Six Month Conditioning for Amber Ale

[Hoakster]

Greetings Cerveceros,

I’ve been brewing partial grain for approximately 6 months now and have had great success; much thanks to the awesome posts on this site and my neighborhood brew sensei who got me started.

I searched and read many posts on how long you can let beer sit in a secondary and generally understand that the bigger the beer, the longer you can let it condition. I have also read a post from several months back where a brewer was being deployed and he/she was looking for recipes that would work great with a 6-month secondary.

This is, in fact, my situation. I will be deploying soon for 6 months in AFG, and want to have an ale ready to sample when I return. I wanted to draft out my plan and see if the team had any pointers for where I may be thinking wrong or techniques to improve the product.

I have a partial grain American Amber to start with. My intentions are to let it sit in primary for 2 to 3 weeks and then transfer to a 5-gal soda keg topped off with CO2 right before I deploy.

Question: will this be sufficient to produce a good beverage if I store it in a temperature steady closet (around 69 degrees) for the entire 6 months that I am gone. The plan would be that once I return, I will put the keg under about 12 psi for a few weeks before consuming. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[stoneman]

Hoakster, if it was me i would just put the keg on CO2 at 12 psi in the kegerator when you leave, that way you would have tasty beer to drink as soon as you get back.

 

[makomachine]

Hoakster, if it was me i would just put the keg on CO2 at 12 psi in the kegerator when you leave, that way you would have tasty beer to drink as soon as you get back.

+1 to this! It I'll be great as you can condition while carbonating. I find the character of my carbonated beer changes over time for the better - so get it on gas when you leave and you'll be in for a treat when you get back!

 

[Hoakster]

Thanks a ton! I now plan to put it on gas for the entire time I am away. I am considering storing it at my brewing Sensei's house so he can watch the pressure and make sure there are no slow leaks...for obvious reasons I am going to have to think that through some more.

 

[Hoakster]

Well, I’m home after 1 month of training and 6.5 months in the desert. I took the advice of Stoneman and Makomachine and brewed the American Amber partial grain right before I left. I gave it two weeks in the primary before transferring it to the 5 gallon keg and putting it under 12 psi CO2. I passed it off to my buddy to store in his fridge while I was gone. His fridge is 36 to 40 degrees with frequent openings as he uses just a picnic tap. He swears he never cracked the keg while I was gone.

Anyway, the results are in – awesome American amber ale! Of course, I like to call it Afghanistan Ale. Wish I was a more knowledgeable and studied connoisseur so that I could explain the perfectness of this frothy beverage – however, you will just have to settle for – it’s awesome, smooth, well carbonated, foamy, amber, rich and makes me never want to drink a bud light again. I can’t believe everyone doesn’t brew their own.

Cheers friends and thanks for the advice!

 

[pabloj13]

Well, I’m home after 1 month of training and 6.5 months in the desert. I took the advice of Stoneman and Makomachine and brewed the American Amber partial grain right before I left. I gave it two weeks in the primary before transferring it to the 5 gallon keg and putting it under 12 psi CO2. I passed it off to my buddy to store in his fridge while I was gone. His fridge is 36 to 40 degrees with frequent openings as he uses just a picnic tap. He swears he never cracked the keg while I was gone.

Anyway, the results are in – awesome American amber ale! Of course, I like to call it Afghanistan Ale. Wish I was a more knowledgeable and studied connoisseur so that I could explain the perfectness of this frothy beverage – however, you will just have to settle for – it’s awesome, smooth, well carbonated, foamy, amber, rich and makes me never want to drink a bud light again. I can’t believe everyone doesn’t brew their own.

Cheers friends and thanks for the advice!

Congrats on the good beer, glad you are home safe, and thank you for everything you do.

 

[daksin]

Cheers! Sounds fantastic. Thats all the description I need. I would love to drink that beer. Glad you made it back to the states safely, and thank you for your service.