This Normal?

Ok so I normally wait a min. 2 weeks to try my brews....

Been doing some 1 gallon mini all grain batches which have been coming out amazing. Made a Belgium IPA and because of the small batch, used brewers best bottle condition tabs. After one week I had a look in the bottle and it looked to be dissolved. So put one in the fridge and enjoyed the next night. I thought it tasted very good and highly drinkable. Good enough I would share with a buddy if one was over and not be concerned. The beer had a good head, nice lacing and carbonated.

So is this normal to have after one week of conditioning?

CHEERS!
John

Not really normal, most beers won't be good after a week. It's possible the belgian yeast covers up some of the 'green' flavors, or that it just acted incredibly quickly. What temp were your bottles stored at?

Dissolved doesn't necessarily mean done, the coopers tabs dissolve within a couple hours but there's sugar in solution for a while.

I have had beer that was CARBONATED at one week, but I don't think beer is truly READY until 2 to 3 weeks. It is sort of like primary fermentation. Beer may be DONE fermenting after 3 or 4 days, but I do not consider it READY until it has been in the fermenter at least 2 weeks. Fully fermented and fully carbonated are not the same thing as fully ready. Most beer only gets better with patience and time.

That is what I thought. I have them stored at approximately 72 degrees. Just tried out of curiosity... I am sure it will be more refined next week but had to try....

jdround said:

That is what I thought. I have them stored at approximately 72 degrees. Just tried out of curiosity... I am sure it will be more refined next week but had to try....

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I know exactly what you mean. I have a Belgian Dark Strong that is bottle conditioning right now. It was bottled last week, so it has only been conditioning for 8 days as of right now. I KNEW it was not ready yet, but I still felt compelled to try one yesterday (at the one week mark) just to see how it was coming along. Of course, it was barely carbonated and still too sweet (priming sugar not fully fermented yet), but I still had to try it. Maybe one day I will learn to wait 2 or 3 weeks before trying the first one, but, for some reason I still enjoy drinking the semi-flat, not-quite-ready beer, just so I can monitor it's progress!

Yeah I still drink beers way too early fairly often. Sometimes they go down the drain (especially true if there's roasted malts, those seem to take longer). Usually I just kick myself for 'doing it again'.