Taking bets

Ok guys and gals (Yooperbrew et al. ) I have my first batch of beer bottled, and sitting in a closet hopefully carbonating. Its been 4 days. Deer camp is this weekend of course for those of us in Michigan. Whats the likelihood that 7 days in the bottles will have produced enough carbonation in an English Pale Ale to make it barely drinkable? I know I know, I should wait at least a month before cracking any of them open.

So, whats the likelihood I'll have a good beer after a week in bottles. ( 3 full weeks in Primary, no secondary btw)

define good! lol

I would find a warm place that is 70 degree's to put it and cross your fingers.

My closet is about 71* with the 2 fermenters going in there. The bottles are sitting in there.

*crossing my fingers*

I'll bet that even if there is a minimum of carbonation in the bottles that the beer will be enough subpar in quality, ie green, that you will turn off a couple people to your beer.

I find that my beer takes a downward curve in taste for the first three weeks in bottle and then suddenly gets great. On the two occasions when I had my wife try green beer she hated it and now will only try properly aged beer. She also hesitates when I give her a beer to make sure that it doesn't suck.

EDIT: In case I came off as nasty. I didn't mean it. Actually one of the occasions where I had my wife try the green beer was my first batch and we had guests coming over. I really wanted to serve it. When I tried it it really tasted green, like caramel and chemicals mixed in with the beer, even though it was carbonated fine.

Two weeks later and it was excellent. But my wife was reluctant to try it then.

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Ok guys and gals (Yooperbrew et al. ) I have my first batch of beer bottled, and sitting in a closet hopefully carbonating. Its been 4 days. Deer camp is this weekend of course for those of us in Michigan. Whats the likelihood that 7 days in the bottles will have produced enough carbonation in an English Pale Ale to make it barely drinkable? I know I know, I should wait at least a month before cracking any of them open.

So, whats the likelihood I'll have a good beer after a week in bottles. ( 3 full weeks in Primary, no secondary btw)

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I'd say if it's at 71 degrees, you got about a 70% chance of having it decently carbonated by Saturday. As the others said, though, I think you have a 90% chance of green tasting beer.

I'd chill one tomorrow night and try it Friday night, though, just to see how it is. You might be pleasantly surprised, and we might be wrong!

If it's four weeks old, it might be ok.

I would almost be willing to bet money that it will be under carbonated and VERY green.

Now, given that this is your first brew, you might not be familiar with the "green" talk, so I'll just break it down. Some people can tolerate green beer, and others can't. I can't; I think totally fu(ks up your first impression of that beer, and it's hard to overcome after that.

Honestly, just wait, you'll thank yourself later.





However, did I drink beer after four days in the bottle on my first brew? You bet your ass I did.

If you want to take it with you then take it with you. Green or undercarbonated it doesn't matter if you're enjoying it. Isn't that why we all brew?

Under normal circumstances you'll want to give it 3 weeks at about 72Fb but the beer police will not come knocking on your door if you take it with you

dontman said:

I'll bet that even if there is a minimum of carbonation in the bottles that the beer will be enough subpar in quality, ie green, that you will turn off a couple people to your beer.

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I'll lay my money on Dontman's bet....

DO yourself and your hunting buddies a favor and Buy some good beer....don't guzzel the beer at sub par. You'll be wasting the time and money you put into it, and possibly turn your friends off to your future homebrew...When 2 weeks later you will have a MUCH more improved brew...

You may have bubbles, but it won't be truly carbed...you'll have what I call false carbonation...the CO2 won't be in the beer...and it won't clean the green flavors from it yet..

Read this, and watch the video.....https://www.homebrewtalk.com/558191-post101.html

And wait....you and your friends will thank us later...

Ok then, looks like I'll just concentrate on making more Jerky then.

I know that green or not I would drink it because I know what the end result will be, but I know that I am the only beer snob in my family so anything thats not BMC or (thank the lord my dad is a partial beer snob) Stella/Grolsch/Budweiser American Ale, will likely be a big turnoff to them all if its not finished conditioning. Deer camp this year will be Myself, my dad, 2 of my brothers, my nephew, and the Federal Attorney (I think his name is John). Should make for interesting conversations around the dinner table.

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Ok then, looks like I'll just concentrate on making more Jerky then.

I know that green or not I would drink it because I know what the end result will be, but I know that I am the only beer snob in my family so anything thats not BMC or (thank the lord my dad is a partial beer snob) Stella/Grolsch/Budweiser American Ale, will likely be a big turnoff to them all if its not finished conditioning. Deer camp this year will be Myself, my dad, 2 of my brothers, my nephew, and the Federal Attorney (I think his name is John). Should make for interesting conversations around the dinner table.

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One other thought I just had- one of the um, effects, of green beer can be a bit of extra yeast in the homebrew. For those of us accustomed to homebrew, that's really not too much of an issue. However, for those who aren't used to living beer complete with unfiltered yeast, there can be some rather unpleasant side effects. Not something you want in a deer blind, or at deer camp.

Every once in a while, a noobie comes along with a post like, "I drank 12 two week old beers last night and now I think I have food poisoning." We can assure them they don't have food poisoning, but apparently plenty of live yeast in their brew.

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Ok then, looks like I'll just concentrate on making more Jerky then.

I know that green or not I would drink it because I know what the end result will be, but I know that I am the only beer snob in my family so anything thats not BMC or (thank the lord my dad is a partial beer snob) Stella/Grolsch/Budweiser American Ale, will likely be a big turnoff to them all if its not finished conditioning. Deer camp this year will be Myself, my dad, 2 of my brothers, my nephew, and the Federal Attorney (I think his name is John). Should make for interesting conversations around the dinner table.

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Mmmm Venison Jerky eh?

I tell this to all the new brewers who post similar threads to this, this is the only time you'll have to worry about not having some of your homebrew for a holidy or event. This time next year you'll have the problem of deciding on WHICH beers to bring....

Also this is your first batch of homebrew right? It's something special....your first batch is special, like your first deer...or babe...so don't just rush into it...give it the time it needs.

Ok, here is a question. Lets say I wanted to never have live yeast in my beer. I would assume that you carbonate in a vessel of some sort yes? Then you bottle it and... can then drink right away??

Why don't you guys do this? Logistically, I don't see this as that much of a problem.

Revvy said:

Mmmm Venison Jerky eh?

I tell this to all the new brewers who post similar threads to this, this is the only time you'll have to worry about not having some of your homebrew for a holidy or event. This time next year you'll have the problem of deciding on WHICH beers to bring....

Also this is your first batch of homebrew right? It's something special....your first batch is special, like your first deer...or babe...so don't just rush into it...give it the time it needs.

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Ohh yes, there will be Beef and Venison Jerky, by the pound!!

I can't wait to be able to have to pick and choose which beer I want to drink. I can honestly say that Its getting really old buying 6 packs of good beer for $9+ dollars. I also have plans to have a modest bartop in the basement where there would likely be 6 or 8 different homebrews on hand at any time for friends to come over and enjoy.

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Ok, here is a question. Lets say I wanted to never have live yeast in my beer. I would assume that you carbonate in a vessel of some sort yes? Then you bottle it and... can then drink right away??

Why don't you guys do this? Logistically, I don't see this as that much of a problem.

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First you would have to pasteurize it to kill the yeast, then force carb it. Might as well buy BMC then. Seriously. You CANNOT brew beer at home and have anything but love for yeast.

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Ok, here is a question. Lets say I wanted to never have live yeast in my beer. I would assume that you carbonate in a vessel of some sort yes? Then you bottle it and... can then drink right away??

Why don't you guys do this? Logistically, I don't see this as that much of a problem.

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Well, if you want to filter out all the yeast, you'll have to invest in a filter set up. Some say that filtering strips out some flavor as well. One of the best things to happen to beer is time- after a while, most of the yeast settles to the bottom and the beer will clear and condition and taste better. It's not just the yeasty taste that will get better, though.

The hops bittering will begin to taste smoother, the malt and hops flavors meld together, and the whole tone of the beer mellows and softens. Especially with roasty flavors, age helps make the beer taste better.

I do keg, and I can drink it 1/2 hour after that if I want to. But green beer is still green beer and it still needs the same amount of time to condition whether in kegs or bottles. Carbonation does not equal conditioning.

Some "bigger" beers need more time. A good example of this is a barleywine. It might take 6-8 months for that beer to even be slightly drinkable. Now, a "smaller" beer might take only 3 weeks to be great. Some examples of that would be a lower OG wheat beer, or a British mild.

Most "regular" drinking beers taste pretty darn good 6-8 weeks after brewing. They continue to improve up to a point, too. These would be American ambers, pale ales, IPAs, stouts, etc. Some stouts need a bit more time for the roasty-ness to mellow a bit, but you can plan on them being pretty good about 2 months from brew day. A beer with an original gravity of 1.045-1.065 would probably fall in this timing range.

Trust me, I heart yeast, a lot. It creates the greatest thing ever discovered by man. But my brother has a lot of GI problems and I'd like to refrain from turning him off to my HB's if he has to run swiftly to the commode after having a few. Giving someone the Winabi trotts is not usually a desired reaction after all your hard work brewing, waiting, bottling, and waiting some more.

(You can quote that in the memorable quotes thread if you like)

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Ok, here is a question. Lets say I wanted to never have live yeast in my beer. I would assume that you carbonate in a vessel of some sort yes? Then you bottle it and... can then drink right away??

Why don't you guys do this? Logistically, I don't see this as that much of a problem.

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Then you might as well buy budweiser...

Read this..We had this discussion yesterday and every few weeks....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/bottled-yeast-sediment-how-make-go-away-88181/l


YEAST IS GOOD!!!!!

Real beer has yeast in it!!!

Trust me, I hate BMC as much as the next homebrewer, but I have a special interest in reducing the live yeast content of my beers. See above.

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Trust me, I hate BMC as much as the next homebrewer, but I have a special interest in reducing the live yeast content of my beers. See above.

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You'll need to keg then...there will still be yeast in it unless you invest in some sort of filter to truly remove ALL the yeasties...

Some keggers recommend shortening the dip tube as well, that way it wont be in the floculated yeast sediment.

If you keg you can bottle after with a beer gun.

Good advice here.

How the hell do you guys put up with all of us n00bs; answering the same questions over and over again? You must not work retail jobs.

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Good advice here.

How the hell do you guys put up with all of us n00bs; answering the same questions over and over again? You must not work retail jobs.

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We consume VAST quanities of our own homebrew!!!!

I have been fired from a good deal of retail jobs. I don't do well with personal interaction with stupid people.

Somehow, this place isn't THAT frustrating.

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Trust me, I heart yeast, a lot. It creates the greatest thing ever discovered by man. But my brother has a lot of GI problems and I'd like to refrain from turning him off to my HB's if he has to run swiftly to the commode after having a few. Giving someone the Winabi trotts is not usually a desired reaction after all your hard work brewing, waiting, bottling, and waiting some more.

(You can quote that in the memorable quotes thread if you like)

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Truthfully the worst you get from a couple homebrews is a case of the farts. You drink a couple sixers of them you may get the trotts. I'd say just let it carbonate as stated above, put it in the fridge for 1 week (well at least for your brother) and let the yeast settle out and make a nice tight sediment layer at the bottom, then pour very carefully and leave the last 1/2" in the bottle, and don't let him have more than a few until he gets used to them.

Also yeast is very good for you so it may help him out actually.

RedIrocZ-28 said:

Trust me, I hate BMC as much as the next homebrewer, but I have a special interest in reducing the live yeast content of my beers. See above.

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Why does everyone say they hate BMC? I admit its not a good beer but how many people that started drinking beer drank a stone ruination for their first beer? I know MGD was my first beer love and all we could afford when I was in high school. Ive since refined my taste but harbor no hatred for the vessel that introduced me to the sweet nectar of the Gods...

I just dislike BMC because its all the same. Yes, I can taste the slight difference between budweiser, bud light, Miller, Coors, etc. But there is only a slight difference. I can't honestly understand brand loyalty to something that is just like everything else its competing with.

*flame suit on*

You may enjoy green beer, but will your friends? Also If you decide to take it, stock up on the Charmin.

Actually Con, there are a few people who are allergic to Saccharomyces cerevisiae htere's been a couple people coming on here looking for info...

Alcohol Allergy - Alcohol Allergies and Intolerances: Yeast Allergies, Grape Allergies, Corn Allergies and Alcohol


but if red's buddy isn't his stomach will adapt to REAL beer with yeast in it...it may take a couple drinking session, but he will adapt...

chriswilkes33 said:

Why does everyone say they hate BMC? I admit its not a good beer but how many people that started drinking beer drank a stone ruination for their first beer? I know MGD was my first beer love and all we could afford when I was in high school. Ive since refined my taste but harbor no hatred for the vessel that introduced me to the sweet nectar of the Gods...

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My first night getting drunk was on MGD. I hated it. I switched to vodka, rum, and whiskey.

Then one day I was introduced to Stone and worlds changed and opened. Starting with their IPA, I actually did learn to love beer. So there. Take THAT.