bottled my first brew! (questions)

I brewed a autumn amber ale(midwest supplies) on 12-6-10 and bottled today,first gavity was ...1.043 and ending was 1.010, is that ok for that type of beer? also can i try it in a week...thanks alot

Your beer looks like it's right where it should be. You can try it when ever you want but don't be surprised if it's not carbonated fully.

Just make sure to keep at least one beer around for a couple months before you drink it. You will be very surprised how much better it is when it ages a while.

That is a fairly typical change in gravity for an extract batch.

Sure you can try one in a week. But it would be better if you could hold off until at least 2 to 3 weeks before putting the bulk of them in the refrigerator.

thanks allot!

Made the same brew and its been just over 2 weeks in the bottle and still not fully carb'd. May just be something I did but I think this one will sit for a month before I try another as it also has some off flavors, again prolly something I did.

Your beer should sit for a minimum of 3 weeks. It is possible it could take up to 4 or 5. The temp that the beer is sitting at is important as well. If you have it sitting in a 72* room, it will carb a little quicker and if it is lower, it will take longer.

I have about 100 bottles carbing right now. Our house is set to 68*. I am expecting these beers to take longer to carb because of the ambient temp.

I'm sure you're going to be presently surprised with the outcome of the beer. I'm only guessing that you aren't maintaining an above 70 temp for the bottles so it will take a lot longer for it to carb up.

I have a beer carbing that will take almost a month to carb if not longer (i'm not home right now so I turned my thermostat down while i'm away) but plan on trying one as soon as i get home to visit and check on the place. will probably pack a 6-er and take it with me to my parents house

I dont understand why so many people say it takes weeks to carb. Most of my beers carb in 4-5 days. And my house temp is in the mid 60s. The beer might be a little cloudy, but I have been known to try them in 4 days to see whats happening. Only once was one not carbed, and that was a heavy porter with a lot of un-ferment-ables. That one took an incredible 2 weeks.

I'm not sure why, don't know a thing about water, but at my old place beer would carb in about 5 days to a week. Where I live now it takes a minimum of 2 weeks @ 70+.

The only things that've changed are: water and stove efficiency. Went from a gas stove to an electric ceramic top so it takes ages longer to get to a rolling boil for a 5 gallon batch. 2.5 gallon batches boil fine but still take forever to carb--so I am almost positive it is the water.

To the OP: try it whenever you like, but if you get into this as a hobby you'll likely learn the true power of patience; this is as good a time as any. If you try it too soon, it might be under carbonated and the flavors may not have meshed well.

mixedbrewer said:

I dont understand why so many people say it takes weeks to carb. Most of my beers carb in 4-5 days. And my house temp is in the mid 60s. The beer might be a little cloudy, but I have been known to try them in 4 days to see whats happening. Only once was one not carbed, and that was a heavy porter with a lot of un-ferment-ables. That one took an incredible 2 weeks.

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I've never had decent carbonation in under 3 weeks. So, as surprised as you are about how long it takes us, I'm equally surprised you carb up so fast!
When I pour it I can make the beer "foam-up" in less time, but it isn't properly carbonated.

I bottled a batch yesterday and used a plastic bottle as a test. Today, 24 hours after bottling the plastic bottle is rigid and the bottom is slightly bulged. However, I doubt that there is much CO2 dissolved into the beer yet.

The wild world of carbonation. No two yeast behave the same. (under all of the possible combinations of circumstances)

... and I guess the perfect amount of carbonation is an opinion of the drinker.