**NEWB***Can I age a beer in the bottles?

I am very very new to brewing....

I just made my second batch of beer, and my first without a kit. I made a standard dark ale. I fermented it for two weeks and bottle conditioned it right after. I plan on letting it sit for 5-6 weeks. Any idea if it will age alright in the bottles, or will I be dumping it?

You will be fine, the longer you let it sit the better it's going to be. So 5-6 weeks should be good.

You usually age beer in the bottles.

5-6 weeks is not really aging - it's just getting ready. For a bigger ale, 5-6 months in the bottle might be much more common.

Edit: it doesn't age in the fridge, so if you're 'aging' beer - make sure it's out where yeasties can do their business.

I am leaving them at the fermenting temperature for the 5-6 weeks. Some may stay a long time. I also have them in cardboard boxes, placed inside large covered bins. This eliminates a mess if an explosion occurs.

Also, I learned for the first batch that the last beers I drank (1 year after the fermentation) were SOOO much better then the first ones (2 months out).

Does anyone have a good recipe for strong hop tasting ale? Please be specific with instructions... I only recently lost my brewing cherry...

Check out the recipe database for any of the IPAs. If you like hops, this forum will show you some massive hop.

While you know what your tastes are, I had an extremely hoppy beer last night and I didn't like it. Everything in moderation.

zacster said:

While you know what your tastes are, I had an extremely hoppy beer last night and I didn't like it. Everything in moderation.

Click to expand...

I agree 100% Just like good spicy food, there is a point where you no longer appreciate (taste) the quality of the other ingredients. :cross:

I have some beers that I have aged for over 14 months and they are still getting better! Enter the Beasts!

try a lot of aroma hops, and less bittering. it's awesome... learn to balance it with the malts and your set... but then to each thier own

Two weeks is a bit on the light side but if you keep it in bottles a while it should be drinkable.

What I usually do personally is have the beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks and then bottle it. It's usually drinkable after as little as one week in the bottle but of course it gets better after that...