Stout Sit

[Beermakazi]

How long should I let my stout condition in the bottle? FG=1.024?

[vw addict]

Try it after two weeks. I'm sure it'll age well tho, so you can let some bottles sit for a bit.

[markaberrant]

That's a pretty high FG. Are you sure it finished fermenting? What was the OG? I ask because you could end up with overcarbonation (ie; bottle bombs).

[Beermakazi]

Well, I thought that might be the case. Primary for 1 week. I left it in the secondary for a week. It looked nice and done. How long do you think a stout should take?

[BrewDog]

Again, it depends on the OG.
For a Dry Stout, that's high.
For an Imperial Stout, it's not.
As a general rule, a fully fermented beer will usually condition well in about 2 weeks. But Mark is right you may have bottle bombs on your hands if it's not done.

Remember, making beer shouldn't be a race. Let it age till it's ready. If you keep a full pipeline, you will have plenty to drink while you are waiting. Plus, you get better beer out of it.

[Fir Na Tine]

My last stout finished at 1.020. I had 3 consistent readings over 5 days time. I made it on New Year's Day and plan on sampling a bottle Sunday.

Biggest thing I find it to have 3 consistent readings. Then you can be pretty certain it's done.

Plus I like what BrewDog said about keeping the pipeline filled. A well stocked "conditioning room" makes for a happy brewer.

[dparsons]

What was the OG? The FG doesn't mean much if you don't know.

[Fir Na Tine]

1.050 - yeah, that'd help.

[dparsons]

Fir Na Tine:

If your stout started at 1.050 and finished at 1.020 then it probably wasn't finished. Thats only a 60% apparent attenuation. If you had a wort high in unfermentables and a very low attenuating yeast, maybe.

[dparsons]

Regarding Stouts and time to condition: They really need more time to mature than average beers of the same gravity. My latest Stout is barely ready for prime time. Stats:

OG - 1.056
FG - 1.015 (73 % attenuation)

1 week primary fermentation
3 weeks 2ndary
2 weeks to carbonate
3 weeks additional conditioning

I've sampled it a few times and it has continued to get noticably better over the final 3 weeks of conditioning. It should continue to improve for some time now, but I won't feel obliged to explain that it isn't quite ready if I give somebody one.