Aging beer: Facts, myths, and discussion

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"If you see a beer, do it a favor, and drink it. Beer was not meant to age." -- Michael Jackson

Fact: Budweiser goes from grain to bottle in 28 days.

Source: Modern Marvels, History Channel; USA Today

Fact: Many microbreweries and pubs serve beer brewed less than a month ago.

Source: Mount Shasta Brewing; Various personal visits to small breweries

Myth: Homebrewers cannot achieve the same short turnaround as larger scale operations without complex equipment and filters.

Many of the more experienced homebrewers who frequent HBT constantly repeat the "age it longer" mantra. Am I suggesting that they're wrong? Am I telling you not to condition your beer? Not at all. However, I find that I can consistently produce not just a drinkable product, but a very good beer in well under the oft quoted 6 week (1-2-3) timetable. Lately, I've even been able to get great results without resorting to all the crazy gadgetry that you see posted all over the DIY forum and plastered across my gallery. I've been brewing 6 gallon batches of all grain, single infusion mashed, batch sparged beer. I've never filtered my beer, I'm not doing anything complex, and I'm convinced that anyone can replicate the process. From my experience, here are the keys:

Keep the recipe simple. Heaps of spices, large amounts of strong flavored malts, hefty hops schedules, and non-traditional ingredients can force you to condition the beer for an extended period. There's nothing wrong with big, complex recipes, but don't expect a quick turnaround when brewing them.

Use good water. I noticed a HUGE improvement in the quality of my wort when I moved from New Mexico to Texas. In New Mexico, I was constantly futzing with water chemistry, and it was very difficult to get it exactly right since I was starting with very hard water (or very pure water, when I elected to use RO). The tap water here is slightly hard, a little high in carbonates, but generally very good for brewing. I get a REALLY good break, and every beer I've brewed here has become brilliantly clear in a short period of time (except the hefeweizen).

Mash by the numbers. Hit your temps, hit your volumes, and don't try anything crazy. A solid single infusion mash with complete conversion is all you need for most recipes...so long as those recipes are fairly simple (see tip #1).

Use Irish moss or Whirlfloc. The beer will clear faster and better. It's that simple.

Pitch a lot of yeast, and pitch it right. As long as you're brewing a style that doesn't call for esters, fusels, or other yeast-produced flavors, give the yeast a little help. With liquid yeast, make a big starter. Step it up to nearly one gallon (for a five gallon batch), decant the starter beer, and pitch the slurry. Always rehydrate dry yeast in clean water, and pitch a little extra if you have it (I've been using 15g of S-04 or US-05 per six gallon batch). Pitch the yeast into wort that is within 5°F of the intended fermentation temperature. Note that I've mentioned nothing about aeration. That's because I don't worry about it. I just pitch lots of healthy yeast so they won't have to reproduce much. It works...I promise.

Keep the fermentation temperature in check. Mid 60's to low 70's (F) works for nearly every ale. The hotter you ferment, the more you risk an estery flavor profile, and that might mean a longer conditioning period.

Secondary? Maybe. I haven't been using one lately. I've been fermenting in a 6 gallon Better Bottle and kegging straight from it without racking at all. Just be careful not to disturb the yeast cake when kegging.

Cold crash. When the yeast have completed their tasks (including "cleaning up" the twangy taste of "green beer"), bulk chill the beer to below 40°F. Assuming you've done everything correctly to this point, the beer should drop clear very quickly.

Sample. The beer is ready when it tastes good. If it's bready, yeasty, cloudy, chunky, twangy, too bitter, unrefined, etc, it's not ready. If it's clear and tastes good, keg it.

Force carbonate. Chill the beer to less than 40°F (it's already there if you cold crashed), set the CO2 at 30 psi, and start shaking the keg. Every 2-3 minutes, carefully bleed the pressure and pour a sample. It should only take two or three iterations before you have perfectly carbonated beer.

Know when aging is appropriate. Big flavors, big beers, lagers, etc need time. Let them have it. Brew a quick ale in the meantime.

Practice makes perfect. Brew more. Do I have to twist your arm?

But, Yuri, I bottle condition my beer! Well, my friend, you have to wait an extra 2-3 weeks. There's no getting around that. Yeast work slowly when under pressure in an alcoholic environment. Patience is still a virtue.

Proof (you'll have to take me at my word for now): I've got a STOUT on tap that was brewed exactly two weeks ago. It's clear, clean, and tasty. Friends came over yesterday and claimed that it's one of the best stouts they've ever had. My buddy's wife said, "I usually dislike dark beer like this, but yours is fantastic!"

Discuss.
 
Keep the recipe simple. Heaps of spices, large amounts of strong flavored malts, hefty hops schedules, and non-traditional ingredients can force you to condition the beer for an extended period. There's nothing wrong with big, complex recipes, but don't expect a quick turnaround when brewing them.

But, Yuri, I bottle condition my beer! Well, my friend, you have to wait an extra 2-3 weeks. There's no getting around that. Yeast work slowly when under pressure in an alcoholic environment. Patience is still a virtue.

Preach it brotha, Preach it!!!!

:mug:
 
I like what you're telling me. I also rack from primary to keg, and lately I've been wrestling with how long to give the beer from pitching to cold crashing. Ever since I started rehydrating my yeast properly I've been getting extremely vigorous, quick fermentations on the order of about 36 hours. I usually wait till 7 days to take a gravity, but 36 hours is when the crazy activity in the fermenter drops off. I just need to refine my green beer taste buds so I can recognize when the yeast are done cleaning up.
 
Excellent post yuri, this will be a good discussion...wish i had a bit more input. I'll back the comment on herbs, spices, smoked malts, highly roasted malts, etc. I've encountered this in many brews...and also might add that there are, by default, some BJCP styles that lend themselves a bit more to the "speed beer" idea. Anyone have any input on this?
 


Note that I've mentioned nothing about aeration. That's because I don't worry about it. I just pitch lots of healthy yeast so they won't have to reproduce much. It works...I promise.



This is an interesting point and makes alot of sense if I had taken a moment to think about it.

No need to add oxygen to the wort if you are pitching enough healthy yeast to adequately ferment the wort without a significant reproduction phase.

Sure, your starters might have some lag times with adequate aeration, but if you have the time I'm guessing they'll catch up.

Good stuff!
 
Yuri...You are some kind of Show Off! Congratulations...and thanks for starting this thread. I have had 2 conversations this weekend that have inspired me to give this a go. I had a chance to discuss the 10der and Mild experiment with olllllo, and RichBrewer and I were discussing how terribly under pitched most home brew is.
I'll be following your advice on water and pitching rates....WE're gonna make some beer here!
 
First off, I'm surprised it takes 28 days for Bud to go from grain to bottle, even with any lagering that might take place.

Second, I do many of the things you mentioned, Yuri, and have the results you mentioned. I tend to brew fairly simple recipes that result in beers with an OG under 1.060 and without crazy amounts of IBUs. I pay attention to my water, and I carefull follow my carefully-planned recipe. I pitch large quanities of healthy yeast from a starter. I use kettle finings, cold crash, and force carbonate. On occassion, I use gelatin finings, as well.

About the biggest difference is that I do rack to a secondary, but that is mostly to ensure complete attenuation and give me a chance to dry hop when I want to. The secondary really does not add any time to my process. I also aerate my wort, but that adds all of five minutes.

Just about every beer I brew is quite enjoyable after 3-4 weeks. I've also brewed a two-week stout and a couple beers that do not incluse dry hops, and they have been great. Shoot, even my 1.100 barleywine was very drinkable when I racked it after a couple weeks.

One thing thing Yuri only alluded to is proper fermentation. Fermenting at proper temperatures (and, I only mean "proper," not "precise") goes a long way toward acheiving quick drinkability. Even if you pitch a larger starter, letting your temperature get out of whack can make for some rough beer.

Now, that's not to say that my beers and many, many others would not or do not improve with time. Of course, they do, even many of the smaller ones. Commercial breweries often move their beer due to financial concerns. They still move good beer within a month of the boil, but that doesn't mean it their product is at its best.

We also ought to deal with lagers, which really do need some time to get right. Take Bud out of that discussion, as it really is an extreme beer, just to the lighter end.


TL
 
I stopped by a new brewing company that's opening in our town in a couple of weeks, owner was nice enough to give me a tour. He'll be selling kegs to local businesses and growlers to the public and I was surprised when he said he's in the keg in 10 days. I didn't think to ask specifics but I will once he's open.
 
Great post. :mug:

Two things I would add:

1) Cutting 1/2" off the dip tube of the keg helps avoid sediment before it has had a chance to compact completely.

2) Some yeast aren't very flocculant (eg Kolsch) so for those beers it can help to fine with gelatin, isinglass, or KC finings a few days before transferring to drop out the yeast, and then transfer/crash cool. For the bottlers they will have to stick with gelatin. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/gelatin-finings-53912/#post543966

I did Orfy's mild grain to glass in 14 days. It was perfect.
 
+1 on the pitch rate: Around the 6mo mark after I started brewing, I had about 3 consecutive brews that never fully attenuated. That's pretty much when I started making big starters and pitching tons of yeast. Since then I've never had a beer not finish where I wanted it... and since I mostly use wlp001 that's pretty low on the hydro!
 
I'm with TexLaw:

I pitch large quanities of healthy yeast from a starter.

Fermenting at proper temperatures (and, I only mean "proper," not "precise") goes a long way toward acheiving quick drinkability. Even if you pitch a larger starter, letting your temperature get out of whack can make for some rough beer.

These two factors are the most frequent ones I encounter when I sample homebrews that exhibit off-flavors. For many brewers paying attention to making the yeast happy will make the difference between so-so (or terrible) homebrew and award-winning homebrew.
 
I'm with TexLaw:





These two factors are the most frequent ones I encounter when I sample homebrews that exhibit off-flavors. For many brewers paying attention to making the yeast happy will make the difference between so-so (or terrible) homebrew and award-winning homebrew.

So with everyone saying its important to have a high pitch rate, would making a starter out of dry yeast make any noticable improvements?
 
I've been a proponent of the quick turnaround for a long time.

I can get a great beer (1.045 ish or below) from grain to glass inside of 21 days.

One Caveat: If I'm going to keg and chill, then plan to bottle some off using the BMBF and store those bottles at room temp...I'll give the beer more time in the fermenter at room temp first.

It seems there is just enough residual sugars in quick beers that returning them to room temp in bottles restarts CO2 production and overcarb'd beers.

This one is 20 days:
clearestbeer.jpg
 
With dry yeast, no. If you want more yeast just pitch more yeast. It's cheap.

1 11g package of dry yeast is roughly equivalent to a 1.5L starter of liquid yeast. For a normal gravity beer, that is adequate. I like Jamil's calculator, takes the guesswork out of it: Mr Malty Pitching Rate Calculator. For White Labs under viability, use the date four months before the "best by" date. I don't recall what it is for Wyeast but I think it says on the package.
 
I am able to go from grain to glass in as little as 19 days. And I bottle!
Fermentation is complete with sprinkled dry yeast in 5 days.
I leave the ale in the primary for another 7 days to clear ( so total 12 days in primary)
I bottle, and sample at 7 days. It's usually well carbonated and crystal clear. (at room temp in the bottle anyways)
Another week in the bottle improves the beer somewhat but after that I drink it every day.
I don't understand the logic behind leaving the ale in primary any longer than 12-14 days.
I don't understand the logic of transferring ales to secondary and waiting longer.
I don't understand why some guys can't get their ales to carbonate in well under 14 days in the bottle.
I always save some bottles to age longer, but they don't really seem to improve much after two weeks or so in the bottle.
 
I must say I am inspired...for my Irish Red next week I'll leave it in primary for 12-14 days and bottle. I haven't produced a beer in under a month yet, I've used a secondary for all 27 I've brewed. The beer does seem to go through changes over time, but I'll see how this does for me. I don't have the stuff for bigger starters (only have a 1L flask) and my fermentation temp isn't perfect but quite good, 67-70 degrees at all times but it varies with day/night. 2L flask and fermentation chamber are soon to come!
 
New brewer here, And I have heard elsewhere on this forum that force carbing is not recommended. For the pros out there who have done both, what is the difference in beer quality between force carbing a corny, and just letting it condition naturally(if any)?
 
ZERO...except that a primed/naturally carbed keg will have sediment in the bottom, so your first few pours are cloudy.

I have a theory that a few of my beers picked up a little off flavor from bottle conditioning too warm. I don't know if that's true, but force carbing eliminates the possibility.
 
ZERO...except that a primed/naturally carbed keg will have sediment in the bottom, so your first few pours are cloudy.

I always have a few cloudy pints anyway...so I'm not going to push it with keg carbing. I'd definitely recommend that you force carb. It's not nearly the involved process that some people make it up to be. Hook it up for a few days...then move to storage....when it's time to go on tap...24 hours on the gas and it's good to go....and cold. There is no reason to mess with trying to naturally carb in a keg. Also, I have a keg that will NOT seal without about 5psi...so I'd never get a seal on it trying to naturally carb.
 
I'm drinking a 30 day old brew now, and I don't think it's going to get better. It started at 1.068 and tastes very much like Maudite.

Most of my favorite commercial brews are bottle conditioned. Many brewers say it tastes better that way. I hope to keg soon and find out for myself.
 
There is no reason to mess with trying to naturally carb in a keg. Also, I have a keg that will NOT seal without about 5psi...so I'd never get a seal on it trying to naturally carb.
I am a bit out of my element here, but from everything that I have heard the best route is to just set it at your serving pressure and let it sit until the pressure evens out, about the same amount of time that it takes for your bottles to carbonate...
:confused:
 
I am a bit out of my element here, but from everything that I have heard the best route is to just set it at your serving pressure and let it sit until the pressure evens out, about the same amount of time that it takes for your bottles to carbonate...
:confused:
That seems to be a matter of opinion. That's how I've done it. Of course, you could combine the methods. Shake at high pressure to get it most of the way there, but let the set & forget method finish it off so you don't overcarb.
 
Thanks Yuri for the informative tread.

Do you think these same result could be obtained brewing extract batches? (Full Boil)

After reading I'm pretty sure my two major downfalls are not pitching nearly enough starter and going a little hop crazy:eek:

I don't have the means to keg my beer what would be your advice for reducing the amount of time between brewing to drinking?

In an American IPA(og 1.64) using only centennial what IBU's would you aim for to obtain the fastest condoning?
 
Solid post, Yuri. The noobs should add this to their favorites. Some of the more experienced brewers around here could take some of this to task as well (yes, I'm talking about myself).

I will say, however, that there is also something to be said about the challenge of brewing the few styles (Old Ale, Biere de Garde, etc.) that require extended periods of aging.

I like to find middle ground. It's great to have beers that you can turn around quickly to get on tap in a hurry and I do this probably 40% of the time. 55% of my brewing is dedicated to beers that require a little bit more. Whether it be dry hopping or a month or two of aging or, more commonly, me not having enough time to get to them when I should. The extended age beers make up 5% or so.

Hopefully as people gain brewing experience they will come to realize that it's not always about pumping out a beer as quickly as you can. It's about creating something that tastes freaking great and whether it went from grain to glass in 21 or 365 days isn't really what's important.

What IS important is nailing down your processes so that if you want to pound out a great tasting, clear, perfectly carbed beer in 21 days you can do it every time.
 
Yes, certainly this is not the preferred method for ALL beers. Strong beers need more time to mellow and age to improve the flavors, but I can see this working very well for most beers. Thanks, Yuri.
 
Excellent post Yuri -- I think you pretty much nailed it. After 20 years of making beer, this is essentially what my brewing /aging process has evolved into.
 
Bottle conditioned in 2 weeks seems kind of fast. I have a hard time getting them to condition in 3. My Christmas ale last year wasn't carbed correctly in 6 weeks, just popped one open about 3 weeks ago (cool fall day) and it was overcarbed. I guess I just don't get bottle carbing anyway. Just purchased a kegerator so I guess I won't have to worry about it. In fact that was my biggest problem with homebrewing.
 
Riddling the bottles (flipping them upside down and back up, or turning them on their side) every other day really speeds up bottle conditioning, since it gets the yeast back into suspension. When I bottle (I still like to bottle condition Belgians), I do this and my beers carb fully within two weeks.
 
I will add a highly flocculent strain that forms a compact sediment really seems to help...hence my shift to S-04 for many of my Ales. My approach is to view each beer in it's own time frame. Every single recipe is going to be ideal in a different time frame, it's just that simple. Sure there are things that can expedite the process if need be. I was concerned about my Kolsch, I served it at 5 weeks and it was crystal clear. Now the flavor was better at week 6...but it was very good (and very enjoyable) at 5 weeks.
 
Yuri, thanks for a good and thought-provoking thread.

I am one of those people who consistently tells newbie brewers to "just wait". I'm probably going to keep telling them that. Why?

Simple. Very few new brewers understand or have been taught the importance of pitching rate. So many 'first beers' end up underattenuated and with off-flavors from stressed yeast that extra time in the fermenter can only help them.

For my own processes, I've gone almost exclusively to a 21 day ferment followed by kegging and force carbing, except for large and aggressive beers. However, I still find that my beer continues to 'improve' once it's in the keg.
 
That seems to be a matter of opinion. That's how I've done it. Of course, you could combine the methods. Shake at high pressure to get it most of the way there, but let the set & forget method finish it off so you don't overcarb.

I actually shake it at storage/serving pressure and then set it aside in the cold box. Zero chance of overcarbing there.


TL
 
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that answered my questions:rockin:.

I search and read as much as I can but some things are better explained by the experienced. Thanks again:)

Edit: I suck at spelling
 
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