Conditioning.....Fact vs Fiction

[cheezydemon3]

Wasn't trying to be a "doodybag", but you have to admit you came across pretty strong with your statements in your OP, and didn't sound much at all like you were trying to learn anything. Your OP sounded very much like someone who was trying to preach the true gospel of how all brewing should be done, by everyone, every time.

IMHO, it all comes down to this. Drink the beer when you think it's ready to drink. If I drink mine too soon, or too late, what's it to you? I bought the ingredients, I bought the gear, I spent the time on brewday. I'll drink it when I damn well feel like it. Shouldn't be any skin off your nose if I drink a little green beer just 'cuz I don't feel like buying commercial stuff, as long as I'm not clogging up the message boards whining about why it isn't perfect. I've been doing this long enough to know why.

Probably my fault with the BOLD but as I said, some people will ONLY read the bold. I do recall saying that if I was wrong I wanted to know., sorry if it came across diferently!

 

[subliminalurge]

Now, to answer your poll question:


In a perfect world medium ales would.....

Be perfectly chilled, completely fermented, perfectly carbed, and ready to drink 10 minutes after flameout.

But, hey, we don't live in a perfect world....

 

[TheMan]

Now, to answer your poll question:


In a perfect world medium ales would.....

Be perfectly chilled, completely fermented, perfectly carbed, and ready to drink 10 minutes after flameout.

But, hey, we don't live in a perfect world....

After flameout? Perfect world would just have beer magically appearing when you wanted it to!

And Cheezydemon...I can't believe you called someone a Doodybag lol...that was great. Probably the greatest insult/non-insult I have ever heard online.

 

[snow145532]

my recent results:
milk stout - amazing at 2-3 months (best beer i've made by far and even non beer drinkers liked it), now at 7-8 months it's certainly taking a turn for the worse. I thought a nice roasty stout would age better than this.

Black IPA - had a pretty significant twang early on at around the 4-5 week range up until about 3-4 months. Now 10 months in, it's spectacular. Not much hop aroma, but the bitterness is spot on and it tastes great.

just a little personal experience that doesn't fit any kind of mold.

 

[cheezydemon3]

After flameout? Perfect world would just have beer magically appearing when you wanted it to!

And Cheezydemon...I can't believe you called someone a Doodybag lol...that was great. Probably the greatest insult/non-insult I have ever heard online.

my recent results:
milk stout - amazing at 2-3 months (best beer i've made by far and even non beer drinkers liked it), now at 7-8 months it's certainly taking a turn for the worse. I thought a nice roasty stout would age better than this.

Black IPA - had a pretty significant twang early on at around the 4-5 week range up until about 3-4 months. Now 10 months in, it's spectacular. Not much hop aroma, but the bitterness is spot on and it tastes great.

just a little personal experience that doesn't fit any kind of mold.

Are you storing in a fridge, cellar or room?

 

[cosmo]

Maybe the differences people are noticing are related to extract vs all-grain. My extract brews generally take longer to condition than all-grain. Not sure why.

 

[acuenca]

I don't think extract brew s mature slower...it may be that your process has gotten better as most people start with extract and then move on to all grain...

 

[jfr1111]

I couldn't answer, because I'd have to say "none of the above".

A well made ale, fermented at the proper temperature with the proper amount of yeast, will be done fermenting in 3-5 days. Two days or so for a diacetyl rest, and it's ready to package if it's clear.

But it depends on the yeast strain, and ingredients as well- a beer with a highly flocculant yeast will be clear by then but a beer using a non-flocculant yeast will be full of yeast and not ready to package. For ingredients, some "complex" grain flavors need some time to meld. My oatmeal stout, for example, has roasty flavors and needs a bit more time than my IPA.

I think my IPAs are at peak at about day 21. But my stout is definitely peaking at about day 40 or later.

Beer ages faster at room temperature- so I'd keep that stout at 68 degrees until it's ready. THEN if I wanted to preserve it a bit, I'd keep it at cellar temperatures. I'd never age an IPA or a beer best consumed fresh. But for a barleywine, I'd age at cellar temps for a year possibly.

I'll just quote this and leave it at that.

Also, a big LOL to the not so subtle grade bragging in this thread.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Maybe the differences people are noticing are related to extract vs all-grain. My extract brews generally take longer to condition than all-grain. Not sure why.

An interesting observation. I have gone AG and due to time/hassle constraints, I have returned to PM with all pale DME and specialty grains. There might be something to this. I am pretty sure my processes are down, but the dme might be slower to digest for the yeast.