Bulk conditioning vessel

[The Goatreich]

For the first time I'm going to try bulk conditioning my currently fermenting brew rather than conditioning in the bottles, as per Graham Wheeler's instructions. He suggests conditioning in a pressure barrel, but I don't have one spare at the moment, will I be ok racking into a 5 gallon Wine fermenter under airlock and leaving it somewhere cool (the shed) for around 3 weeks before priming and bottling? I'm a bit concerned about it's exposure to air after the racking.

Would it maybe be a better idea to rack after 7 days, so that there's still enough life left in the yeast to create a protective CO2 layer?

 

[phettebs]

I bulk age in a glass carboy which holds about 5.5 USgal. I've done that as short as 7 days for dry hopping and as long as 6 months for a 12% Russian Imperial Stout. My normal time is 1 to 2 months in secondary. If the beer was not a high gravity beer, I don't re-yeast at bottling time. If it was, then I tend to add new yeast for bottling.

I don't add CO2 to the carboy and I've never had a problem with oxidation on those aged beers. I'm careful not to slosh it around much.

 

[The Goatreich]

I bulk age in a glass carboy which holds about 5.5 USgal. I've done that as short as 7 days for dry hopping and as long as 6 months for a 12% Russian Imperial Stout. My normal time is 1 to 2 months in secondary. If the beer was not a high gravity beer, I don't re-yeast at bottling time. If it was, then I tend to add new yeast for bottling.

I don't add CO2 to the carboy and I've never had a problem with oxidation on those aged beers. I'm careful not to slosh it around much.

I was looking to age OG/2 days in the secondary, meaning my current brew was 1.044, so I'd age for approximately 22 days.

I hadn't thought about re-yeasting, I guess I'll try it for this batch, and if it comes out flat then look into that again. I'd rather not overcomplicate unless I have to.

 

[bobsbeer]

I left my last bitter brew in the secondary under airlock for over a month and it conditioned up fine without adding yeast. So 22 days will be fine.

 

[The Goatreich]

Nice, cheers.

 

[phettebs]

Even if your beer "looks" crystal clear, there's still enough yeast in suspension to carbonate just fine within that first month or 2. I only reyeast if the yeast was stressed with high gravity or the beer sat for months.