Fermentation Time

OK. I am about a year into my home brewing adventures and have done south of 20 batches. I have a very basic question. What is the right length of time before a beer can be consumed?

I have been watching Brewmasters on TV and have heard several references to beers being ready in 10-14 days then put on tap. What am I missing here? As I understand it, beer should age for several weeks before consumption. All the recipes from the LHBS give 5ish days for primary, same for secondary then state that the beer is best after 3 weeks.

Is there something at a more commercial level that is being done? I assume that this has nothing to do with AG, PM or Extract brewing methods.

Shortening the time from my cycle (4-5 weeks) down to 2 or 3 weeks would be great.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

D

All i can add is try it and see how it works out. Ive had beer "ready" in 3 weeks with kegging, but it was better at the 6th week.

Beer in 2-3 weeks is possible in a comercial brewery with there yeast pitching rates, temprature control and quality control. Beer does get better and starts to naturally clear as it ages. I always wait at least 6 weeks, sometimes months or years depending on the Beer. My favorite beer Flanders Red is undrinkable till it's 2 years old.

May I suggest you brew a few more batches or larger batches to fill up your pipeline so you can wait 6 weeks. your beer will be much better.

No doubt the pipeline idea is in process. I have several running now. I am just curious as to why 2 weeks is possible. In the show, the pilot brews take place at the dogfish head brewery/pub (5bbl system) and they were pumping out beers at a 2 week pace.

For example, they made their version of Chicha that was being served at 10 days.

I understand that in a commercial brewery such as dogfish head, they can do a fast schedule, but in a homebrew setup there must be a way to do something similar or at least shave some time off.

Maybe at the end of the day, it is based on the recipe?

smakudwn said:

All i can add is try it and see how it works out. Ive had beer "ready" in 3 weeks with kegging, but it was better at the 6th week.

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Maybe there is something to be said about aging at a large scale? By large I mean in a keg vs bottle

I've made many ipa's that I have drank in just over two weeks. ten day primary and about 5 days to carb in keg.

I allow at least 2 weeks in the fermenter, or 4 for hi-gravity. If you bottle you then have to add a couple weeks but force carbing in a keg can give very good results in 2 days, so 3 weeks to glass is np although it will improve with more time. This time can be spent in the keg while you're nipping away at it.... having several kegs to nip on will add to the conditioning time. I just kegged my SnaggleTooth Stout yesterday morning and will have a glass tonight.

Fermentor size makes a big difference, in a 2500 gallon batch there is head pressure that makes a difference in how well the beer ferments at different temps. Pitching rates also have a big effect on how fast things get done. If you have lot's of yeast, you can save time in the secondary. Commercial brewing is about selling as much beer as you can make as soon as a fermentor is open it's used again.

Home brewers on the other hand can wait a little longer, what this does is allows the Beer to clean up much of the problem flavors, that were produced early in the fermentation.

i make biermunchers centennial blonde all the time....gran to glass in 2 weeks!!! and its awsome!

also heffs i have ready in 2 weeks.

basicly low gravity, simple recipes.

addis29 said:

I've made many ipa's that I have drank in just over two weeks. ten day primary and about 5 days to carb in keg.

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I assume that you are blast force carbing correct? What pressure and temp are you using?

I'll do two days at 30psi, then crank down to serving pressure at about 12psi for remainder. Kegerator temp is set at about 40. Always carbed to my liking. Plus I think ipa's should be consumed young. I don't want any of that aroma fading before i drink them.