Keg or bottle my 1st Stout

[Keruso]

Hello,
I started to ferment my first ever stout a month ago. It’s been at 1.022 for the last week so I think it’s done. Started at 1.080, it did finish a bit higher than expected but I tasted the sample and it tastes great, not too sweet at all, and the cacao nibs have delivered a subtle chocolate flavour. I was planning to bottle rather than keg, so I can get a feel for how long to condition and mature, my question is, will the yeast eat the priming sugar ? Does a fairly high FG have any impact on the yeast’s willingness to eat the priming sugar ?

 

[xozzx]

That's 71% apparent attenuation which is likely it finished, I often finish slightly higher than brewfather predicts because it uses the max attenuation of the yeast to predict FG. what yeast did you use? Did you make a starter, use 2 packs etc?

I would think it should be completely fine to bottle carbonate as normal, stouts normally have lower carbonation than normal so check some charts before priming.

 

[Keruso]

That's 71% apparent attenuation which is likely it finished, I often finish slightly higher than brewfather predicts because it uses the max attenuation of the yeast to predict FG. what yeast did you use? Did you make a starter, use 2 packs etc?

I would think it should be completely fine to bottle carbonate as normal, stouts normally have lower carbonation than normal so check some charts before priming.

Thanks, I used 1 pack of WHC Lax and 1 pack of Verdant IPA yeast, as per instructions on MM’s website

 

[MashBag]

Nope it will be fine. Yeast always makes room

 

[Madhouse]

If it's finished it just means that sugar you have left isn't fermentable, as Mashbag said, add more simple sugar and the yeast will lap it up.

I find my bigger stouts like a bit of time to mature in the bottle, but I can be impatient so will start drinking them straight away. It's certainly noticeable how they develop over time. Actually that might be something you want to do anyway, just for your own brewing journey.

 

[Keruso]

If it's finished it just means that sugar you have left isn't fermentable, as Mashbag said, add more simple sugar and the yeast will lap it up.

I find my bigger stouts like a bit of time to mature in the bottle, but I can be impatient so will start drinking them straight away. It's certainly noticeable how they develop over time. Actually that might be something you want to do anyway, just for your own brewing journey.

Yep that's why I fancied bottling so I can leave them for different periods of time to see how ageing improves it, plus I don't want to put a keg out of actions for months.

 

[Sandimas]

I prefer to bottle my stouts, in fact I'll be doing one this weekend if it's finished fermenting.

 

[starseeker]

As above ,you can then stash a few away and forget about them for a few months

 

[Keruso]

I prefer to bottle my stouts, in fact I'll be doing one this weekend if it's finished fermenting.

Out of interest is there a minimum aging time recommended?

 

[matt.]

Hello,
I started to ferment my first ever stout a month ago. It’s been at 1.022 for the last week so I think it’s done. Started at 1.080, it did finish a bit higher than expected but I tasted the sample and it tastes great, not too sweet at all, and the cacao nibs have delivered a subtle chocolate flavour. I was planning to bottle rather than keg, so I can get a feel for how long to condition and mature, my question is, will the yeast eat the priming sugar ? Does a fairly high FG have any impact on the yeast’s willingness to eat the priming sugar ?

Re the cacao nibs: how many into what volume of mash? And when did you add / remove them?
Thanks

 

[Keruso]

Re the cacao nibs: how many into what volume of mash? And when did you add / remove them?
Thanks

Hi, I bought a pack from Waitrose, about 125g, put the whole lot straight into the fermenter after fermentation had finished, which was after approximately 3 weeks, then leave them in the fermenter for a further two weeks. Cold crashed and transferred the beer to secondary fermenter, batch primed, then bottled. So cacao nibs are in contact with the fermented beer for two weeks only. My batch size was 20 litres. Subtle chocolate flavour, very pleased.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Out of interest is there a minimum aging time recommended?

Longer the better with something that strong - absolute minimum 6 weeks imho but it will be a lot better after about 12.