I'm having trouble understanding the effect of time on my homebrew.
A lot of recipes call for the homebrew to sit (either in the primary or secondary, not really trying to get into the difference here) for a period of time after fermentation is complete (few weeks for some beers, months for cider, etc). What's going on during this period of time that has an impact, and why is it different lengths depending on the type of homebrew?
After it sits for a while, I bottle or keg it. Then it seems that a deathclock has been put on my beer. 3-6 months, then the beer expires. What happens to beer when bottled or keg, that wouldn't have happened if I left it in a fermenter? Or if I left it in the fermenter too long, would it just have expired in there too after 3-6 months?
I'm struggling with this, because I've had some odd results and have been getting mixed advice.
I made 3 beers (dunkelweizen, belgian wit, am. lager) to start, followed the recipes, fermented, let them sit in the primary or secondary, then let them bottle condition. After about 4-5 months, the taste on all 3 changed for the worst, as I expected, as I had read.
Then I did a malt liquor. Fermented, then sat for a few weeks, bottle conditioned it, etc. Came out incredibly sour. I was told to let it sit and age in the bottles, it would lose the sourness in about 6-12 months. Immediately, I'm concerned because my beers went south in 4-5 months in the bottle. I let it sit 9 months, then opened a few. They all tasted less sour (still don't understand why), but they also all went completely flat. Not sure why that happened either.
Now I'm doing cider. Followed the recipe, put it in a secondary, but it says leave it for 9 months in the secondary. I'm on month 6, cider is crystal clear with a lump of sediment on the bottom and thin yellow lacing that has developed at the top in the last 2 months. I don't want it to be sour like my malt liquor, so I'm letting it go the whole nine months, then I'll bottle half and keg the other half. Why's it not expiring after 9 months in the fermenter? Then after I bottle it, why's it last in the bottle for years, unlike beer? I read on another page that someone was drinking their 2006/2007 'vintage' ciders in 2011.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
A lot of recipes call for the homebrew to sit (either in the primary or secondary, not really trying to get into the difference here) for a period of time after fermentation is complete (few weeks for some beers, months for cider, etc). What's going on during this period of time that has an impact, and why is it different lengths depending on the type of homebrew?
After it sits for a while, I bottle or keg it. Then it seems that a deathclock has been put on my beer. 3-6 months, then the beer expires. What happens to beer when bottled or keg, that wouldn't have happened if I left it in a fermenter? Or if I left it in the fermenter too long, would it just have expired in there too after 3-6 months?
I'm struggling with this, because I've had some odd results and have been getting mixed advice.
I made 3 beers (dunkelweizen, belgian wit, am. lager) to start, followed the recipes, fermented, let them sit in the primary or secondary, then let them bottle condition. After about 4-5 months, the taste on all 3 changed for the worst, as I expected, as I had read.
Then I did a malt liquor. Fermented, then sat for a few weeks, bottle conditioned it, etc. Came out incredibly sour. I was told to let it sit and age in the bottles, it would lose the sourness in about 6-12 months. Immediately, I'm concerned because my beers went south in 4-5 months in the bottle. I let it sit 9 months, then opened a few. They all tasted less sour (still don't understand why), but they also all went completely flat. Not sure why that happened either.
Now I'm doing cider. Followed the recipe, put it in a secondary, but it says leave it for 9 months in the secondary. I'm on month 6, cider is crystal clear with a lump of sediment on the bottom and thin yellow lacing that has developed at the top in the last 2 months. I don't want it to be sour like my malt liquor, so I'm letting it go the whole nine months, then I'll bottle half and keg the other half. Why's it not expiring after 9 months in the fermenter? Then after I bottle it, why's it last in the bottle for years, unlike beer? I read on another page that someone was drinking their 2006/2007 'vintage' ciders in 2011.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.