I know they say to chill your beer at least 48 hours before you serve it, and that many folks advocate cold conditioning any beer, or to warm condition x amount of time then cold condition equally as long. Well I bottled a brown ale on January 15th, tried a couple bottles along the way because I was eager, and they were pretty green. Two nights ago I brought 2 bottles over to my buddies, stuck them in the fridge for about 3 hours before we drank them, and they tasted incredible, 2x better than the bottle I had just over a week before. Today I tasted one that had been refrigerated 48 hours and while still quite good it did not have the same mouthfeel and malty character that the 2 beers chilled only 3 hours had. Am I crazy? I also enjoy the amount of head and fizz you get from a slightly chilled beer myself.
Anyone else? Any rule of thumb time frames for your chilling?
Anyone else? Any rule of thumb time frames for your chilling?