Clueless about Maturation

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aMillionDreams

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I noticed many recipes don't tell how long to mature your beer. I know it depends on the type so one would think that would be something you should include in a recipe. So:

Is there a guide somewhere on how long certain beers should mature in primary, secondary, in the bottle, overall?

If not would someone be willing to type something up for me?

If someone says to bottle condition for 2 weeks and I'm going to force carbonate does that mean I can take two weeks off the total time or should I add that time onto the time in secondary?

I'm most wondering about the Bells Oberon I just brewed, how long would you recommend for that one? Thanks all!
 
Don't confuse carbonation with aging. It might be carbonated at 2 weeks old but it is still green beer.

Personally I don't think a beer is worth trying before at least 6 weeks from pot to glass. The higher the gravity, the longer the wait from pot to glass for that nice aged peak of flavor. This isn't really a problem for us since we don't usually get around to bottling or kegging for a couple to several months after making it. :D
 
Don't confuse carbonation with aging. It might be carbonated at 2 weeks old but it is still green beer.

Personally I don't think a beer is worth trying before at least 6 weeks from pot to glass. The higher the gravity, the longer the wait from pot to glass for that nice aged peak of flavor. This isn't really a problem for us since we don't usually get around to bottling or kegging for a couple to several months after making it. :D

I might need to disagree with you there. A lot of beers are better to wait, however every IPA i've brewed so far has been fantastic after only 1 to 2 weeks in the bottle. Usually only takes a week for mine to get carbed up, but I have had a couple batches that take 3-4. IPA's, Wheats, or other beers that are better young are best to drink sooner than later. Atleast IMHO
 
I'll second Nurmey's minimum of 6 weeks from kettle to glass. Hop flavors diminish with time, and malt flavors develop more over time. For myself, the really hop forward beers seem to be best around 6-8 weeks from brewing, but are still great several months later, just not as bitter. Malty and very high gravity beers seem to just get better and better the longer they age.

As far as hefeweizens go, the yeast is a large part of the desired flavor profile (hefe means yeast), so it's best to drink them before the yeast has a chance to drop out completely. Thie is dependent on the yeast strain, fermentation temps, and conditioning temps, but once again I personally like them best around 6-8 weeks. I prefer less yeast in my American wheat beers, so I let them age longer if I can.

If I were to brew an Oberon clone and wanted to force carb it, I'd primary for for 4-6 weeks, keg it, and then use the set and forget method to carb it, but that's just me.
 
I brew mostly IPAs and Pale ales, 3-4 weeks in the carboy is my magic number. I then cold crash for 1-2 days then force carb.

Four to 5 weeks after "kettle" I taste less hops. If I do 2-3 weeks I tend to not taste the malt. Find the sweet spot for your recipe and enjoy it.

I've never had a keg of beer last > 6 weeks, so no idea what happens then.

I'm also an extreme noob with under 10 batches, so take what I say as mere opinion.
 
I noticed many recipes don't tell how long to mature your beer. I know it depends on the type so one would think that would be something you should include in a recipe.

You know, that's a dang good point. It would be nice if people included that in their recipes. I wonder why they don't?

I mean, programs like Beersmith do let you input weeks for aging. Why do we constantly omit that when we post our recipes?
 
As a rule of thumb, I go 6 weeks minimum from brewday to drinking, and another month for every 1% over 5% ABV. Obviously, for beers with a lot of late hops, I'll drink earlier to avoid loss of hop flavor. I have a ~15% ABV barleywine that is gonna be a while before I taste...
 
I have been fermenting/aging in the carboy for 4 weeks and then force carbing for another week and that seems to be working alright.

However, I realize I might not fully understand maturation. I am reading Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher, which is awesome, and I want to brew his India Red Ale - IRA. The recipe calls for 8 to 12 weeks for maturation.

Can someone please explain to me what this means? I had been thinking it meant 8-12 weeks in the carboy at fermenting temperature but am I off base here?
 
I brewed an Oberon clone a couple of months ago. Primaried for 2 weeks, then bottled. Tasted good at 2 weeks in the bottle, but better at 3. After about 7-8 weeks in the bottle, though (2.5 months after brewing), it started to go a little bad. At 12 it would have been undrinkable. My wheat beers tend to do that. So for the Oberon clone in particular I'd say drink it young.
 
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