Aging a Stout

John Eaton

South Jersey FC Member
My barrel stout is approaching its end in the barrel, but I'm not sure whether it's better to bulk age it, or age it in bottles. Clearly the bottles are a benefit as they will carbonate at the same time, but I'm wondering if the larger volume would age better. I have a 3 gallon glass carboy which is close to what's left in the barrel, so it would be minimal head space. If that's the route to go, airlock or solid bung?
 
I'm not sure what aging method would work best, though I'd lean towards bulk aging, but I would never put a solid bung on the glass carboy. If it picked up any contamination on the way in, you could be looking at a large bottle bomb. I'd say age it in stainless (keg) if you can, otherwise, airlock/glass.
 
I don't do much long term aging, but I think I'd be interested if you bottle a few of them off and see what the difference between the bulk and individual aging.
 
Yep Keg is the way to go,I like to purge first with CO2 then rack it in, purge again and leave a little pressure to seal the gasket. I find it more convenient and you never have to worry about a dry airlock.
 
@Joseph Rizzuto,
Bottling with maple syrup is like bottling with honey... There's no standardized specific gravity. Your carbonation could be all over the board. I'd recommend bottling with known specific measures of corn sugar. For example, make a weight based measurement of corn sugar in a specific weight based measurement of water and use the appropriate rate for the CO2 volumes you're targeting... But I'm a bit of a sciency Nerd, and the Maple Syurp probably works just fine.
 
Thanks for the replies. Using a keg may not work for me as I only have 2 which are usually busy, and plan to bottle all of if after some aging anyway.
I do like Chris's idea to bottle a few and bulk age the rest.
And Dan makes a good point about the potential for pressure build up in a carboy.
Joe, I've seen that doc (or a similar one) you posted. It does look like a good method, and I agree that maple syrup may not be consistently reliable, but the syringe does make for accurate dosing. Maybe a carefully measured sugar water? The more I think about it this may be the better way to go even if I tie up a keg for a while. Or maybe go with the 3g carboy and use my 2 port carboy cap with CO2 to push out the beer into bottle. Hmmm.... I really need the kegs for other stuff, or load up my bottles. I have 2 other brews in process now, A dunkelweisen for Last Brewer Standing on deck, and 3 kits my daughter bought me for christmas... so much beer, so little time.
Any opinions on adding some additional yeast at bottling time? I'm at around 11% ABV, and the residual yeast might be pretty loaded.
 
If it's been a long time since primary, I'd add some yeast to it. You could make a slurry and add to the bottling bucket prior to transferring the beer over into it. You won't need as much as for primary fermentation, but adding some fresh yeast will ensure your bottles don't stay flat.
 
Also, I wouldn't bulk age the batch in a carboy if you can't fill it. If there's a lot of head space, you're looking at oxidation or possibly even acetic acid development. You'll be totally fine with long term storage in bottles.
 
I'm just going to go with my 3 gal carboy since I bought for smaller batch stuff. Haven't used it yet.
 
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