How Soon to Brew a Dunkelweizen for Competition

[frankieboy007]

Had a discussion about beer freshness with a fellow brewer, the gist (or grist, if you prefer) being whether a dunkelweizen brewed in Sept would still be good and fresh for a competition in March. I brewed a recipe that garnered me first place in the Bluebonnet Brewoff this past March, but it was brewed about 2 months (in the bottle for a month) before the actual judging. This batch would have been in the bottle for ~ 6 months! Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this? Thanks in advance!!

 

[duboman]

I would say 6 months is pretty long for a Dunkel. They are preferred young so either wait to brew closer to march or enter something else.

 

[TopherM]

Ideally, my dunkels are in the fermenter for 10 days and in the kegerator to force carb for 7-10 days, then I start serving them, and in my experience they peak about a week or two after I start drinking them, so about 24-30 days after brewday.

For a bottler, I'd go 10-12 days in the fermenter, 14-16 days bottle carb/condition, and 48 hours in the fridge!