minimum carb time
 

I just bottled a porter (Thursday night) and i have guests coming in for the weekend....will i have enough time for the beer to carbonate enough to serve? I'm guessing that I'm looking at 2.5 days before I'd want to open one...

Not a chance. Sorry!

I would say no. Even if you get enough carbonation in the bottle in that time, the beer won't have time to absorb the CO2 properly. You can try your luck, but you will probably have sweet, green beer that won't taste very good.

Crack one and see. I've done it after a few days once and heard the hiss, but the beer was woefully undercarbed, underconditioned and too sweet. But try and see.

We don't tell new brewers that 3 weeks at 70 degrees is the minimum time for average gravity 12 ounce beers to carb and condition just to jerk their chains. ;)

And just because you hear a his doesn't mean it's fully carbed.

Yeah...i knew it was pushing it. I'm really anxious to try this one though. I guess good things come to those who wait

Not to mention, depending on the ABV%, it can take significantly longer than three weeks to carbonate in bottles. Plus another 1-4 weeks in the fridge to get the CO2 into solution, and optimize the brew for going to glass. IMO the only way to get something from fermenter to glass in less time is to keg. Even then, you can have spotty results trying to rush the carbonation. Even with the rapid, forced, carbonation method, you really want a week (or more) for it to equalize.

Popped one open tonight to share with the family. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It was well worth the wait