3 weeks or longer for bottling time?

[mmonteiro]

on sunday my first brew will have been in the bottles for 3 weeks, should i give them another 2 weeks or so. or will nothing be gained by my extra patience?

 

[Krazykripple]

it depends what kind of beer it is. lighter/ lower alcohol beers might be ready after a few weeks, but bigger beers tend to take longer. you could put a bottle in the fridge for a few days and see if it's ready

 

[Genjin]

I can't believe you have waited this long. As it is a wheat beer, my guess is it is done and ready. Pop a few in the fridge and see how it is!

 

[Brewitt]

You get an "A" for patience! I think my first beer was gone after 3 weeks in the bottle. ;-)

 

[txaggie]

I have learned to wait about a month, regardless. If I try anything at 3 weeks, its that partial bottles that came from what was barely left at bottling time, so I went ahead and bottles it anyways.

I recently had a beer, a saison, where I tried a bottle at 3 weeks and 4 days, tasted OK but something funky on the finish. Then I tried it 3 days later and the difference in how the beer finished blew me away.

 

[SimonHucko]

ha, wow. I applaud your patience. yes, chill some down and start drinking. they will get better with a little more time in the bottle, but I bet it's pretty tasty right now (even more so because you brewed it).

 

[grem135]

I don't think partial filled bottles condition or carb properly. Pop the top on a full one and you will be happy.

 

[mmonteiro]

i was able to wait, because i brewed a second batch and just put all my effort into that one lol

 

[Wigs]

Is two weeks in the bottle for an 8.4% IPA too early to pop the first bottle?

 

[rodwha]

Wigs: Yep. Wait at least another week.

 

[MattzKauf]

3 weeks is plenty! Enjoy!

 

[rodwha]

Wigs: I tried my recent 6.4% IPA at about 2 1/2 weeks and it tasted much like a Ranger. After a few more days it totally changed. Another week later and it has changed again.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Is two weeks in the bottle for an 8.4% IPA too early to pop the first bottle?

It is if you want it to be fully carbed... Lower abv beers = shorter time to carb, higher abv beers = longer time to carb. You will want to wait at least a month before even considering trying one IMO.

 

[Wigs]

It is if you want it to be fully carbed... Lower abv beers = shorter time to carb, highe abv beers = longer time to carb. You will want to wait at least a month before even considering trying one IMO.

Great, thanks...and thank you others. Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but thought my question was pretty much the same.

This was our first brew, and I'm still thinking we might taste at 2wks, 3wks, 4wks, etc....just so we can understand how it changes. Thoughts?

I know some will say tasting at 2wks is maybe a waste, but this is all a learning process, and I thought it would be good to understand the evolution of the conditioning on how it affects taste over time.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

If it is your first brew and you want to understand how time changes it, I think you should go for it. Just don't be too surprised if the first few bottles are less than impressive. You will learn to appreciate time in the bottles. The last bottle is always the best one.

 

[Wigs]

If it is your first brew and you want to understand how time changes it, I think you should go for it. Just don't be too surprised if the first few bottles are less than impressive. You will learn to appreciate time in the bottles. The last bottle is always the best one.

Yeah, I'm sure. We have one 12oz bottle (the rest are 22's), so I think we'll crak that for the first one.

Right now the bottles are in the basement which is holding steady at 65 degrees. Is that too cool? The kit said between 64-72 (I think). Should it be closer to 70, or above? How will that affect the carbing process?

 

[homebrewdad]

Yeah, I'm sure. We have one 12oz bottle (the rest are 22's), so I think we'll crak that for the first one.

Right now the bottles are in the basement which is holding steady at 65 degrees. Is that too cool? The kit said between 64-72 (I think). Should it be closer to 70, or above? How will that affect the carbing process?

It will make the carbing process slower - mabe by as much as a full week. 70 is a really nice baseline.

 

[Genjin]

It is if you want it to be fully carbed... Lower abv beers = shorter time to carb, higher abv beers = longer time to carb. You will want to wait at least a month before even considering trying one IMO.

This is true for most yeasts. However, I just brewed a 7.6% saison with wyeast3711 and that baby chewed through the priming sugar and was carbed in a week. But that yeast is a monster attenuator. That said it needs more time to condition so even if high abv beers are carbed they need plenty if conditioning time.

 

[Brewitt]

Exactly Wigs. The 2, 4, 6, etc. is very educational. I usually bottle a few 12 oz if I'm going mostly with 22s. That allows me to taste a smaller amount and get an idea of the changes. I find IPAs and DIPAs are great for 6 months, but they improve for the first month and peak around 1-2 months. On the other hand, my russian imperial stout just seems to keep changing. I'm brewing my first belgian triple and quadruples now and anticipate waiting 3-4 months to even taste the dark one. It's all a learning process. I will say that when I open a beer after two weeks, I am often disappointed and then when I open another two weeks later I think it is great!

 

[Wigs]

Good idea to bottle a few 12oz as tasters, and save the 22's for when you know it's really ready and good. We'll do that for our next batch. This time we just did one b/c when we were getting near the bottom of the bottling bucket we didn't have enough for a 22. Thanks for the help.