Conditioning Questions.

I recently made a Hex Nut Brown Ale clone using a partial recipe from North American Clone Brews (with recipe found here). I left it in primary for about 10 weeks and bottled it. I got a little impatient (I know I know. Time makes better beer), and tried it after 14 days of carbonation. Besides the expected fountain, I didn't notice the harsh taste that came from a few other prematurely opened bottles of various styles. My initial reaction was good, but very nutty (chocolate malts). I think I added 1 ounce of 6AA Williamettes. A few questions come to mind.

1) Will the extra conditioning in the fermenter help the beer mature and take off some of the "bottle conditioning" conditioning step and leaving bottle conditioning more to carbonating?

2) What changes in the taste palate can I expect as it becomes aged? Will the nuttiness mellow out a bit?

What you have done is considered bulk conditioning/aging. Almost the same as conditioning in the bottle but with more yeast contact, and less individual conditions to deal with (read bottles). Leaving it on the yeast that long gave the yeast plenty of time to clean up and get rid of some of those off flavors created by fermentation. The bulk aging means that you don't have to worry about the micro systems in each bottle and ensureing they are condition consistenly.

1. yes

2. couldn't say each recipe and brewing conditions are different. Normally you can expect the flavors to mellow out about over time but each beer is different and it could reach its peak in 12 weeks or 12 months.

Ok Cool Thanks for the quick response.

celts said:

1) Will the extra conditioning in the fermenter help the beer mature and take off some of the "bottle conditioning" conditioning step and leaving bottle conditioning more to carbonating?

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No....Time in primary or secondary has no relevance to the time needed to carb and and very little to the time beer needs to condition, some stuff will bulk out, BUT it won't make 3 weeks (minimum @ 70 degrees), into two weeks at 70, if your beer needs three or more weeks.

The carbonation/coditioning process, is a whole seperate entity with it's own timeframe, and requirements. There's a whole layer of conditioning that needs Co2 to have been produced, and renewed yeast activity inside the individual mini fermenter (bottle) in order for it to happen.

I discuss the process in this blog...
Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning.

Thanks Revy. I appreciate the reply. I figured as much for the carbonation, but I wasn't sure really what was happening during the bottle conditioning that was different than what happened in the fermenter and it tasted pretty good.