estimating time to maturity

[dramirezpa]

I saw a new recipe posted today on another homebrew site, and it said "this beer should mature in 3-6 months."

Is there a semi-scientific way to calculate this?

 

[motobrewer]

there's a purely scientific way to calculate this:

when it tastes good, drink it.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Unless you are adding something in secondary like fruit, it is very high ABV, you are using brett, or bacteria there's very little reason to wait that long.

 

[TopherM]

Here is the latest research on the topic, from Lazy Llama:

 

[dramirezpa]

Figured on these responses

It was in a recipe for an all-grain Pumpkin Beer. it just got me thinking, is there a way to make a best guess?

 

[remilard]

Figured on these responses

It was in a recipe for an all-grain Pumpkin Beer. it just got me thinking, is there a way to make a best guess?

There is no good rule of thumb. The low OG high OG would lead you astray on berliner weiss and IIPA. It also suggests that Lambic will age similarly to weissbier.

 

[scottland]

Figured on these responses

It was in a recipe for an all-grain Pumpkin Beer. it just got me thinking, is there a way to make a best guess?

Here are my rules of thumb.

4%-5% I can typically go grain to glass in around 10 days.
5-6% 14-21 days
6-8% 3-5 weeks
8-10% 1-2 months
10%+ usually best after a long time

IPAs and IIPAs are excluded, they are best young.

There's a boatload of factors that go into it though. Those are just what usually work for me on my system.

 

[stubbornman]

You can perform a Fast Ferment Test to help calculate what the Final Gravity of the beer will be and it has other benefits.

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fast_Ferment_Test

 

[dramirezpa]

What is the best practice for obtaining fg readings in a primary-only situation?

To reduce oxidation, infection, etc.

Sanitize, obv. But if active fermentation is finished and you open Carnot everyday for a few days to taste/obtain gravity, are you not risking introducing too much oxygen to the beer?

I have my Belgian ale at 2.5 weeks In primary and really want to taste/check grav.

But I have a feeling this might be my first really good homebrew and really don't want to screw it up now.