Aging beer: Facts, myths, and discussion

[pjj2ba]

My beer is still tongue numbingly bitter after 3 weeks in the primary. It usually takes another 3 weeks in the bottle to settle down. How are you getting these fast turn arounds? Do I just have a low threshold for bitterness or am I not doing something I should be doing.

If your water is hard (particularly if high in carbonates), this can lead to a harsh bitterness (been there). You can either mess with your water, or add less bittering hops

 

[Malticulous]

MOD EDIT: FACT...if you quote a really long post, you're likely to get modded!

FACT
Keeping beer warmer will make it age faster (do not ferment it warmer.) After a week or so let it warm up. The "conditioning" of off flavors will happen faster. The melding of the malts will happen faster. Unfortunately, hop flavors will go away faster as well.

After a week of fermentation temps I have kept my fermenter at 70-80F (I don't pay that much attention to them after that.) I really do think at those higher temps the beer may age as much as twice as fast. It carbs much faster at those temps too (I regularly see complete carbonation in less than a week.) Yeast really like it.

"All the process of aging in beer are accelerated by heat."

I'm not sugesting cooking beer, just keeping it comfortable. I'm quite comfortable up to 85f and think beer is too. Long term storage is out of the question. Most beer is not meant to be aged anyway.

 

[Poindexter]

One point I haven't seen in here.

Dear noob,

Make sure your fermentation chamber cooler and pitching rate are kinda matched. If you pitch one smack pack and have no temperature controller at all, you're gonna be fine. If you make a one quart starter of wort and start your yeast a day or two ahead you are gonna have a wash tub tied up a few days and you are going to need a lot of ice, ten pounds a a time every twelve hours or so.

If you come up with a one gallon slurry you are going to need something that can suck some BTUs out of your fermenter, because those yeast are going to generate some heat.

P

 

[mordantly]

...FACT
Keeping beer warmer will make it age faster (do not ferment it warmer.) After a week or so let it warm up. The "conditioning" of off flavors will happen faster. The melding of the malts will happen faster. Unfortunately, hop flavors will go away faster as well...

100000% correct!!!

i learned the hard way. made a cream ale.. close cousin to steam ale. anyhoo, it stayed room temp at `60-75F for total of 2 months before i kegged it. then carb at 5psi and same temps. (no keezer yet). a week of solid drinking later and then one night between pints it 'went' stale. luckily under a gal was left so i choked it down the following day with my boss at lunch...

 

[Ted79]

Greetings! Fusel Oils In Aging Beer - It Burns So Good!
It’s really the only thing most of us think of when we hear the word “alcohol”. I say most of us because as beer geeks everywhere know, ethanol isn’t the only alcohol present in beer.

There’s actually a whole host of alcohols floating around in your brews which are collectively referred to as Fusel Oils. These molecules are also sometimes called higher alcohols, because they’re more complicated and much larger in size then plain old ethanol. Some of the more common fusel oils seen in beer include such compounds such as propanol, butanol, and isoamyl alcohol. Beer styles such as barleywines, imperial stouts, and strong bocks are the most common places you’ll encounter these strong molecules.

The most common sensation associated with fusel alcohols is a “hot”, almost spicy flavor that can create a feeling of warmth in your mouth or the back of your throat as your drink. You may also find it presenting itself as a solvent-like flavor in your beer. Fusel oils can often be detected with just a simple sniff of your brew - look for a strong, almost wine-like character to the smell.

 

[McBrewski]

Is bottle conditioning simply going straight from primary to the bottles and bypassing a secondary fermentation stage? If I let my beer sit in secondary for 2+ weeks and then bottled it how long do I have to let it "bottle condition" until it's ready to drink? I've read books where it says only 7-10 days in the bottle, but many on here say at least 3 weeks.

Is there a way I can visibly tell that the beer is carbonated or do I have to taste it to check? I ask this because I bottled my beer in .5L bottles and I'd rather not waste an entire bottle of beer simply to check if it's carbed or not.

 

[shortz]

Is bottle conditioning simply going straight from primary to the bottles and bypassing a secondary fermentation stage? If I let my beer sit in secondary for 2+ weeks and then bottled it how long do I have to let it "bottle condition" until it's ready to drink? I've read books where it says only 7-10 days in the bottle, but many on here say at least 3 weeks.

Is there a way I can visibly tell that the beer is carbonated or do I have to taste it to check? I ask this because I bottled my beer in .5L bottles and I'd rather not waste an entire bottle of beer simply to check if it's carbed or not.

Squeeze it if it's plastic. If not, open it and try. If good, enjoy! If not, add a little more sugar, close it, and turn over a couple times to let it go again. Check a different bottle in another week.

Personally, I go 5-7 days in primary, 2 weeks in carboy secondary, and minimum one month in bottles with sugar added.

 

[McBrewski]

Also, I gave my brother one of my bottles of beer only a week after bottling it not knowing that I should be bottle conditioning for three weeks. He put it in his fridge for a few days until I told him to take it out due to the yeast becoming dormant in cooler temperatures. Did it being in the fridge kill off the yeasts and sugars that would carbonate it or simply put the carbonation process on "pause" until he took it out and put it in his closet?

Main point: Will the beer still carbonate?

 

[CATFISHER74]

Also, I gave my brother one of my bottles of beer only a week after bottling it not knowing that I should be bottle conditioning for three weeks. He put it in his fridge for a few days until I told him to take it out due to the yeast becoming dormant in cooler temperatures. Did it being in the fridge kill off the yeasts and sugars that would carbonate it or simply put the carbonation process on "pause" until he took it out and put it in his closet?

Main point: Will the beer still carbonate?

Yes it will.just put it a area above 55.

 

[BreckBastion]

yes, if he warmed it up, it will carbonate.

 

[RGH]

Yeah that happened with my first batch. I set it in my garage in the late fall when it got down to the high 30s. I let it sit in there for a few weeks and then I went and cracked one and it was a dud. So I cracked another... dud. SO I got on HBT and asked the same question and they told me the same. On another note... Does anyone ever do a secondary condition in a corny keg? Since moving to and being homebrewless, I have a plan to do 3 five gallon batches in order to get a good pipeline going. I only have 3 carboys, but I do have 5 corny's that are out of commission do to the fact I had to sell the keezer before I moved out here (sob... its hard to talk about... Stupid voltages...). Until I get another keezer and external thermostat like I had before, I was thinking about conditioning some beers in them. Can someone let me know if this is a good idea or a bad idea and why?

 

[HalfPint]

Awesome thread man. I'd have to say that my brews are yet another perfect example of why kegging and starters can help you drink more beer FASTER.

I have an APA that I like a lot. I typically pitch a 1000 ml starter and after about 14 days I rack straight from primary to my keg. I let it cool overnight and hook the gas up to around 12 psi the next morning. In 7 days I have great beer.

One note maybe it's just from my taste buds, I have noticed like others that belgians and hefe's don't work very well with this method. I've found using gelatin or another fining agent + letting sit in the keg for minimum of a month makes them amazing.

 

[conpewter]

Yeah that happened with my first batch. I set it in my garage in the late fall when it got down to the high 30s. I let it sit in there for a few weeks and then I went and cracked one and it was a dud. So I cracked another... dud. SO I got on HBT and asked the same question and they told me the same. On another note... Does anyone ever do a secondary condition in a corny keg? Since moving to and being homebrewless, I have a plan to do 3 five gallon batches in order to get a good pipeline going. I only have 3 carboys, but I do have 5 corny's that are out of commission do to the fact I had to sell the keezer before I moved out here (sob... its hard to talk about... Stupid voltages...). Until I get another keezer and external thermostat like I had before, I was thinking about conditioning some beers in them. Can someone let me know if this is a good idea or a bad idea and why?

I secondary in cornies (when I secondary) sometimes. I normally go straight from primary -> cornie -> fridge and carb. I've even used them as primaries but made sure to use fermcap foam control.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

One note maybe it's just from my taste buds, I have noticed like others that belgians and hefe's don't work very well with this method. I've found using gelatin or another fining agent + letting sit in the keg for minimum of a month makes them amazing.

Nope. Makes no sense to me. I use no fining agents with hefeweizens (hefe is YEAST!) or wits. I drink those styles FRESH!!!

 

[RandalG]

Very informative thread. I understand the general idea is to show aging is not always necessary but I do have a few questions on aging. I've read some beers should be drank younger such as hefes and wits. I've also read bigger beers benefit from aging up to a year or more. So I was wondering is there a rule of thumb between styles that you can use to tell how long a beer should be aged. Would it be abv or ingredient specific. Is room temp the best way to age beer? And is there such a thing as over aging and what would that depend on style/ingredients or abv.In other words how long before a certain style will go bad? I'm bottling and talking about ales as I'm not set up to keg or lager yet.

 

[HalfPint]

Nope. Makes no sense to me. I use no fining agents with hefeweizens (hefe is YEAST!) or wits. I drink those styles FRESH!!!

Maybe that's just me. I went through a huge hefe/belgian fase for a while. I probably brewed 20 gallons all in a row of those styles and that was my observation. Maybe I was just burnt out on those styles. I agree that there is really no point to use a fining agent on the belgians or hefe's b/c like you said, a lot of the flavor in those brews are from the yeast strains since they're low fluctuating strains.

 

[mordantly]

thats like takin the jelly out of a pb and j sandwich. criminal!

 

[HalfPint]

thats like takin the jelly out of a pb and j sandwich. criminal!

I don't know. towards the end I really started feeling sick after drinking a couple of pints of that stuff. It's just too much for me. I used to love em, but I think I burnt myself out.

 

[mordantly]

yeah i hear you. i got some widmers hefe at pizza port a year back that was unusually clouded with yeast. i light checked it and thought "hmm.. swamp water" it had too much yeast flavor so i didnt have any more pints till that keg was gone. what i meant was non-excessive levels are required for the style.

 

[HalfPint]

yeah i hear you. i got some widmers hefe at pizza port a year back that was unusually clouded with yeast. i light checked it and thought "hmm.. swamp water" it had too much yeast flavor so i didnt have any more pints till that keg was gone. what i meant was non-excessive levels are required for the style.

Yeah, that's what defines them. The yeasty flavor is in fact what is so good about them when it's in an appropriate level. Also, another thing I found about the belgians is that those yeasts produce a lot of sulfur flavor if they're not aged for long enough.

 

[rjvanden]

Inspired to put an amarillo pale ale (my 6th) in glass on day 21. Cold crash just began tonight. Already clear in secondary, and tasted great so hoping this beer turns around many weeks before anything else I've brewed.

 

[jordnthoms]

"If you see a beer, do it a favor, and drink it. Beer was not meant to age." -- Michael Jackson

Fact: Budweiser goes from grain to bottle in 28 days.

Source: Modern Marvels, History Channel; USA Today

Discuss.

But Yuri, Budweiser is not a tasty beer.

 

[mordantly]

Myth: Beer will do anything it can to keep you from drinking it.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

But Yuri, Budweiser is not a tasty beer.

You missed the point. Bud is a lager. The lagering period is very short. Despite that fact, it does not taste green, yeasty, or anything else. Arguably, it's one of the cleanest tasting beers you can get.

 

[jordnthoms]

You missed the point. Bud is a lager. The lagering period is very short. Despite that fact, it does not taste green, yeasty, or anything else. Arguably, it's one of the cleanest tasting beers you can get.

i missed something else too.
i've only heard of green beer around saint patrick's day,
and most people seem excited to drink it.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

"Green" is a common brewer's term to describe a beer that is too "young" and needs conditioning time for the flavors to meld or become more mild and pleasant.

 

[bkov]

but how long does bud age in the bottles/kegs?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

It doesn't. It's pasteurized and stabilized, so the flavor profile is relatively fixed at bottling/canning/kegging time.

 

[motobrewer]

Force carbonate. Chill the beer to less than 40°F (it's already there if you cold crashed), set the CO2 at 30 psi, and start shaking the keg. Every 2-3 minutes, carefully bleed the pressure and pour a sample. It should only take two or three iterations before you have perfectly carbonated beer.

Does this really work?

once it's carbed do you just bleed until it's at serving pressure?

 

[Doc Robinson]

Does this really work?

once it's carbed do you just bleed until it's at serving pressure?

Yes.

Once it's carbed, I disconnect the gas, purge the headspace, set the regulator to serving pressure, and reattach the gas. The headspace will then equalize at your serving pressure.