Bottle Aging - any general guidlines?

[Grinder12000]

There must be some VERY general guidelines for how long it takes for a freashly bottle beer to come into it's own.

For instance

Pale Ale 1 week in the bottle
Brown Ale - 2 weeks
Porter - 3 weeks

and so forth

Not when it peaks but when it becomes something you would share with a non-homebrew friend.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I would say the best start drinking point is 5 weeks after its been in the bottle. Bigger beers will be longer than this (by a long shot), but for most medium to smallish beers, 5 weeks is pretty good. There are some exceptions of course, but 5 is my broadest gauge.

 

[JustDave]

I usually do 6 weeks at the very least before offering it to anyone. It's usually fully carbonated within 1-2, but I'd rather have people wait an extra month or two and get better beer.

Remember, you're going to have enough of a hurdle converting your non-homebrew friends as it is. You don't want to have to explain that the beer "will be a lot better in a month, trust me!"

 

[zoebisch01]

I'd say in general following the method I use: 10 days primary, bottle, carbonate for 2 weeks at ferment temperature, that cellaring (@ ~55-60 °F) anything under 1.05 starting gravity takes me about 5 to 7 weeks, the more complex grain bills coming into their own later rather than earlier. Anything over 1.05 requires more time usually proportional to the starting gravity. There is a rule of thumb per point of gravity or something to that effect, but I cannot recall atm what it is. The exception of course being Wheat beers which can be good drinkable at around 3 to 4 weeks, and as I am discovering Wit beer as well.

 

[Grinder12000]

Ahh - I leave everything in the primary for 3 weeks and then bottle - interesting.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Ahh - I leave everything in the primary for 3 weeks and then bottle - interesting.

a 3 week primary is not a bad thing at all. If that gives you good results, keep it up. that gives your yeast plenty of time to finish up everything they're doing. Of course hydrometer readings are your best bet, but I would say that there's nothing wrong with a 3 week primary.