looking for a barley fruit fly

ok, been reading and lurking for a while. I know that the general guideline is 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, 3 weeks bottle conditioning.

I know that many people dispense with the secondary and do primary 2-3 weeks

I know that some recipies, such as barleywine, are best if bottle conditioned for up to a year.

I know my tastes trend toward malty recipies: Bock beer, stout, porter.

I'd like to brew something I like to drink that will be best conditioned for up to 3 weeks. Would allow me to try all the variables and get a feel for the limits of the sandbox:

1 can malt extract and sugar VS 2 cans and no sugar

1 packet yeast rehydrated VS 2 packets pitched to a starter

yeast X vs yeast y

you get the idea. Now the question:

When looking at the ingredients in an extract recipie, what ingredient or combination of ingredients would tend to point toward a longer conditioning period?

william_shakes_beer said:

When looking at the ingredients in an extract recipie, what ingredient or combination of ingredients would tend to point toward a longer conditioning period?

Click to expand...

The short answer is the beer's original gravity.

Something in the 1.040-1.050 range doesn't need much conditioning time.

When you move up to Imperial-style beers, double IPAs, barleywines, etc. that have an OG in the 1.070+ range is when you're looking at longer conditioning times.