Bottling after a long age

MrBIP

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I brewed the KBS clone from AHA and I'll be damned if it doesn't pretty much taste like KBS (so far). The instructions stated to let it sit with the oak cubes (1/2 ounce) for 2 to 6 months. So I'm going to the long side and would plan to bottle this one in October (it's been sitting for a month now). I've been thinking about whether or not it will actually have any viable yeast at that point to bottle condition. The simplest thing might be to keg it and then bottle from there, but would it lose carbination quickly? And I would be concerned about oxidation (I fill bottles/growlers with a tube from the tap and I don't plan to build or buy any contraption). Or is there some magic amount of dry yeast that I could add with bottling sugar? Any experience with that? I'd hate to have this really tasty beer go bottle bomb on me (or have no carbination).

Thoughts? Suggestions? Experiences?

Thanks,
MrBIP

KBS Clone link: http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/kentucky-breakfast-stout/
 
how much head space is there now while aging, I would be most concerned about that first, you want none if possible and open as little as possible while aging.

I would personally age in the keg just to get rid of all oxygen and I would then carbonate while in the keg slowly if you can or unhook every so often, as far as bottling you wont lose any carbonation if you cap right away and cap while its foaming
 
how much head space is there now while aging, I would be most concerned about that first, you want none if possible and open as little as possible while aging.

I would personally age in the keg just to get rid of all oxygen and I would then carbonate while in the keg slowly if you can or unhook every so often, as far as bottling you wont lose any carbonation if you cap right away and cap while its foaming

Not much head space, about 4" (?) at the top of a 5 gallon glass carboy. I ran CO2 straight over the top of it for a good 2 minutes before putting it away in the basement in a giant cardboard box. Checking the airlock to make sure it stays full of star san.
 
Not much head space, about 4" (?) at the top of a 5 gallon glass carboy. I ran CO2 straight over the top of it for a good 2 minutes before putting it away in the basement in a giant cardboard box. Checking the airlock to make sure it stays full of star san.
I hope your patience rewards you my friend.
 
I'd say either keg it and carb it that way or if you really want to bottle it, I'd probably repitch some dried yeast. 6 months is a long time to them to wait and it's not going to hurt anything by pitching some new yeast.
 
If you're bottling the entire batch, re-pitch bottling yeast with the priming sugar.

If you're talking about kegging it first and bottling some of it, bottling from tap will keep a couple weeks.
 
"I would personally age in the keg just to get rid of all oxygen and I would then carbonate while in the keg slowly if you can or unhook every so often, as far as bottling you wont lose any carbonation if you cap right away and cap while its foaming"

Ditto.

I would do something a little different as an experiment. I would keg the beer after fermentation and allow it to rest in the keg for a month and check for CO2. If CO2 isn't evident, wait another month and check again. By the second month if carbonation doesn't occur, inject the beer with CO2. Perhaps, by some dumb luck there will be malto-triose in solution and the yeast will work on it and the beer will naturally carbonate. In my opinion, the style of beer would benefit from natural carbonation. A much tighter bubble and a velvet mouthfeel than prime or injecting CO2.
 

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