how long after carbonation?

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Catalina

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I understand I am supposed to wait 7-14 days after adding sugar, carbonation and bottling before I can drink. But how do I know, in that 7-14 days, that the beers are ready? And, if they aren't ready, how can I tell?
 
You can't tell without opening a bottle. Just be patient, put them away out of sight and forget about them for at least 3 weeks. If you don't have a pipeline started yet to hold you off in the meantime, start one. You'll drive yourself mad otherwise :)
 
I understand I am supposed to wait 7-14 days after adding sugar, carbonation and bottling before I can drink. But how do I know, in that 7-14 days, that the beers are ready? And, if they aren't ready, how can I tell?

Yea, don't even try it after 1 week unless you like cold flat beer. After 2 weeks you should have some carbonation, but it's still not ready. Go buy a case of good craft beer, wait the 3 weeks and recycle the empty's you just drank on your next brew which should be in the fermentor now.
 
+1 to what these guys have said. It will be well worth it to wait atleast 3 weeks before throwing these into the fridge. It was a hard lesson for me to learn when I started brewing 2 years ago so now my beer cases go into a closet until they are ready. Get started on another batch so you can have a pipeline going.
 
The bottles are ready when they look clear (unless the beer is opaque to begin with, carbonating beer has a sort of hazy look when held up to a bright light), they make a satisfying "pshhh" sound when you pop one open, and they taste good when you drink the beer. Unfortunately, many new brewers have a tendency to bottle "green" beer because they are still familiarizing themselves with proper yeast management and fermentation procedures, which means that you may sometimes experience unbalanced or harsh flavors that will take several weeks or months to age out. So while you are learning, give the beer at least 2-3 weeks in the fermentor and another 3 weeks in the bottle. With more experience, you'll only bottle beers once they are no longer "green", and they'll be ready to drink as soon as they are carbonated, usually within a week or two after bottling, depending on the temperature you keep them at.
 
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