Can I Cut My Conditioning Time Then?

[rodwha]

I had surgery and had to take it easy. One neighbor I don't mention my brewing anymore as he's called as late as 12:30 asking for beer, and the other works 14 hr days, so I just allowed my beers to sit tight. They've sat now for roughly 3 additional weeks of fermentation. Does this mean I could cut back on my conditioning time?

I usually give my beer 4 weeks fermentation and conditioning each. My jalapeño cream ale taster was very good, but a small sample, and I'm just too curious. It's not exactly a cream ale anymore as it broke the ABV barrier is about 6.2%!!! The vodka maybe? Something brought my FG really low (1.006). So could I give it say 1 week and call it good? Or does it need the carbonation business going on as well? I give my beer a week in the fridge too...

 

[RM-MN]

I had surgery and had to take it easy. One neighbor I don't mention my brewing anymore as he's called as late as 12:30 asking for beer, and the other works 14 hr days, so I just allowed my beers to sit tight. They've sat now for roughly 3 additional weeks of fermentation. Does this mean I could cut back on my conditioning time?

I usually give my beer 4 weeks fermentation and conditioning each. My jalapeño cream ale taster was very good, but a small sample, and I'm just too curious. It's not exactly a cream ale anymore as it broke the ABV barrier is about 6.2%!!! The vodka maybe? Something brought my FG really low (1.006). So could I give it say 1 week and call it good? Or does it need the carbonation business going on as well? I give my beer a week in the fridge too...

Yes you can reduce conditioning time. I've done pretty much what your doing (except for the surgery part) and the beer was darn good as soon as it was carbonated. Your conditioning or maturation time begins when the yeast finish eating the malt sugars and it doesn't make much difference to the yeast if they're in the fermenter or in the bottle, they keep on keeping on.

 

[rodwha]

That's what I figured. Awesome! Cause this is one beer that's got me lusting, and I've brewed nearly 40 beers by now!

 

[chickypad]

Are you talking about conditioning time in terms of maturation like RM-MN was referring to, or carbonating time? You still may need 2-3 weeks to carbonate properly depending on temp, gravity of the beer, etc.

 

[rodwha]

I'm not familiar with RM-MN, but I suppose it could be thought of as carbonation time. The period of time from bottling to fridge time.

My understanding is with such small portions of sugars added it should be eaten up rather quickly-days at most when kept at room temp. My understanding is this time period is more about melding the flavors together better. But I could mistaken.

 

[chickypad]

RM-MN is the dude who posted the first reply. If you get your beer to carb in a couple days then great, but it usually takes longer especially with bigger beers. I'll refer you to this classic article. Letting it age longer in the fermenter like you did is not going to affect the time it takes to carb, just the time it takes for flavors to meld, etc.

 

[rodwha]

I wasn't aware that it could take so long to fully carbonate. I certainly wouldn't think it'd take more than a few days before it could be tossed in the fridge.

 

[homebrewer1234]

I keep my house between 61-65. I've been putting my beers in front of the vents. They're carbonated within about 7 days. Your mileage may vary, I guess.

 

[RM-MN]

I wasn't aware that it could take so long to fully carbonate. I certainly wouldn't think it'd take more than a few days before it could be tossed in the fridge.

For a beer that is between say 3.5 to 6% alcohol it should take little time to carbonate. Lets take a guess at maybe 2 to 4 days. When you get into beers with more alcohol, the yeast are pretty stressed by that alcohol and it will take them more time to eat the sugars and make the CO2 to carbonate. The more alcohol they have the more the yeast are stressed and the longer to carbonate. Either way you still need a little time in the refrigerator to chill. I like to have my beers chilling for a few day as it lets any chill haze settle but I've had porters and stouts where I wanted to drink them warmer than refrigerator temps in and back out of the refrigerator in less than 8 hours.

 

[rodwha]

My alcohol levels seem to flirt with the mid 6%, and since once was stalled for a while and restarted with sugars, I'll call it mildly stressed.

So I'd guess, then, that 2 weeks conditioning time, followed by a week in the fridge ought to do them good. The following ones will have had more conditioning time, and would make a good test bed. Though, with a test in mind, maybe I ought to give them 7-10 days and see what I notice.