A funny thing happened at the LHB

[Netflyer]

Has anyone else had the experience that their local HB guys either tell them or you over hear them tell someone else, 'Yeah, this beer will be done in two weeks - just put it in the primary for a week, check the gravity, when it is done it is done, keg or bottle and you will be consuming right away'... I'm paraphrasing of course but the idea should convey, they want to make you think beer does not need to age like the wine they also sell. The guy in front of me was buying a brewer's best Nut Brown ale and the LHB guy was telling him he could be drinking it in about 3 weeks. 3 weeks! Mine would be just coming out of the primary in 3 weeks going for at least another 2-3 weeks in bottles before drinking.

I suppose they do this to sell kits but I believe that ultimately telling people the truth about proper brewing techniques will actually sell more beer.

:rockin:

 

[gallagherman]

Depending on a lot of factors, one could ferment for 10 days and then bottle for 10 days. Maybe the full carbonation wouldn't be reached, but they would be drinking it. I usually do two weeks in the primary and then two weeks in the bottles before I start drinking. But like I said that depends on a lot of factors. If the guy was buying a RIS kit it may be a different story.

 

[Jud]

Netflyer I am fairly new at brewing. But I can tell you my last AG batch of Nut Brown, hit the FG in about a week and a half. I used a starter on it, I have no idea if this had any affect on it. I will have to try doing it without and see. I tranfered it to secondary to free up my carboy. I cold crashed it for about 4 days an put it in the keg, force carb, and was drinking it that night. It taste great and looks great! I have had several people tell me how good it is. Do I think letting it age a while would help it? Who knows, I am happy with the way it is now.

 

[david_42]

Those kits are designed to be OK in a few weeks. On the other hand, one local did a RIS is a week - boil to kegger.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Netflyer I am fairly new at brewing. But I can tell you my last AG batch of Nut Brown, hit the FG in about a week and a half. I used a starter on it, I have no idea if this had any affect on it. I will have to try doing it without and see. I tranfered it to secondary to free up my carboy. I cold crashed it for about 4 days an put it in the keg, force carb, and was drinking it that night. It taste great and looks great! I have had several people tell me how good it is. Do I think letting it age a while would help it? Who knows, I am happy with the way it is now.

You force carbed it which knocks 3 weeks off the time it takes. I'm assuming the gent buying the kit at the LHBS did not having kegging capabilities as it's not normally a newbie thing to have.

 

[staffVAJoe]

I find the difference between a good beer and a great beer has a LOT to do with patience

 

[Netflyer]

I think, as you said, the difference between a good brew and a great brew is patience... couldn't have said it better.

Now this is not to say you can't enjoy 'green' beer. I'm sure we all do

If you wait 3 weeks in the primary and then 3 weeks in the bottles and then 3 days in the fridge you could have the clearest, best brew you ever tasted

Btw, that Nut Brown kit falls in around 1.054 OG...

 

[Netflyer]

Does kegging (I'm a bottler) knock of the 'bottle conditioning' too? I mean I can see how you can carb in a few days but the whole idea of conditioning is for the various aspects of the brew to blend and settle...

 

[PseudoChef]

I just brewed a bitter last Sunday and expect to be drinking it on Wednesday - 10 days. Used WY1968 which ferments completely and drops clear after 48 hours - about 3 days for diacetyl/acetaldehyde uptake and then carbonation. Even if I were to bottle, it would only be about 14 days.

This is, of course, a special case, but if the beer's good, drink it. Breweries/brew pubs routinely pump out beer in short order.

 

[beerthirty]

Does kegging (I'm a bottler) knock of the 'bottle conditioning' too? I mean I can see how you can carb in a few days but the whole idea of conditioning is for the various aspects of the brew to blend and settle...

Quite right. Bottle or a keg is the same thing when it comes to conditioning. If a beer is good green it will be great conditioned with some obvious exceptions. Some wheats and wits still taste better conditioned but to each their own.

 

[FreakinA]

I never get fully carbed in 3 weeks even! My bottle room is 74 degrees too. No way those LHBS kits would work for me in 10 days.

 

[Pschof]

I think people doing their first beer want a product quickly. Even if it is green, or inferior, getting a finished product into someone's hands in a few weeks is probably a good way to get them hooked. If you hook them up with a barleywine recipe and tell them it will take 15 months, you might scare them off.

 

[Snafu]

From kit to drinking in 10 days? Bet you one shiny penny that guy does half a dozen homebrews based on the crappy info he got, quickly realizing that home brew tastes gross (because its green) and then gives up a fulfilling yet rewarding hobby based on some dork trying to push more sales at a store. I wouldn't even think about drinking one until its been conditioned for 4 weeks. And that's after being in a primary for 5 days, a secondary for at least 10 days if not longer, then conditioned..... geesh

 

[Netflyer]

Same here, it takes me at least 3 weeks to get carbonation in my bottles and 4 to the max target I was going for. At least in the bitters where the carbonation is lowish like 1.9 so like 3-3.5 oz of corn sugar / 5 gal...

I use the EZ cap Liter bottles for the most part, usually 12-15 per batch and then singles to make up the difference. I drink some out of the fermenter to get psyched and start tasting a single a week (first week it's pretty flat but still good cold) until it's ready and then I share it

 

[pericles]

Remember also that a kit should produce two cases of beer. If you crack the first bottle two weeks out, then the remaining 47 bottles are still conditioning. If it takes you two or three weeks to finish the rest of the kit, then you'll be in decently conditioned territory by the beginning of the second case.

If you have to ask how long it'll take to "make your beer," then you're still a novice. There's nothing wrong with making sure the new guys have a nice easy experience and then, if they're still interested, teaching them the value of patience the second time around.

 

[HalfPint]

I'm having a pint I brewed 14 days ago. Primary 10 days, crash cool 3 days and then force carb in the keg. It's prob at around 1.8 volumes or so, but oh so drinkable.

This does not work for all styles, but for this APA, it tastes good coming out of the fermenter.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I'm having a pint I brewed 14 days ago. Primary 10 days, crash cool 3 days and then force carb in the keg. It's prob at around 1.8 volumes or so, but oh so drinkable.

This does not work for all styles, but for this APA, it tastes good coming out of the fermenter.

Again, you force carbed and therefore skiped a three week process that a newbie shopping at a LHBS can not skip. That's a big difference.

 

[rwinzing]

I keg my beer and you can put it in a keg and force carb it and be drinking it 24-48 hours later but it does not take the place of the conditioning. I like to leave in primary for 2-3 weeks move to secondary for 2 weeks and then keg it blanket it with CO2 and age it. So when I kick a keg I have one waiting to go. You need to have extra kegs and a pipeline though.

 

[boo boo]

Just because we can make a beer go from pitching to drinking in a little over a week don't mean a new brewer would have the skills needed to make sure his beer is ready to drink in such a short time.
Beer goes by its own rules, and isn't ready just because we say it takes x days and it is ready to drink. A lot of variables influence a beer and its readiness to be drinkable.

 

[Netflyer]

Yep, you have the pipeline filled. Me too, and it is easier for us to wait when we have drinkable product, that's fer sure :cross:

 

[Netflyer]

Even the directions for the Best Brewer kits say 4-6 days primary, then bottle and start to 'enjoy' in 5-7 days !!

Wait, I checked online and they have updated:

BOTTLE CONDITION​

Move the bottles to a dark, warm, temperature-stable area (approx. 64º - 72ºF). Over the next two weeks the bottles will naturally carbonate. Carbonation times vary depending on the temperature and beer style, so be patient if it takes a week or so longer.​

But, before that it suggests that your primary fermentation will be done in 4-6 days. So again 4-6 for primary and then up to two weeks for carbonation - 3 weeks total.


I suppose if you dump all the sugar they give you in you'll have carbonation in 3 days if your bottles don't explode because your beer isn't hardly done with it's primary fermentation. It probably takes us guys who primary for 21 days more time to bottle carbonate just because our initial yeast/ml is lower than something 7-10 out of the primary.

 

[Netflyer]

I agree, as long as it is explained the second time around that aging is a good thing and will produce a better (less fusally at the very least) beer.

How long does it take you to drink 2 cases :cross: ? (They don't last more than a few days around here! Especially around football season..)

 

[Schlenkerla]

PET - Bottles are good for N00bs. If they goof it up they won't be opening glass hand grenades.

My schedule 2-3 weeks in the primary, 2-4 weeks in the 2ndary. Depending on the OG its either kegged or goes to a bottle. I generally bottle high OG beers since they are better for long term storage IMO. Even when I keg I think the CO2 is harsh (has a carbonic bite) for the first several days after its carbed right. A week or two later its perfect.

In the event I'm making a hefe, I will skip the 2ndary and keg right away. From experience, I like my beer clean and clear so most of the time I 2ndary.

As others have said if you keep brewing, fill the pipeline, you can easily wait for 6 to 9 weeks for great beer. Until the pipeline is full buy micros.

 

[Jud]

Well gentlemen, the Brwon Ale was so good keg is empty now!!! Got to work on getting supply up on that!!!!

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Until the pipeline is full buy micros.

Yep, that's what I've been doing. And since I'm buying these microbrews, I'm also getting more and more bottles saved up that I need to bottle my next brews!

 

[mordantly]

How long does it take you to drink 2 cases :cross: ? (They don't last more than a few days around here! Especially around football season..)

lets see ~52 beers? heres my rate chart:

4-8 per each day that included work
6-12 per each day that doesn't include work
12+ per each holiday

in short. i can kill a keg in 10 days by myself no problem. for any day that ends in Y, beer shall be consumed!

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

So many variables, but you can make a great drinkable beer in two weeks. Generally I use 3 weeks to 4 weeks KEGGING.
Most beers I make finish primary fermentation in the first 4-5 days. Nothing like a healthy starter to just git er done.
I leave them in the primary for around 3 more days to clean up, then rack to secondary and let it sit for another week, then move to crash chill for another week, rack to keg, carb, and sit in the pipeline.
Some grains do take a while to show their flavour, lately I have noticed honey malt really comes out more pronounced after two months.
I usually take the last gallon or so and fill up a couple of two litre soda bottles. I throw these into a closet and pull them out to bring to parties, etc.
Other ingredients such as honey, will extend your primary time by weeks.

 

[Netflyer]

Yeah man!

 

[zanemoseley]

If you KEG an APA, wheat or other light beer can be consumed in 2-3 weeks from brewing with decent results. Bottling is another situation entirely, I only bottled 2 batches before kegging but remember waiting 3-4 weeks just for carbonation, plus the fact you're jump starting the yeasties with the sugar which IMO adds to the "green" taste. Two weeks from brewing to consuming will really discourage a newbie extract/bottling brewer.

 

[Tmeister]

we all have our different ways of brewing, but idk why u leave beer in the primary for three weeks. Do u not have a secondary? because dead yeast have the potential to off-flavor your beer. The primary is the primary. if your into ageing then use a secondary or a keg.