cask aging

[insco2]

all right here we go... just a question about aging at a certain temperature. when i ferment in the primary vessel i place the vessels in a large container with water conditioned with a fish tank heater at 68 degrees. After the fermenting cycle i move the beer to a cornie for secondary fermentation. Shortly after the move i have been keeping the cornies out in my garage, its winter in ohio and temps drop into the 30s at night(mild winter this year). Heres the big question... With the beer being fermented with an ale yeast am i degrading the final product keeping the secondary out in the garage?

[Bugeater]

Heres the big question... With the beer being fermented with an ale yeast am i degrading the final product keeping the secondary out in the garage?

The answer is a qualified no. If you keep the beer in primary until fermentation is virtually complete, there will be no problem at all. Conditioning takes longer at those temperature, but the primary purpose of secondary is to let all the crud settle out of the beer. This process will be much faster at those temps. You should get some nice crystal clear beers out of this process.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[insco2]

awesome thats what i was hoping!! plus a nice thing about keeping it in the garage is i dont have to hump the kegs from the basement to my detached speak-easy... there right next to the kegerator

[JP]

The temp is the key there - if you were in the 80's or so in the garage - mild winters for us too. then that might b an issue.

[Speyedr]

Your basically cold-conditioning your beers at those temps, and that's what the big boys do. Your yeast will flocculate much faster. Just make sure it is really almost done fermenting before racking to secondary and moving to those temps.

Are you taking readings before racking?