bottling.

[william2010]

How long should I bottle for? I have just a simple American devil ipa recipe from Mr beer. I was thinking two weeks in room temp and two weeks in fridge?

 

[djfriesen]

I would recommend 3 weeks at 68-70° and then 3-5 days in the fridge.

 

[william2010]

Ok. It takes that long to carbonate? You don't think the yeast has eaten all the sugar by two?

 

[djfriesen]

3 weeks is the recommended time. YMMV. Try one at two weeks and see if you like it. I'd bet it's better-tasting and "fuller" at 3 weeks though. But it's your beer. Drink it whenever it's good enough for you.

Also, part of this is the bottle conditioning. It may be carbed, but it will certainly improve with a little more time.

 

[william2010]

What does the conditioning do ?

 

[ludomonster]

Bottle conditioning is carbonating by way of fermentation in the bottle. It takes 2-3 weeks to generate the CO2 and for the beer to absorb it. A lot of people on this forum suggest bottle conditioning for 3 weeks because the beer also ages. Even after 3 weeks, the beer has probably not finished improving.

 

[DonMagee]

I recommend drinking 1 at week 1, and 1 at week 2, and 1 at week 3 and you will get an idea of how the flavor and the carbonation mature and change over time.

 

[Homercidal]

I recommend drinking 1 at week 1, and 1 at week 2, and 1 at week 3 and you will get an idea of how the flavor and the carbonation mature and change over time.

+1. Lots of people start drinking their beer at week 2 and about the time they finish the last bottle realize that the beer was just getting to be it's best.

The best thing is to start another batch as soon as you bottle so you can stay occupied and so that the next batch is ready before the first is gone. Eventually you will have a pipeline of beer that has aged properly 3+ weeks.

Tasting over the 3 weeks is a nice way to see how the flavor changes.

 

[dfc]

3 weeks is the recommended time. YMMV. Try one at two weeks and see if you like it. I'd bet it's better-tasting and "fuller" at 3 weeks though. But it's your beer. Drink it whenever it's good enough for you.

Also, part of this is the bottle conditioning. It may be carbed, but it will certainly improve with a little more time.

It depends on hop schedule. If you have a lot of late boil hops sooner is better since hop character fades over time. However, if you were heavy on the hops early in the boil, your beer may be a bit too bitter early on. In that case, drinking later down the line might be better.