I don't care what anyone says...

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

redalert

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
352
Reaction score
2
Location
Linden, NJ
All of my beers including supposed young maturing beers taste better the longer I wait to open them. I just had one of my wheats which is like 6 months old and is supposedly "best when young" but tasted much better at 6 months than at 1 month. I know it's subjective but no matter what beer I brew the longer I wait (storage at 65 F) the better the beer tastes.
 
I'm pretty new to this hobby and I've been brewing all-grain beer for only 1 year or so and in my honest opinion no matter the alc % the longer I wait the better the beer tastes. Say what you want but this has my experience. I have limited means and I only do ales at about 68F but this is my mind.
 
I've never heard 'tastes better young' before.
I tend to agree with the other posters here. The last pint is always allot better than the first.
 
Ahhh, mostly so true. However, when I dry hop my IPAs, the dry-hop essence diminishes over time. I try to drink my IPAs within about 3 months.
 
Ahhh, mostly so true. However, when I dry hop my IPAs, the dry-hop essence diminishes over time. I try to drink my IPAs within about 3 months.

Fair enough, I guess my beers don't really last more than 3 or 4 months in a keg.
The exception being some high alcohol brews that I have bottled that I'm aging on purpose, but thats because I think they taste better after some age.
 
Word. All of my batches so far have been much better with age.

Although, like the previous poster had mentioned IPAs hop presence fades. I drank my IPA early and it tasted great but when I drank it later it was even better even though the hop presence had died down.
 
Tastes better young and fresh are true... HOWEVER, that only applies when you are introducing proper oxygen at the start of fermentation, providing good nutrients to the yeast, pitching a proper volume of healthy yeast, and fermenting under controlled conditions. When you have a good control over the fermentation parameters, then your beer will be ready very quickly and will most likely be best when fresh.

On the other hand, most of us do not do all the above and the yeast need extra time to condition the beer.

An additional factor is clarity, more time = more clarity in general and that can affect taste. Cold crashing is the homebrewers most readily available weapon to clear our beer after fermentation. Filtering can speed the process but requires more equipment.
 
Tastes better young and fresh are true... HOWEVER, that only applies when you are introducing proper oxygen at the start of fermentation, providing good nutrients to the yeast, pitching a proper volume of healthy yeast, and fermenting under controlled conditions. When you have a good control over the fermentation parameters, then your beer will be ready very quickly and will most likely be best when fresh.

On the other hand, most of us do not do all the above and the yeast need extra time to condition the beer.

An additional factor is clarity, more time = more clarity in general and that can affect taste. Cold crashing is the homebrewers most readily available weapon to clear our beer after fermentation. Filtering can speed the process but requires more equipment.

you beat me to it, but in my experience +12 years and thousands of dollars spent, I completely agree.....
oxygenation, yeast propogation and temperature control are the most valuable investments a homebrewer can make in their hobby. it takes time to garner all the equipment you need to do this at the highest level, unless you have an unlimited supply of cash on hand.
my beers are typically better within the first few weeks, but when I mess up somewhere along the line, the last dreg in the keg is the best one.:mug:
 
Alright, I'll be the contrarian.

My hefeweizens peak in a 2 or 3 weeks. I've had them at 9 months and blah.

I also find this is true for lager'ed rauchbeirs and dry-hopped beers (as stated above). I suspect I will also find this true for a great wit I made a couple of months ago.

I keep them at room temp, in bottles.

I will agree with the OP with regards to anything > 6%, and complex grist bills (i.e., stouts, porters, christmas ale, etc).
 
Word. All of my batches so far have been much better with age.

Although, like the previous poster had mentioned IPAs hop presence fades. I drank my IPA early and it tasted great but when I drank it later it was even better even though the hop presence had died down.

I agree. This is the perfect time to do some dry hopping to bring it back to life. ;)

I age my hoppy pale ales and ambers to give the hop bitterness a chance to subside a little. It takes the edge off. :mug:
 
I have not made a hefe yet, but my Wit seems to be best after a few weeks and starts to fade after a couple of months. IPAs have been better younger or older depending on the hop rate for me. I've had to wait a couple of months for a batch to tone down before. My IIPA so far has been good and I'll want to drink it up before it ages too much.

Otherwise, waiting 3-6 months have been best for most of the other styles. Except who can wait that long?!?
 
Alright, I'll be the contrarian.
I also find this is true for lager'ed rauchbeirs and dry-hopped beers (as stated above). I suspect I will also find this true for a great wit I made a couple of months ago.


My rauchbier only got better with age. After 7 months it was velvety smooth and fantastic. At 3 months it was still harsh and in your face.

I do agree with the dry hopped beers though - even after 3 months I find a hoppy beer has diminished.
 
+1 on letting most beers age longer. I have a nut brown ale on tap that tasted just "ok" 4 weeks ago (a little "twangy" with some alcohol undertones), but now it tastes great. The flavors have really come together with the cold/carb conditioning. The best thing I ever did was buy a bunch of kegs because now I'm forced to let them age!
 
I'm with the guys who understand that proper procedures will lead to beer that is drinkable when it should be. I opened a bottle of 11.6% wee heavy that had been in bottles for a week in a half last night, and it was already very drinkable. Sure, this is the type of beer you want to age, but there wasn't anything off about it. Additionally, I feel my IPAs start dying two weeks into them being kegged, but I am a heavy dry-hopper and I think that makes sense.

If you make a beer correctly and with all proper practices in place, you will get a product that is drinkable when it should be and without having to age it to make it better. I can't imagine waiting more than 2 weeks to drink a blonde or a wit. It seems counterintuitive to me.
 
I'll add my name to the list of rauchbiers that were better young.
 
I'm with the guys who understand that proper procedures will lead to beer that is drinkable when it should be. I opened a bottle of 11.6% wee heavy that had been in bottles for a week in a half last night, and it was already very drinkable. Sure, this is the type of beer you want to age, but there wasn't anything off about it. Additionally, I feel my IPAs start dying two weeks into them being kegged, but I am a heavy dry-hopper and I think that makes sense.

If you make a beer correctly and with all proper practices in place, you will get a product that is drinkable when it should be and without having to age it to make it better. I can't imagine waiting more than 2 weeks to drink a blonde or a wit. It seems counterintuitive to me.

You're right.

With some beers I know that they will not be at their best for a month or two. For these I note to test them only after that time period has passed. ;)
 
Longer most of my beers have sat the better they tasted. I make a Blonde that I keg for those who come over that cant handle real Beer and that to me if the same no matter how long it sits.. One of my Most Noticed the taste change over time was the Vanilla Burbon Porter I did.and another porter with jamison in it.
 
All of my beers including supposed young maturing beers taste better the longer I wait to open them. I just had one of my wheats which is like 6 months old and is supposedly "best when young" but tasted much better at 6 months than at 1 month. I know it's subjective but no matter what beer I brew the longer I wait (storage at 65 F) the better the beer tastes.

I find the same thing. I love wheats that sit around at least 1 month after bottling.
 
All of my beers including supposed young maturing beers taste better the longer I wait to open them. I just had one of my wheats which is like 6 months old and is supposedly "best when young" but tasted much better at 6 months than at 1 month. I know it's subjective but no matter what beer I brew the longer I wait (storage at 65 F) the better the beer tastes.

Many people don't like highly seasoned foods. Maybe the aging
process decreases all the flavors to the point where you can
tolerate it. What kinds of commercial beer do you drink?

Ray
 
Any kind of flavor added after the boil will diminish over time, IMHO. I've done a Vanilla Bourbon Porter a few times, the vanilla and bourbon flavors entirely disappear in 6 months, but the plain porter tasted incredible.
 
With my wheat beers I've found there's a sweet spot where the flavor has a "fresh" wheat taste and the alcohol hotness has gone away. That's when the wheat beers tend to taste best. After that, they get more mellow and the wheat taste smooths out -- not bad, just different.

Usually I find that sweet spot around 4-6 weeks after bottling. I made a dunkel that hit around 8% that sat in the primary for 5 weeks and then had to bottle condition for 3 months before the alcohol hotness went away. It's now about 8 months old, and while it isn't as wheaty in taste as it was a couple months ago it's a very very smooth 8% ale and still very enjoyable.
 
I don't care what anyone says... It all depends on the beer type and strength, end of story.


.
 
Eh. If you're a good brewer, sure. Some people have to let **** like phenols and whatnot die down because they won't follow proper process.

Who's fault is that? And poor technique doesn't give anyone the right to make blanket statements.
 
Ahhh, mostly so true. However, when I dry hop my IPAs, the dry-hop essence diminishes over time. I try to drink my IPAs within about 3 months.

Agree about the dry hopping. Cracked an IPA that had been bottled 3 months prior and all of the Citris notes and hoppiness were gone from when I originally started drinking. It was still delicious but being the hop junkie I am, I was a bit disappointed.
 
Agree about the dry hopping. Cracked an IPA that had been bottled 3 months prior and all of the Citris notes and hoppiness were gone from when I originally started drinking. It was still delicious but being the hop junkie I am, I was a bit disappointed.

If you kegged you could just dry hop again to bring it back to life...I did that for a 2 year old keg once and saved the brew...;)
 
If you kegged you could just dry hop again to bring it back to life...I did that for a 2 year old keg once and saved the brew...;)

Yes, but that would have defeated the purpose of drinking that beer 3 months after bottling :D

Every batch I have made thus far I have reserved 3 bottles from each. 1 to test at 3 months, 1 for 6 months, and 1 for 12 months, just to see what happens. The rest of that batch barely lasted me a month :mug:
 
Yes, but that would have defeated the purpose of drinking that beer 3 months after bottling :D

Every batch I have made thus far I have reserved 3 bottles from each. 1 to test at 3 months, 1 for 6 months, and 1 for 12 months, just to see what happens. The rest of that batch barely lasted me a month :mug:

It really depends on the size of your pipeline.

I currently have over 12 brews kegged and a couple full cases.

I still have over 20 more cases of 1/2 liter bottles and about 10 more kegs that are empty...so I'm brewing again today...:D
 
Back
Top