allowing the beer to age to a fuller flavor? I plan to force carbonate later so i have no intention of using the corn sugar method. The reason i'm asking this is because I would like to free up the fermentation bucket for my next brew? I just want to make sure i dont ruin my first batch o brews. Thanks in advance!

 

[J187]

Brewers that keg treat the conditioning process the same as those who bottle. The keg only allows you to carbonate quicker, but that doesn't mean it's ready to drink any faster. A couple weeks is probably suffice to wait though, a normal irish stout, not overly high in ABV won't improve a ton from long term aging.

I generally leave my beer in the primary for two weeks to ferment and then to clean up. The common practice today is never to use secondary fermenters unless dry hopping or fruit additions are to be done. The risk of contamination in the transfer isn't worth the benefit which is non existent.

 

[PhilipLoyd]

Hello, First time poster here,
I am brewing my first beer (WOOOHOOOOO!) and I went with an Irish Stout kit from my local brew shop in Ozark Mo. I am currently in the 4th day of fermentation and it seems to be chugging away just fine.
I am setup to start kegging and was thinking about doing that about one week from today. I have heard that most beers stop fermenting after 7-10 days but most dark beers benefit from continued aging. I hear the term Secondary fermenting thrown around a lot to help clear up you beer and allow it to age properly.
Can I "Secondary Ferment" in a Coney Keg since I dont have a carboy available? if I rack the beer into the keg, add about 5 lbs of CO2 and bleed out all the oxygen then disconnect the CO2 line should'nt that removed all threat of oxidizing while still allowing the beer to age to a fuller flavor? I plan to force carbonate later so i have no intention of using the corn sugar method. The reason i'm asking this is because I would like to free up the fermentation bucket for my next brew? I just want to make sure i dont ruin my first batch o brews. Thanks in advance!

No kidding, what a coincidence. I live in Ozark, Mo. I started my first homebrew on July 20th. Doing the math, it sounds like the same day as you. I am doing Irish Stout from a kit from the same local brew shop. I am set up to keg also. It will be two weeks of fermenting tomorrow, Sat Aug 3rd. I am trying to decide if I want to cold crash it. I would love to chat with you about your experience so far. I own the Cherry Health Center in Springfield, MO. Call and ask for Dr. Loyd. Leave your number if I am busy.

 

[J187]

Hello, First time poster here,
I am brewing my first beer (WOOOHOOOOO!) and I went with an Irish Stout kit from my local brew shop in Ozark Mo. I am currently in the 4th day of fermentation and it seems to be chugging away just fine.
I am setup to start kegging and was thinking about doing that about one week from today. I have heard that most beers stop fermenting after 7-10 days but most dark beers benefit from continued aging. I hear the term Secondary fermenting thrown around a lot to help clear up you beer and allow it to age properly.
Can I "Secondary Ferment" in a Coney Keg since I dont have a carboy available? if I rack the beer into the keg, add about 5 lbs of CO2 and bleed out all the oxygen then disconnect the CO2 line should'nt that removed all threat of oxidizing while still allowing the beer to age to a fuller flavor? I plan to force carbonate later so i have no intention of using the corn sugar method. The reason i'm asking this is because I would like to free up the fermentation bucket for my next brew? I just want to make sure i dont ruin my first batch o brews. Thanks in advance!

No kidding, what a coincidence. I live in Ozark, Mo. I started my first homebrew on July 20th. Doing the math, it sounds like the same day as you. I am doing Irish Stout from a kit from the same local brew shop. I am set up to keg also. It will be two weeks of fermenting tomorrow, Sat Aug 3rd. I am trying to decide if I want to cold crash it. I would love to chat with you about your experience so far. I own the Cherry Health Center in Springfield, MO. Call and ask for Dr. Loyd. Leave your number if I am busy.

Speaking of doctors... I believe you two might be suffering from multiple personality disorder...

seriously, too strange!

 

[PhilipLoyd]

I was thinking the same thing. I have been so ate up with this home brew thing, all I do is research my next steps and next purchases. It is like I have a disorder of sorts. Now to find someone local in the same stage of the disease is a little exciting.