Dunkel maturity

[burkecw]

hey there,

does anyone have an opinion on the optimal time in which to start drinking a traditional Munich dunkel. Standard gravity (OG: 1.053, FG 1.014, 23 IBU, 17 SRM, fermented cleanly and to terminal gravity in 10 days). Its lager for 8 weeks, and i bottled two weeks ago. after another two weeks for fully carb, and a month in the fridge, it'll be nice and ready to drink. My question is, in people's experience, will it get significantly better over time at 4 degrees. It already has a wonderful flavor and aroma and has cleaned up any and all fermentation byproducts (acetyl aldehyde, diactyl).

I'm asking as I feel this one is pretty epic and a comp deadline is coming up in a month. While I feel this beer could do very well, is a total of 4 months from brewday sufficient to make this beer just about as good as it'll be.

Thanks

 

[BigFloyd]

It sounds like you're there on this. 8 weeks is fine for a 1.053 Dunkel. I've got one that's been sitting at 35*F for about 14 weeks, but that's due to no empty taps right now.

 

[CadillacAndy]

I usually lager for around 7-8 weeks for a Dunkel, so you're right there. You could always keep a couple bottles around to see how significantly it changes over time.