Help with ageing

[Milanghi]

Hi all,
I'm quite a new brewer, done 7 brews so far. I use extract style and I am more than happy with my results...…
BUT...… I am now confused. Up to now, I've primary fermented for two weeks, secondary for another two weeks, carbonated in secondary bin and bottled. left to carbonate for a fortnight at room temperature, then put them in the fridge at @ 6.5 degrees c. Then left them for months, trying them at different stages. Absolutely happy with my efforts, and definitely liking and noticing the changes in taste.
Lately I have been reading, to age beer like mine, it should be kept at 'cellar' temp, @50 degrees f.
I have no cellar or anything like, and I am now wondering what to do to age my beer properly?
Or should I ignore this and stay happily ignorant?

My homebrews are generally very dark porters and stouts sitting around 8.5 - 10 abv.
Thanks for reading and any guidance appreciated.

 

[Bubba Wade]

If you're happy with the results, keep doing what you're doing. I have aged heavy Belgians in the fridge similar to your method and have been very happy with the results.

 

[Milanghi]

Thanks, Happily ignorant I'll stay

 

[Mark Farrall]

If you're aging in the dark, then you can say colder equals slower aging. Whether you want slower or faster is up to you.

 

[Hogarthe]

The biggest things to remember is to limit how much oxygen exposure happens and to keep sunlight from hitting the beer. Temp is less important, but colder temperature will age the beer slower.

 

[Nosybear]

Hi all,
I'm quite a new brewer, done 7 brews so far. I use extract style and I am more than happy with my results...…
BUT...… I am now confused. Up to now, I've primary fermented for two weeks, secondary for another two weeks, carbonated in secondary bin and bottled. left to carbonate for a fortnight at room temperature, then put them in the fridge at @ 6.5 degrees c. Then left them for months, trying them at different stages. Absolutely happy with my efforts, and definitely liking and noticing the changes in taste.
Lately I have been reading, to age beer like mine, it should be kept at 'cellar' temp, @50 degrees f.
I have no cellar or anything like, and I am now wondering what to do to age my beer properly?
Or should I ignore this and stay happily ignorant?

My homebrews are generally very dark porters and stouts sitting around 8.5 - 10 abv.
Thanks for reading and any guidance appreciated.

You will read a lot during your brewing career, some of it is valuable. Maturing (different from ageing, which happens over a much longer period of time and produces much different changes in beer flavor) happens at a wide range of temperatures. As long as you keep the temperature reasonably cool (I mature my beers at the temperature of my walk-out basement, upper 60's F to low 70's F), your beers will mature fine. Of course, if I had a wine cellar, I'd store my beers in there. But I have a walk-out basement, so the temperature of the basement works. May take a few weeks off the life expectancy of my beers but meh. I'm not optimizing for shelf life.

 

[Yooper]

Exactly- beer ages faster at room temperature. sometimes that's a great thing- waiting for two weeks at room temperature to get a big stout on tap generally is fine. But once that stout is perfect, and you want to hold it there as long as possible, getting it colder and at stable temperatures will maintain it longer.

Few well-made beers benefit from aging, but the ones that do should be kept at cool stable (cellar) temperatures. Big complex beers, like Russian imperial stouts and barleywines can benefit from some of the flavors that happen during aging from micro-oxidation. My favorite Belgian tripel was best after aging in the cellar for more than 6 months, due to the high ABV. But most beers should be drunk fresh and not aged.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Exactly- beer ages faster at room temperature. .

Few well-made beers benefit from aging, but the ones that do should be kept at cool stable (cellar) temperatures.

But most beers should be drunk fresh and not aged.

Yeah, big second on what Yooper says! Change in the taste has got so many variables to it and change is not always for the better especially in that aging category! I have been noticing a huge change in the 3 different versions of a porter I brewed in January. What I drank in late February is completely different now, the Makers Mark bourbon and oak chips has smoothed out and is real mellow now, the Jameson is faded and the base recipe is loosing it's coffee hints.

Milanghi, what sort of high ABV porters and stouts are you brewing that call for the secondary and further aging? Can you share some recipes?

 

[Jimsal]

If you have (or can get a cheap used one) an extra refrigerator get an inkbird and set temp at 50.

 

[Michael Thomas Scott]

Sampling has been succesful for me. There really is no definite answer to how long to age brews, its mostly personal preference. Id say once you've bottle conditioned for about 2 weeks, you can do taste tests every few days and find an aging that fits you