Waiting patiently?

[McCarthybrewing]

Bottled my first batch a little over a week ago, how long should I until tasting it?

 

[lumpher]

you can taste it at any time now. it probably won't be ready to drink yet, but the first bottle now will give you an idea about the taste

 

[McCarthybrewing]

So will it take 3 weeks to be ready to drink?

 

[McCarthybrewing]

So how long should it take to be fully ready? 3-4 weeks or even longer?

 

[Dan]

I keg but have read much about bottling. It is my understanding the norm is about 3 weeks at 70F for an average beer to carbonate properly, high gravity beers take longer. But as lumpher said give a bottle a try at 1 week to see how carbonation is coming along and to get an idea of what the beer taste like after one week. Try another at 2 weeks, 3 weeks, etc. Also throw your test bottle in the refrigerator for a few days (some say a week) before you sample it. This will allow whatever CO2 in in the head space to dissolve (not the correct word) into the beer. Cold beer absorbs CO2 more quickly than warm beer. But you need warm beer to make the CO2.

There is a thread on here from a guy called Revvy. He has a pretty good thread on the question you asked. If I can find it I'll put a link to it here.

Here it is. A bit long but good info. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/#post1030387

 

[johndavies86]

I keg but have read much about bottling. It is my understanding the norm is about 3 weeks at 70F for an average beer to carbonate properly, high gravity beers take longer. But as lumpher said give a bottle a try at 1 week to see how carbonation is coming along and to get an idea of what the beer taste like after one week. Try another at 2 weeks, 3 weeks, etc. Also throw your test bottle in the refrigerator for a few days (some say a week) before you sample it. This will allow whatever CO2 in in the head space to dissolve (not the correct word) into the beer. Cold beer absorbs CO2 more quickly than warm beer. But you need warm beer to make the CO2.

There is a thread on here from a guy called Revvy. He has a pretty good thread on the question you asked. If I can find it I'll put a link to it here.

Here it is. A bit long but good info. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/#post1030387

Im new to brewing and am on my 3rd brew and havent really understood carbonation but this is a really simple way of understanding it.
So if you keg and put a CO2 bulb on is that just forcing CO2 into the brew rather than the brew producing it?
And why do pubs use CO2?

 

[unionrdr]

In kegging,you force carb the beer & use co2 pressure to pour it. Bottle conditioning for me is more like 4 weeks max for an average ghravity ale. Dark or high gravity beers take longer. And at least 1 week fridge time to get the co2 into solution,& any chill haze to settle out.

 

[kh54s10]

In my experience bottling 30 batches so far. I try one bottle at 2 weeks. I would estimate 10% were fully carbed and tasted good. 40% were well carbed but tasted much better at 3 weeks and longer. The other 50% took at least 3 weeks to be right. And one has been bottled for 9 months and is still getting better. All of them have tasted better at 3 weeks or longer.

 

[Subsailor]

It has been my experience a long time ago when I started and now that I have returned to brewing, that tasting the first one in 7 to 10 days seems to work for me. I don't have a fixed schedule which annoys a couple of my brewing buddies. I wait another 7 - 10 days, sometimes shorter and taste it again. Make notes for future reference for that recipe.
The beer will be ready when its ready and you will know it.

 

[woody34]

I try all my brews after 1 week. Some are ok, others are not. But even the not ready ones are somewhat drinkable. If you're at 10 days, drink up!

 

[tnvol]

I usually chill one and taste it after 7 - 10 days or so.

 

[johndavies86]

Ive had mine in bottles for about 4 days and ive drunk 2 already :/ i just wanted to make sure they tasted ok and they do taste ok so im lookong forward to how they are going to taste after 2 weeks

 

[Geremiah]

After fermenting my first batch for 4 days I ignorantly moved it to a secondary fermenter because of some stupid instructions that the kit came with, anyhow...I bottle 4 beers at that point simply because my secondary was apparently smaller than my primary.
Those bottles were drank after 8 days of carbonating and 2 days in the fridge.
I never tasted a better/fresher store-bought beer! Head was thick and left a ring down the glass.
Although I'm sure the rest of the batch is going to taste much better. My point is unless you did something drastically wrong, you more than likely won't be disappointed.

 

[Smithwrecked]

I like to chill the first one for a full 2 days in the fridge then taste it after its been bottled 7 to 10 days, same thing with 2nd one a week later and so on until about three to four weeks in they are fully carbed and oh so tasty!

 

[dzlater]

It depends on how thirsty you are.

 

[johndavies86]

Has anyone experienced a mild headache within ten minutes of drinking homebrew?
Once ive had a few pints it goes but the initial pint gives me a headache? Just wondering if it may have been something i did in the brewing process?

 

[woody34]

I've never had a headache from 1 beer, but after I drink 12 or 13 homebrews, I get a little nauseous. Very strange. The headache usually comes the next morning.

 

[StanJohnson]

Bottled my first batch a little over a week ago, how long should I until tasting it?

Have you read this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/of-patience-and-bottle-conditioning.html It has a lot of good info. It's a must read for all those who bottle.

 

[Dan]

Stan, I think I asked you this before but what does RDWIWBB stand for? (to many home brews ago I think) Relax Don 't Worry It Will Be Beer?

 

[MistFM]

In the past whenever I have tried one of my beers within 3 weeks of bottling I usually get annoyed. Yes, it's beer. Yes it tastes ok, but it's not as good as it can be. I will usually taste one bottle after 3 weeks, then put a couple in the fridge if I am satisfied and will typically keep a 6 pack of my beer in the fridge at a time. That way my beer keeps getting better and better as I drink it.

 

[johndavies86]

I have waited a week and so i poured a sample, very happy with the result, tasted good, incredibly clear, only prob i have is it lost its head pretty quick, but i could still taste the bubbles?

 

[unionrdr]

! week isn't usually long enough. Give it a couple more weeks. Then at least one week fridge time to improve the head & carbonation. It takes time to get it right.

 

[StanJohnson]

Stan, I think I asked you this before but what does RDWIWBB stand for? (to many home brews ago I think) Relax Don 't Worry It Will Be Beer?

Yes Dan. That's what it stands for. It couldn't have been that many brews ago because you did remember

 

[Brewnoob1]

Remember, it's not just about carbonation, it's also conditioning. The longer you wait, the better the beer gets. My very first batch was carbed at a week, but didn't become truly drinkable until a few months in the bottles

 

[johndavies86]

! week isn't usually long enough. Give it a couple more weeks. Then at least one week fridge time to improve the head & carbonation. It takes time to get it right.

I know it takes time but im such an.impatient person haha i need to get another lot on the go i think to keep me occupied. So the head should be better after its been chilled? What do you think of the clarity? Personally i was quite impressed! Haha

 

[Yesfan]

I just bottled my American Wheat this past Sunday. I let it ferment for 15 days before bottling. I'm pretty anal when it comes to instructions (unless the wife's barking orders), so I figure Labor Day weekend will be when I crack the first bottle open. I have some microbrews to get me by until then.


If anything I'm itching to start another batch. My first brew day went really well and I want a repeat.