After visiting a couple of breweries last week I'm sad at my conditioning time. I was always told to give it a month or two. The breweries state they brew then ship in 10 days (depending one the style of coarse) of brewing. I tested a beer someone had 1 week in the bottle. A little green but nothing as green as mine at one week. The only mistake I can see (and Im sure I have more) is I have'nt gotten my herms system stable at mash time. 3 deg flux is my best. Could this be why?
Beer and time
- Thread starter Merleti
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d3track
Are you sure about that?
Fermentation control, pitch rates and viability, filtering
Magnus314
Well-Known Member
Breweries seem to use MUCH higher yeast pitch rates. That and they often filter and force carb, not keg or bottle carb.
Also remember that they ship in 10 days, but it might be 2-3 weeks before the beer is on shelves and 6 weeks before it's "peaking". Then the slow downward spiral begins until it's "blah" or worse...
Also remember that they ship in 10 days, but it might be 2-3 weeks before the beer is on shelves and 6 weeks before it's "peaking". Then the slow downward spiral begins until it's "blah" or worse...
what style are you letting condition a month or two? and are we talking conditioning in the bottle or in the fermenter? for my normal sized ales i'm doing 2 weeks in the primary (often including any dry-hopping and cold-crashing time), and then 3 weeks in the bottle. at bottling time it usually tastes completely fine if only it were carbed. which is really the way it should be for a lot of styles. there are even lots of people getting turnaround time much lower than that when kegging even with lagers and darker beers.
i would highly suggest looking into your pitching rates and the vitality of that yeast, and well-controlled ferment temps in order to not even produce the off-flavors in the first place. according to most of the documents i've read, and from a lot of the wisest people on here, if you've got proper pitching rates, healthy yeast, and proper ferment temps, the entire process of fermentation should be complete at around 9-10 days. this is including the clean-up phase.
https://byo.com/videos/item/635-fermentation-time-line
i would highly suggest looking into your pitching rates and the vitality of that yeast, and well-controlled ferment temps in order to not even produce the off-flavors in the first place. according to most of the documents i've read, and from a lot of the wisest people on here, if you've got proper pitching rates, healthy yeast, and proper ferment temps, the entire process of fermentation should be complete at around 9-10 days. this is including the clean-up phase.
https://byo.com/videos/item/635-fermentation-time-line
Lower-gravity beers, properly fermented, can be ready to package in a week or less, and because my house is hot (never under 75F) my bottles always carbonate in about a week. Tastes like brewery-fresh beer every time. I keg most stuff now, but I would look at your fermentation temperatures, pitch-rate, and oxygen situation to make sure that you're getting the best fermentations possible. Poor fermentation conditions are what are giving you the flaws described by "green" tasting beer, not what's happening during wort production.
Beer and time are like matter and anti-matter. When they collide they both cease to exist. :cross:
Most of my beers are at FG and fully conditioned at about a week. Some are at FG and fully conditioned in 4 days. I've gone fully grain to glass in 15 days (10 days fermenter, 5 days cask conditioned) but could go faster if I wanted (as quickly as a week grain to glass were I to force carb my house Mild).
Pros are faster because (as said), they pitch a proper amount of healthy, viable yeast, control their fermentation temperatures, and aerate properly usually with pure oxygen. What I found works well is to chill your wort to a couple degrees below your fermentation temperature, pitch cooler, allow it to warm during the lag to your fermentation temperature, hold it there during most of active fermentation, and then once it's wrapping up fermentation, raise it another couple degrees. Everything goes faster, and cleans up after itself faster. In other worse, start cool and go up, never start warm and go down.
What most homebrewers do is pitch warmer than they should, and either leave it warm or cool it down, and then after the heat spike of fermentation, the temp of the beer actually drops and it slows the conditioning phase.
Pros are faster because (as said), they pitch a proper amount of healthy, viable yeast, control their fermentation temperatures, and aerate properly usually with pure oxygen. What I found works well is to chill your wort to a couple degrees below your fermentation temperature, pitch cooler, allow it to warm during the lag to your fermentation temperature, hold it there during most of active fermentation, and then once it's wrapping up fermentation, raise it another couple degrees. Everything goes faster, and cleans up after itself faster. In other worse, start cool and go up, never start warm and go down.
What most homebrewers do is pitch warmer than they should, and either leave it warm or cool it down, and then after the heat spike of fermentation, the temp of the beer actually drops and it slows the conditioning phase.
+1 on what @Qhrumphf said
This describes my methods to a T. Methods, I hasten to add I have learned from listening to the likes of @Qhrumphf and following it up by delving into the science a bit more.
A targeted big fat healthy pitch rate, pitched cool, passive rise to ferment temp, passive rise to 68F at the end when within 1-2 plato of targeted FG. Tight control over fermentation and good yeast husbandry seem to be the key
Current brew in the FV is a lager 0G 1.048 to FG 1.009. Checked at 11 days post pitch prior to cold crashing. Kegging tomorrow at 14 days.
Pitched at 48F
Fermented at 50F till 1.014, passive rise to 68F.
This describes my methods to a T. Methods, I hasten to add I have learned from listening to the likes of @Qhrumphf and following it up by delving into the science a bit more.
A targeted big fat healthy pitch rate, pitched cool, passive rise to ferment temp, passive rise to 68F at the end when within 1-2 plato of targeted FG. Tight control over fermentation and good yeast husbandry seem to be the key
Current brew in the FV is a lager 0G 1.048 to FG 1.009. Checked at 11 days post pitch prior to cold crashing. Kegging tomorrow at 14 days.
Pitched at 48F
Fermented at 50F till 1.014, passive rise to 68F.
I think I can rule out the style of beer. No matter the type of beer it takes two months to taste ready to drink. It could be a Heffe at 5% or a Trappist at 9%. My pitch rate for 5 gals could be a White Labs vile on a stir plate with 1000 mL in 18-24 hrs or 2 -1000 mL starters on 2 stir plates from a vile in 18-24hrs. Fermentation time is 3-4 not that it didn't drop, but I was told sitting on the cake longer helps make the beer cleaner . Two months starts at bottling. Again no matter the type of beer 2 month it taste ready at 4 months the beer hits its peak unless its a tall beer. Fermentation is in a temp controlled chamber held at the lower end for the style of yeast. Three days then increased 1 deg per day for 4 more deg.
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