Bottle conditioning ?

[Atlmustang]

Hey guys. Bottled my first time ever last Saturday night. I have heard to pop one open starting after a week in the bottle to check for appropriate carbonation. I was going to wait for 2 weeks but I picked up a bottle this morning and gave it a little jostle just to see if it behaved like a normal unopened bottle of beer and I saw plenty of carbonation to my surprise. It looked normal.

Now I'm thinking I may pop one tomorrow after a week just to see for myself.

I don't like the idea of wasting work and time so what is the consensus here? It is a milk stout if that helps. Only about 4.2% abv.

 

[Jhu1321]

Go for it. Mine are usually carbed up by 1-1.5 weeks. Just promise to drink it even if it's a little flat.

 

[FooFighter]

You can call it a 'research' beer and learn firsthand what a beer will be like after 1wk of conditioning versus longer!

How quickly it carbs can be highly variable depending on the temp of the beer, amount of yeast pitched, how viable the yeast was... blah blah blah.
It will also develop a more mature (less 'green') flavour after a few weeks as the yeast clean up the byproducts of converting the new sugar you added.
Stouts tend to take longer to achieve that than lighter beers.

All that said, the worst that will happen is you will drink an undercarbed, young tasting beer.
You can then compare to a beer that conditioned longer and decide how long you want to wait next time.

 

[bucketnative]

One bottle isn't going to kill you, and it's not a waste. You can taste the beer at week one, think it's green, and then keep trying it in successive weeks to see how the beer changes. Or you may decide, you like it at week one, and drink the whole batch quickly. Neither path is a waste.

 

[Chvymn99]

You wont be wasting working. It'll still be good, I'm sure. But being a stout, I'd wait another week and possible another one. Stouts take a few more days to carb up in the bottle vs. a lighter beer.

 

[Build]

It probably needs another two weeks and more to condition, but will be fairly carbonated now. I usually open one a 1 week, and another at 2 weeks to get a feel of individual recipes and styles. It's a forever learning process.

Congrats on your first batch.

 

[Atlmustang]

Thanks guys. You've convinced me! (It didn't take much...I've been chomping at the bit to pop my first batch).

I'll throw one in the fridge tomorrow and give it a shot. I'll note my impressions in my Brewers friend app.

 

[Revvy]

Personally I think it's a waste of beer, that will be much better in a couple weeks. But it's your beer do what you want, just PLEASE, don't start a thread after you crack it and it's not carbed or tastes funny saying "I know I'm supposed to wait a couple weeks, and I didn't BUT are you SURE its' supposed to be like this?"

Save yourself that part of the equation/grief/worry, and just read this now.

And then drink your probably flat, green beer. We all do it, we're all impatient, that's human nature....Especially with our first batches or without a pipeline.

But the part then of getting freaked out and thinking that, your beer is somehow unique, and different from all the other "I only waited a week and my beers not carbed is it ruined? " That's the part that's silly...when you KNOW it, but think you're situation is unique.

If you're going to do it, just relax and go with the open mind and knowledge that you're more than likely drinking something green and undercarbed that will change greatly in a few more weeks. The sad thing is people have actually dumped their entire batch of beer because they opened their bottles too soon, and just assumed it was supposed to be perfect right then and there (it doesn't help that a lot of instructions under emphasize the time in often takes, and why.)

Enjoy.

 

[Atlmustang]

Thanks Revvy! I already have a red ale and a red rye IPA behind this one. So once the pipeline starts it'll keep on moving. I'll probably brew something again this weekend to keep it going.

I'm also growing my own hops vines this weekend! My order came yesterday so I have my rhyzomes in the fridge until I get home tonight. I got cascade, willamette and magnum hops. Going to have them create a natural shade structure on my deck. My very own biergarten!!!!

 

[BlackWraith]

This is what I'm planning on doing next year for natural shade. Have to keep an eye on how thus goes.

 

[Atlmustang]

So....needs more time. Another week or so I would guess. It made the hiss sound when opening up but it could have been a bit more robust. Beer was just a little flat. Good research beer. Drank it. It tasted delicious so that good!

Bottle my Irish red this evening. So much glorious beer!!!!!!

 

[AkTom]

You know Revvy is always right. He says it's ruined and to send it to me. I inspect and send you a report...

 

[ArizonaGoalie]

I just did the same thing with a milk stout. After a week, I cracked a bottle open to seen what the taste was like. I did this because the last batch of beer I brewed became infected. Wanted to see if the changes I made were the solution. BINGO.

The beer tasted awesome. It's a stout, so no doubt a few more weeks in the bottle will do it good. But it's always fun to open one early and celebrate the fact that you did good.

ENJOY!!

P.S. - Yes, Revvy is always right.

 

[wyccad915]

Just because it's carbed doesnt mean it's ready. Bottle conditioning is not all about the carbonation, especially with stouts.

 

[MindenMan]

Almost all stouts and porters will improve with more time in the bottle, as in months. If at brew day it is a little more this-or-that than you had hoped for, don't worry with time the flavor will change. In my own experience a stout that was just about right "roasty wise" on bottling day will get more more roasty-coffee tasting in a couple of months, and then in a couple of months more the roasty-coffee flavor will mellow some, and the grain that was next strength flavor wise will start to bring up to the front. So depending upon the age you drink your beer will determine what it will taste like; this really only applies if you do not filter your beer before bottling/kegging. There will still be a slight flavor change with aging, but it will be very minimal compared to a beer with a little trub/yeast in the bottle.

 

[BobOki]

Personally here, I wait 2 weeks for carb in a warmer environment (70-73f) for about 1-2 weeks tops, then I move it to the basement in the 60-65f for another 2 weeks before I even bother to pop it open. I have not had a single bottle bomb (thanks fizzdrops!) and everything has always had the perfect carb on it, nice head when poured.

If you want to drink them faster than that, get a keggerator, force carb, and never look back.

 

[Revvy]

You know Revvy is always right. He says it's ruined and to send it to me. I inspect and send you a report...

I should get a cut of the action then.

One thing that throws people off, AND I think it's also what the people who say "my bottles are carbed in a week" don't get is that just because the bottle is fizzy or there's a bot of a "head" that the carbonation is "locked in." This video of time lapsed carbonation shows that gas can be present from even the first week... but not fully in solution.

I think Poindexter deserves a medal for taking one for the team and sacrificing so many soldiers for the cause of beery education.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBlnTfZ2iw[/ame]

The same thing happens if you keg, like burst carb. I have my IPA running at 30psi for 24-48 hours, it's been running since about 3pm yesterday. If I were to pour a pint now, a heck of a lot of foam is going to pour, and there's going to be some bubbles, BUT everything's going to dissipate quickly- the co2 is not in solution yet.

 

[Atlmustang]

Yeah...I'm going to be patient and wait it out a bit. Hell I've waited this long. I was most concerned with infection which I have avoided this far in my 3 batches. I'm content to let them ride a while.

Sweet water brewing has this hop hash IPA out right now and it is my jam right now. It tastes like a pouch of hops. Delicious.

The keg is definitely happening soon. Bottling isn't bad but I'd rather drink quicker.

 

[kcoect]

One of the hardest lessons I've had to learn over the past year is the lesson of letting it age properly... My first batch (An Irish Red Ale) I bottled after one week and then started cracking open after a week in the bottle to now I let it age a month in the fermenter and then a month in the bottle at the very least (longer if I can stand it), and every batch has been better by letting it age at least that long... I can understand if you haven't established a pipeline how you may really want to drink it sooner, but really, age it, age it some more, and then age it a little longer... Time is really important to your beer to let it get to what it can be as opposed to being a little green.. I found the above video pretty interesting and never really gave the amount of bubbles in the beer consideration and it's something I'm going to start paying attention too!

 

[Nicknack]

I usually start enjoying them after a week. I only probably have 3-4 during this time but so far, they have been good to go. My last brew I actually opened up after 3 1/2 days and it was carbonated just fine. I know that's a bit early but who cares... it's my beer.