Anxious

[Dave T]

How long from bottling to trying?

Even if it doesn’t taste great - is a week too soon?

Yes...I have the patience of a gnat.

 

[flars]

How long from bottling to trying?

Even if it doesn’t taste great - is a week too soon?

Yes...I have the patience of a gnat.

A week is too soon. A light yellow beer at least two weeks at 70° to 74°F. Then at least a full day in the refrigerator before opening. Dark beers three to eight weeks conditioning. When using carbonation drops for the priming sugar you may need to add a week or two to the bottle conditioning time. The drops don't dissolve too readily making the full amount of sugar available to the yeast.

 

[brewing_clown]

I'd crack one open and try it. Worst case scenario, you're a bottle down.

 

[JLW]

flars is right, a week is probably too early depending on the style of beer. My Hefe is 3 weeks grain to glass.

I would still crack one open and give it a try.

 

[Dave T]

Hmm ok, thanks. Porter - so longer. No drops, just boiled the sugar that came in the kit and made sure it was well mixed. So probably too soon, but one bottle out of 50...decisions haha

Thanks!

 

[JLW]

Hmm ok, thanks. Porter - so longer. No drops, just boiled the sugar that came in the kit and made sure it was well mixed. So probably too soon, but one bottle out of 50...decisions haha

Thanks!

Yeah a porter will do well with some age. When I first started and was bottling, I brewed a porter and was so excited that it turned out well that I drank it within a few months and it was good. Then one day about 8 months later I found a six pack of it the back of the closet, chilled it down and it was sooo much better with age on it.

 

[thehaze]

I usually try one bottle in the first 7 days, just to be sure everything goes as planned. At 7 days, there is enough ( or should be at least, if everything was done properly ) carbonation, to help get an idea on how the beer is going.

At day 14, low ABV / light coloured beers, would be OK to drink and probably will peak a week later, being good for some weeks. Other styles would probably need more time.

But I have drunk NEIPAs at day 7 in the bottle and they were good. I also drank porters and black IPAs at day 14 and they were delicious, but it is a matter of taste and patience.

 

[RM-MN]

Of course a week is too soon, so chill one and give it a try. Being a porter it will be harsh flavored and thin. That sample will tell you something about the flavor though. Then brew another beer, preferably a light colored on that will be ready to drink 3 weeks after pitching the yeast. (I know, too short, but I have done it successfully) That will have you something to drink while waiting for the porter to get good somewhere about 3 months from now.

 

[JLW]

Of course a week is too soon, so chill one and give it a try. Being a porter it will be harsh flavored and thin. That sample will tell you something about the flavor though. Then brew another beer, preferably a light colored on that will be ready to drink 3 weeks after pitching the yeast. (I know, too short, but I have done it successfully) That will have you something to drink while waiting for the porter to get good somewhere about 3 months from now.

This is solid advice. Having an adequate pipeline of beer will help you let beers that need age...age.

 

[Dave T]

So yeah...I did it. First beer I made myself I drank by myself. Good carbonation, decent taste. Little thin as stated above. How does it ‘thicken’ over time?

 

[kh54s10]

While you can try one at a week and it may have some carbonation, and again at 2 weeks and it will probably be carbonated. (I usually start drinking some after 2 weeks) I have found that ALL my beers have tasted better after 3 weeks conditioning. And for some styles much longer. I brewed a Russian Imperial Stout that was pretty harsh at 4 months, pretty good at 6 months and great at 1 year. Gone at 1.5 years.

I don't think it will actually "thicken" any. It is the perception of thinness. Aging allow flavors to mellow and meld together.

Your Porter could have a large range. If it is a bit on the light side and low alcohol it might age sooner. If darker and higher alcohol longer will be a benefit. A month or so on the light one, up to 6 months to a year on the darker one.

Get another lighter beer going so that you don't drink all the porters before they reach their peak.

 

[Mike Page]

It's not going to kill you! It wont be fully conditioned so don't be let down when it doesn't taste quiet right. As a newish brewer I have been tasting my beer at all the stages. It gives you a good idea of the process and what happens between two points. It's good to know what a 'under conditioned" beer taste like.

 

[gunhaus]

My first inspiration was to point out it is YOUR beer, drink it if you like and advice be damned! And i see you did just that - good on ya! But it would also do to point out what a valuable learning experience this is. Advice to wait two or three weeks or years or decades is all nifty coming from guys who know what to expect and anticipate from their home brews, but if you have NEVER tasted; green, under carbed, thin, weak, etc, you have no mechanism of comparison. By diving in and tasting one young, you can better evaluate the changes as the beer matures. In fact periodically testing every week or so can help you develop a sense of how it all works. Some things are better learned than explained. Kind of like a kid with a hot stove - you can tell them not to touch it cause its hot - but until they actually burn a finger hot don't mean squat.

 

[JLW]

So yeah...I did it. First beer I made myself I drank by myself. Good carbonation, decent taste. Little thin as stated above. How does it ‘thicken’ over time?

Congrats! You made beer! By the sounds of it good beer.

 

[Calder]

I almost always open a bottle after 6 or 7 days. I like to see how it is going. Usually pretty good. But limit yourself to only 1 as you will come to regret it if you open too many too soon.

 

[stosh]

But it would also do to point out what a valuable learning experience this is. Advice to wait two or three weeks or years or decades is all nifty coming from guys who know what to expect and anticipate from their home brews, but if you have NEVER tasted; green, under carbed, thin, weak, etc, you have no mechanism of comparison. By diving in and tasting one young, you can better evaluate the changes as the beer matures. In fact periodically testing every week or so can help you develop a sense of how it all works. Some things are better learned than explained.

Agreed...well said gunhaus

 

[RM-MN]

My first inspiration was to point out it is YOUR beer, drink it if you like and advice be damned! And i see you did just that - good on ya! But it would also do to point out what a valuable learning experience this is. Advice to wait two or three weeks or years or decades is all nifty coming from guys who know what to expect and anticipate from their home brews, but if you have NEVER tasted; green, under carbed, thin, weak, etc, you have no mechanism of comparison. By diving in and tasting one young, you can better evaluate the changes as the beer matures. In fact periodically testing every week or so can help you develop a sense of how it all works. Some things are better learned than explained. Kind of like a kid with a hot stove - you can tell them not to touch it cause its hot - but until they actually burn a finger hot don't mean squat.

I'd say this is excellent advice as I have had to follow the same path to learn which beers to drink at 3 weeks and which to wait 3 to 6 month (or more) to start drinking. The only thing I see missing from this advice is to limit the early sampling to one bottle each time so you don't have it all drunk before it starts to get really good.

 

[SEndorf]

gunhaus posts a good perspective. Hadn't really thought of that.
The typical advice to beginners is to wait, relax, pop a commercial beer, and keep your pants on.
But sampling green beer is a learning experience.

 

[ncbrewer]

Taking the drinking beer early to the extreme, I always enjoy drinking my gravity sample. I drink it with breakfast. (but I don't have another one for dessert)

 

[Cevan65]

Wow, talk about overthinking something. You had 50 bottles. Now you have 49. Life is still good, right?

 

[eetu]

Is it too soon? Yes. Should tou taste it if you feel like doing so? Yes.

Peace of mind is worth more than a single bottle of beer.

 

[kh54s10]

But when all advise is that your beer won't be ready at one week. Is it really worth wasting a beer to get the experience of drinking a "green" beer. Or is it better to take the advise that the beer won't be ready, keep you pants on and wait the extra week saving that beer?

Kind of like having people tell you if you hit your thumb with a hammer it will hurt. Should you hit your thumb with a hammer to get the experience of what it feels like?

 

[Travis K. Jansen]

Taking the drinking beer early to the extreme, I always enjoy drinking my gravity sample. I drink it with breakfast. (but I don't have another one for dessert)

I do the same thing!! Love tasting my gravity samples.

Wow, talk about overthinking something. You had 50 bottles. Now you have 49. Life is still good, right?

I don't think that's quite fair. This hobby is intimidating to new brewers and with so much information and advice, people just want reassurance that their hard work is gonna be as good as they expect it. I get it, it's only 1 beer, but until you get comfortable, RDWHAH is tough to do! You eventually learn how though

 

[troglodytes]

I don't think that's quite fair. This hobby is intimidating to new brewers and with so much information and advice, people just want reassurance that their hard work is gonna be as good as they expect it. I get it, it's only 1 beer, but until you get comfortable, RDWHAH is tough to do! You eventually learn how though

This is very true, at least it was for me when first started off. I poured over research on the best ways of brewing and never wanted to produce a sub par, "home-brew-y" beer due to lack of knowledge. I was craving an early taste test on a nut brown ale I made as my first batch and after 3 weeks in bottle I knew it was fully carbed and ready to go. I brought a six pack to a friends house, a harsh critic mind you, we cracked it and my disappointment was palpable. It was thin and flavorless. It was a huge discouragement that drove me to research more and attempt to correct. Imagine my surprise when a month later I cracked a bottle again and that very same beer was, really quite good.

Dave T, time is needed in bottle conditioning especially with darker beers, so your porter is no exception. If you crack one though, with no point of reference to what green beer tastes like, as this is the first batch you've made, you may just end up disappointed with a beer that will end up great. That being said, now that I have about 50 batches under my belt, I'm a proponent of tasting early and often because I know what I'm looking for. The pre-pitch hydrometer sample, to the bottling hydrometer sample, a week old, and 3 weeks old. Take notes and eventually you'll be able to predict how your finished beer will taste when fully conditioned just from tasting it green. You'll also be able to pinpoint issues and off flavors and exactly when they develop. If you've already cracked a one week old one, I would now wait until 3 weeks to crack the next. If fully carbed to your liking I would store the batch at cellar temps and try the next one at 5 weeks, and then one a week for every week after until it seems like it done improving (my guess it'll be best at the 6-8 week mark in my experience).

 

[gunhaus]

Trog- Your advice is very sound! But what I was getting at with my suggestions to Dave is that it is one thing to actually learn something, and another to be told something. Your extensive experience, has given you a base line from which to operate, and a solid idea of what to expect according to your personal tastes. But unless the OP periodically pops a top and tastes the evolution he really just can't "know". And there are so many variable to "ageing" and to taste, that unless he can track a beer through the "ageing" cycle, it will be hard to match things up. Porter covers a HUGE territory, and does not necessarily mean long ageing. Nor does the color of the beer necessarily affect aging. There are generalities here, but not stand pat linear guidelines. i have brewed a clone of Thirsty Dogs Old Leg Humper, and a clone of 1554 (done as an ale not a lager) Both of these are pretty dang dark! Both run about 5.8%. Both were about 14 days on the primary, and two weeks in the keg, and they were just fine. Neither changed significantly during the short lived period they were around. On the flip, I brew an export style dry stout at 7.5%, that ain't for spit till 6 months or so after brewing. I do several batches a year of a simple dry stout that runs about 4%, and is not terribly complex, and it is almost as quick as a mild or a blonde ale! I agree completely with your ideas, but i really think for a new brewer on their first or second batch - the advice of we experienced brewers is less valuable than just getting your taste buds wet!. Once they have tasted a beer a few steps at a time as it matures and changes, and they get a feel for what is right and wrong, and what more bubbles do and don't do, what it really means to have flavors "blossom" with a little time then the advice we give will take on a more meaningful . . . .Well, meaning! And after all, this is just beer! Its only purpose in life is to be consumed. If he drinks another in a few day at the two week point, and he started with 50 bottles, he could drink two a week for another 24 weeks! At that point i am gonna speculate he will have run a pretty solid gamut of flavor changes/improvements. Me personally, I would in no way shape or form drag it out that long, and would have probably killed the batch WAY before that - But then i am an admitted heathen with pagan like tenancies!

 

[troglodytes]

Fair, I definitely should have said complex beers, not darker beers.

I gave my schedule of tasting only because I have definitely been in a situation where I tasted constantly between two and six weeks in the bottle, and then when the beer was really good I was already down to only 30 bottles (I also share to much with friends, but that's part of the fun of brewing for me). I've regretted my constant testing multiple times because my stock was already "low" once I really wanted to start drinking it. But otherwise I think I'm saying the same thing as you..learn how your beer tastes when its green, just don't be disappointed in the results immediately.

I've also experienced a huge difference in post ferment conditioning time when it comes to kegging vs bottling. My best friend kegs and I've have APAs and IPAs that are only 10 days into keg taste amazing. I, on the other hand, cannot produce a pale ale that ready to be drunk until a month or more in bottle. I think the conditioning timeline is completely different between the two carbing/conditioning methods. Then again, in agreement with you, you can only learn this by tasting, so go ahead and test away

 

[gunhaus]

Me too, on the bottle vs keg! It is odd how some beers behave that way and others do not. I do an APA that we like a lot, and it too takes 4-6 weeks in bottles to start to taste right, and if i push it a little I can have it tasting good in a week on tap. And i hate to bottle up my favorite Blonde Ale! If I keg a batch and bottle a batch, the keg will be gone and forgotten, before the bottles have even grown all their bubbles.

I do understand about disappointment in running dry just as things get good. But then that is part of the learning curve to - restraint! I am not a fan of it - but i bow to its power and necessity!

I am with you on holding back and taking some time - especially once a guy has a few brews under his/her belt, and a few batches in the pipeline. But just starting out . . . .Just let her fly!