aging

[engrishjones]

My Beer has been aging for about 1 week, and it is 1 week till thanksgiving. Will it be ready by Turkeyday? It is a scottish brown ale.

 

[dantodd]

Probably not but feel free to try some. Always be a little careful about offering guests beer that isn't quite ready, it could turn them off to homebrew.

 

[Dos_Locos_Brewery]

Only time will tell... I would guess yes for a low gravity beer with healthy yeast.

 

[TipsyDragon]

not really. you need to let the beer sit for at least 2 weeks from brew day. then bottle and let it sit another 2 weeks minimum for carbonation.

 

[Dos_Locos_Brewery]

Only time will tell... I would guess yes for a low gravity beer with healthy yeast.

But that's good advice from dantodd - do a taste test before serving...

 

[engrishjones]

It sat two weeks in the fermenter 1 week after bottling and 1 week aging now

 

[Revvy]

Unless you made a Low grav beer, more than likely it won't be ready by Turkey day, but will be spot on by CHristmas. WHen brewing with a specific date in mind, especially if you are like me a bottler...You really have to factor in carbonation/conditioning time....MOST new brewer's don't.

You can't really control how long a beer will take to carb and more importantly condition...all you can do is try to factor the time in...

When we say 3 weeks at 70 we mean it usually takes a minimum of three weeks to reach the level of carbonation for average beers.

Gravity and storage temp are the biggest factors in carbonation/conditioning times...Less than seventy severely slows down the yeast...2 degrees may seem like nothing to us, but to micro-organisms that could be like 10.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

You're not the first one who's faced this issue...nor are you the 100,000th brewer on here who does. But you have to remember, you are not in charge of this, the yeast are.....

For Example, Last year, I brewed my Pumpkin Ale for Thanksgiving on Labor Day...figuring at 8 weeks, I MIGHT have some ready for Holloween...But they were still green, so I only brought a couple to my annuual Halloween thingy, along with a sampler of commercial pumpkins...BUT come Turkey Day the beer was fantastic, and was a hit at the holiday.

This year with my mother in the hospital most of the summer, I hardly brewed, and DIDN'T brew a pumpkin, and the only beer I will be bringing to Thanksgiving this year is a few bottles of the WIt I brewed this summer, because my sister's husband requested it, so I've been hoarding it til then. I just brewed last saturday, and I'm hoping that will be good for Christmas...But if not, then I bring Micro, rather than bringing green beers.

 

[Dos_Locos_Brewery]

not really. you need to let the beer sit for at least 2 weeks from brew day. then bottle and let it sit another 2 weeks minimum for carbonation.

As dogma, this is surely wrong, although it is good as rule-of-thumb advice. British session ales are often tapped & kicked within this timeframe. I've had beers take anywhere between 5 days and 3 weeks to carbonate (discounting that barlewine that never carbonated...).

 

[Yooper]

I hate to always be the "mom" around here- but I have a word of warning for you. Homebrew is GREAT! No doubt about it- some of the best beer of the world is homebrew! But we are accustomed to the live yeast in it. For new homebrew drinkers, there may be, well, um, some digestive accustoming to be done. It's better with beer that is a bit older- the yeast and other solids settle to the bottom and the beer clears so there is less yeast in suspension. After a few weeks, when you bottle, you rouse the yeast again to carbonate your beer. After a couple more weeks, the yeast drops out again and the beer is put in the fridge. That causes even more yeast to drop out, and you pour the beer into a glass without disturbing the yeast sediment.

The beer should still taste really good next week, but it'll have a bit of yeasty bit perhaps, and some unmelded flavors. It'll get better in about 3-4 weeks. Also the gastrointestinal side effects will fade. For non-homebrew drinkers, that's usually a pretty safe time to introduce homebrew to them. But because it tastes so good, it's easy to overindulge and then have some side effects.

What I'm trying to say in a roundabout way is that too much green homebrew can give you the ****s.

 

[StAnthonyB]

Probably not but feel free to try some. Always be a little careful about offering guests beer that isn't quite ready, it could turn them off to homebrew.

And a lot of people have been turned off by BAD homebrew.

 

[Revvy]

And a lot of people have been turned off by BAD homebrew.

YUP!!!!

We get variations of this all the time, someone wanting to rush the process so people at a party or gathering can taste the beer....And we usually tell them the same thing...BUY BEER, or bing something else...they will survive, but your cred as a brewer may NOT if you serve them green beer.

It does noone any good, whether they are knowlegable about homebrew or just like MBC's to serve them green, or sub par beers.

If you are serving green, yeasty, and nasty tasting beer to people who have never tasted homebrew then they won't understand..what it's supposed to taste like....

They will think that EITHER you suck as a brewer, ALL HOMEBREW SUCKS (and you'll prolly go blind anyway) or those BMC commercials were right, anything other than fizzy yellow beer, especially homebrew taste like a$$, and we should stick to bud light..."THat's what TV says, so it must be true, right?"

You won't be a great ambassador to the world of homebrewing beer you tried to rush through....and saying "Heh, it's just green, and not fully carbed yet, it will get better with time, really won't fly to someone who drinks bud with their born on dates."

 

[engrishjones]

It went just fine I tried it and handed some out people liked it.

 

[StAnthonyB]

It went just fine I tried it and handed some out people liked it.

Just be careful with giving homebrew to people unless they are real close and of the adventurous type.

My brother once gave homebrew to my father (who spent his formative years in Bavaria). 1995, that was the last time my brother was allowed to give him any. My brother-in-law had some Christmas beer which we all drink regardless of its mediocre quality. Again, my father can't stomach it.

It was only through my cooking, as I am an accomplished chef (having literally grown up in an Italian kitchen). Like any good master my cooking through no accomplishment of my own has surpassed. To make a long story short, my father is making what, hopefully, is a logical conclusion that I may have a nose for beer as well.

I haven't brewed much since those dreadful days. After several years of brewing here and there, I am still in the process of revamping my technique, equipment, and ingredient lists. Perhaps, things could have come around sooner had I not spent several years studying regional Italian wines and the various year-to-year climatic effects upon them, Spanish Xerez and other fortified wines. Things are just coming to a head now. Brewing beer can become an art form. And, no true art is done lazily.

Just a few words of not well thought out caution. People can get turned off of homebrew for years and only be won back via hardwork in related fields.

maybe.