How Come My Beer Takes So Long to Mature?

[gerrym526]

Starting my 2nd year as a homebrewer, and have had 10 of 12 batches of different extract brews turn out well. Two failed because the wort probably was too hot and killed the yeast (my conclusion).
However, my experience so far has been that it takes waaayyy longer to "finish" the beer in bottles than recommended by the extract recipe. For example a recommended 6 week recipe (2 in primary, 2 in seconday, 2 in bottles) produces a "young tasting" brew that's drinkable, but not distinctive. The beer reaches it's stride by leaving it in bottles for about 3 weeks longer-then it's good. If I leave it 5 weeks in the bottle it really begins to taste great.
Am I doing something wrong here, or is it just part of the normal brewing process that the beer has to be in bottles lots longer than the recipe reommends.
thanks for the help guys.
Gerry

 

[dbreienrk1]

Kind of along the lines of aging wine...it gets better with time. The flavors have a longer time to meld over time.

Professional brewers turn around beers quicker mainly for profitability reasons. They also have far more advanced equipment that they can control temps and times much better than us.

 

[ao125]

However, my experience so far has been that it takes waaayyy longer to "finish" the beer in bottles than recommended by the extract recipe.

Short answer: Beer is done when it's done.

Long(er) answer: As crappy and undrinkable as Bud/Coors/etc is, the one thing they do have going for them is a 99% consistent product. With homebrew, no matter how closely you follow a recipe, there are so many factors that you can't account for with time, temperature, yeast, and the rest of your ingredients; from the start to the end of the brewing process, that you're likely never going to get exactly the same beer twice, at exactly the same duration.

You make wort, the yeast make the beer... and they kinda tend to finish when they want to.

 

[TopherM]

Your beer will be mature in XX weeks if you use fresh ingredients and yeast, perfect mash/steeping temperatures and times, spot-on pitching rates, well oxidized wort, perfect fermentation temperature control, perfect OG and FG, perfect carbonation, yadda yadda.

Practically perfect, repeatable technique is what separates the pros from the hobbyists.

For the rest of us, if we are even slightly off on any of these things, then we can expect proportionally longer conditioning time for a beer to mature.

 

[JLem]

You're not doing anything wrong. Sounds perfectly normal in my experience. Each style, indeed each beer, will have its own maturation curve. Some will peak in 3 weeks, others 3 months, and still others a year. Some will drop off quickly. Others will change, but hold on for years. In my experience and from what I've read/heard, lighter colored and lower ABV beers will age quicker than darker and higher ABV beers. Light and small tend not to age gracefully. Dark and big can age for years. Hops also will fall out, so hoppy beers (IPAs, IIPAs, etc) should be drunk relatively young.

I'm not sure I've had a beer that reached its peak after just 2 weeks in the bottle.

 

[homebrewdad]

+1 to everything JLem said (he's one of the vets around here that won't steer you wrong).

I'm not sure I've had a beer that reached its peak after just 2 weeks in the bottle.

I'm not sure that I've ever read about a beer that his its peak after two weeks in the bottle. Drinkable, sure. Good, sure.

Peak? Not so much.

 

[beergolf]

Bottle aging does improve your brew. I find that with a lot of beers the change from 3 to 4 weeks is very obvious. At 5 weeks it even improves more. This of course depends on style. I brew a lot of Belgians and we are talking months not weeks of aging for them to reach their peak.

 

[unionrdr]

Even my pale ales & IPA's take 4-5 weeks in the bottles to get good carbonation & conditioning. Then 1-2 weeks in the fridge for thicker head & longer lasting carbonation. But my Burton ale (stron ale category) took a couple months to age & carbonate well. Plus 2 weeks minimum fridge time for good head & carbonation.

 

[spokaniac]

Personally I enjoy tasting them as they go from drinkable to really good. It seems a shame though to have the best beer be the last of that batch.

 

[cyclonite]

Patience is definitely a virtue and your friend when brewing. With the possible exception of hoppy beers (particularly a lot of late additions and dry hopping), age really does enhance almost every beer.

Now, that said, I have no patience either, and end up drinking half a batch before it has really come into its own, hahaha ;-)

So, do as I say and don't do as I do is the moral of the story I suppose!

Cheers!

 

[G_Brew]

Your beer will be mature in XX weeks if you use fresh ingredients and yeast, perfect mash/steeping temperatures and times, spot-on pitching rates, well oxidized wort, perfect fermentation temperature control, perfect OG and FG, perfect carbonation, yadda yadda.

Practically perfect, repeatable technique is what separates the pros from the hobbyists.

For the rest of us, if we are even slightly off on any of these things, then we can expect proportionally longer conditioning time for a beer to mature.

Agreed - assuming your brewing a type of brew that ages quickly, say for example, a light ale... you may get it done and ready to enjoy in 3-4 weeks if your process was perfect... but if any of the processes above stated by TopherM are neglected, It may take longer up to an extra month or two... Either due to slower maturation or even due to more off flavors produced thus the brew requires longer aging to mellow out those extra off flavors...

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I begin drinking most batches after 4 weeks primary/4 weeks bottle conditioning. I keep a tasting log of my impressions at various dates. Darker beers benefit from longer conditioning. Helps if you have a pipeline built so you can switch off, put a batch in the "back of the closet" for a month or so to see how it ages. I usually alternate between dark " aging" batches and lighter "drink them young" batches to help keep my fingers off the ones that need more time.

 

[pjj2ba]

I suspect a hard water issue. This will make the bitterness a bit harsher and take longer to mellow out. I had this issue, and since I started treating my water, my beers are ready to drink WAY sooner. Plus they are just better all around.

If all things go well as others mentioned, there is no reason a typical moderate OG shouldn't be ready to drink within 4-6 weeks of the brew day.

 

[Robms88]

I am just starting out in brewing, and I have come to the conclusion that experimentation is the key. I have deliberately brewed an IPA, a 'lager' (ale yeast) and a dark ale - all from the Coopers line up of kits. I have tried them from only 1 week in the bottle, and 1 week intervals from then on. This is to note the carbonation and conditioning time to reach their peak. I can then brew according to how long they take. For example, I might do two batches of dark ale for every light ale because dark takes longer to mature.

 

[beergolf]

Here is another way to look at it using a food analogy.

Take for example a batch of Chili. Is it good when it is first made? Yes, it can be pretty good. Now is it better after it ages a couple of days? Definitely.

 

[TopherM]

I think spaghetti is the same way. The day you make it, it is good, but you can kinda taste each individual ingredient separately. After a few days, those ingredients meld into a cohesive unit, and the spaghetti is much better for it.

 

[Iceman6409]

I think 6 weeks or longer is just fine to wait for something you created. We all take pride in what we do and I think of it this way. At the point of tasting would you honestly sell that beer on the market? If so then you are good to go. If not then you have your answer. Wait a little longer. Try making mead. That is a BARE minimum of one year for me and usually longer.

 

[pjj2ba]

I think 6 weeks or longer is just fine to wait for something you created. We all take pride in what we do and I think of it this way. At the point of tasting would you honestly sell that beer on the market? If so then you are good to go. If not then you have your answer. Wait a little longer. Try making mead. That is a BARE minimum of one year for me and usually longer.

Agreed, waiting is fine. But then again, if something can be changed to speed up the maturation process (and get similar results), then why wait!