How Long After Bottling to Drink Amber Ale?

Williams 728
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I would say generally give it at least two weeks to bottle condition. But its your beer, if you want to crack one open and give it a try this weekend go for it! I quite often open one far earlier than I should just to give it a try. I enjoy seeing how the beer changes so drastically in the first few weeks of bottle conditioning.
 
It will not have fully carbonated nor conditioned. Medium gravity beers take around 10 days to fully carbonate and, although they are ok to drink around that time, they taste much more rounded after 3-4 weeks. You can always sample one bottle see what you think, but definitively better a bit later. For complex grists and higher gravities, a couple of months do miracles.
 
I've made 2 similar beers recently and have tried the first samples at around 10 days in bottle. Those samples were good, but still a bit young tasting. I'd think 6 days would be really pushing it.

At around 3 weeks they were great and I noticed no changes for the better beyond that. I kept notes to be sure.
 
heres a video my brother sent me when i first started. Guys opens a bunch of beers over a month to show and explain whats going on during that time. Nothing wrong with trying one now but it will be under carbed for sure.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBlnTfZ2iw[/ame]
 
Good is subjective. If this is the first beer you've brewed I suspect you will find it to be very good at 6 days. It will surely be better if you wait 3 to 4 weeks but that's hard to do for your first beer.

After you have a good amount brewed and in bottles it is much easier to wait the new batch out and let it have the time it needs to mature and get proper carbonation.
 
It is your beer, it is ready when you say so.

I almost always open a bottle at a week, and if decent may have a few. I have plenty of other beer, but I also enjoy some lower gravity beers young.
 
This is my 2nd brew. Much better processes in place than my first brew and it tasted better from day 1.

Yeast starter, oxygenated before pitching, fermentation chamber to control temp, new brew kettle to boil full volume, Irish moss, cold crash and gelatin.

Looking forward to tasting it in its prime. I'll hold out and let it condition.

Good advice in this thread.
Thanks folks!
 
After being disappointed several times by opening bottles too early I now won't touch them before a month. It's worth the wait.
 
Thanks. I'm holding out. Planning my next brew to get a pipe line going.
 
Jiffster said:
This is my 2nd brew. Much better processes in place than my first brew and it tasted better from day 1.

Yeast starter, oxygenated before pitching, fermentation chamber to control temp, new brew kettle to boil full volume, Irish moss, cold crash and gelatin.

Looking forward to tasting it in its prime. I'll hold out and let it condition.

Good advice in this thread.
Thanks folks!
Click to expand...

last night I drank a beer I bottled 8 days ago. I had to fight myself not to drink another it was so good.

I cannot wait for most things tho. I open boxes I get from the post office in the car.

I do like to see the beer "grow" tho.... something you cannot do if you wait, well at least it makes me feel better about myself.
 
I had an American Amber tonight that I brewed 1/30/2015. It was awesome. Much better than it was a couple months in the bottle.
 
11/25 will mark 4 weeks since bottling. Looking forward to pouring my first one from this batch!

Is there any rule of thumb for length of refrigeration time after 4 weeks of conditioning other than "until it reaches desired serving temp"?
 
Jiffster said:
11/25 will mark 4 weeks since bottling. Looking forward to pouring my first one from this batch!

Is there any rule of thumb for length of refrigeration time after 4 weeks of conditioning other than "until it reaches desired serving temp"?
Click to expand...

At four weeks you should be good to go. I like to have 3 weeks in the bottle and then add a week in the fridge for cold crash and to allow the CO2 into solution. CO2 absorbs easier at colder temps than at warmer temps.

Makes it easier to pour off the good beer from the bottle lees if it has had a nice cold crash.
 
Jiffster said:
11/25 will mark 4 weeks since bottling. Looking forward to pouring my first one from this batch!

Is there any rule of thumb for length of refrigeration time after 4 weeks of conditioning other than "until it reaches desired serving temp"?
Click to expand...

I would at least let it sit overnight. If I were you I would stick a couple in the fridge now and wait until then to open. This will allow time for the CO2 to fully dissolve into the beer as well as most chill haze to settle.
 
mmb said:
At four weeks you should be good to go. I like to have 3 weeks in the bottle and then add a week in the fridge for cold crash and to allow the CO2 into solution. CO2 absorbs easier at colder temps than at warmer temps.

Makes it easier to pour off the good beer from the bottle lees if it has had a nice cold crash.
Click to expand...

^this. My last amber is 5 months old and it continues to improve with age.
 
I will not argue with anyone advocating longer time in the fridge, but for me, a couple of hours in the fridge or 30 minutes in the freezer works fine.

Unless you have a proper temperature controlled fridge for beer, I find a long time in the fridge makes the beer too cold, and I have to wait while it warms up before drinking. An hour or two in the fridge gets it to about the right temp for me for most ales.
 
Yeah do share the recipe [emoji6]
I do think that will continue to get better over the next weeks/months but otherwise maybe try a little more aggressive pour.
Looks yummy though.
I am getting toward the end of my American Amber and will have to brew another batch soon. I do love that style.
 
Jiffster said:
Cracked open my first bottle from this batch. Color is nice and it tastes very good. It's carbonated but there is no head?

View attachment 318402

It's hard to tell from the picture but it came out really clear.

Here's a shot looking into the glass. Well..... Half the glass. [emoji39]
View attachment 318403
Click to expand...

The lack of heading on a beer is usually a sign of contamination of the glassware or bottles by soap residue or oil. Your glass may have been washed in a dishwasher with rinse aid or similar anti-spotting agent which will kill the head so start there with hand washing your glass and rinsing very well.
 
BigMack said:
What was the recipe? I've never run into a fully carbonated beer that didn't have a nice head on it. At least in that style anyways.
Click to expand...

sky4meplease said:
Yeah do share the recipe [emoji6]
I do think that will continue to get better over the next weeks/months but otherwise maybe try a little more aggressive pour.
Looks yummy though.
I am getting toward the end of my American Amber and will have to brew another batch soon. I do love that style.
Click to expand...

It was an extract + steeped grains recipe from John Palmer's "How to Brew".

IMG_2261.jpg

RM-MN said:
The lack of heading on a beer is usually a sign of contamination of the glassware or bottles by soap residue or oil. Your glass may have been washed in a dishwasher with rinse aid or similar anti-spotting agent which will kill the head so start there with hand washing your glass and rinsing very well.
Click to expand...

I wash my beer glasses by hand and rinse them very thoroughly so I know it's not that. Thank you for the response though.

I was very careful to make sure I gently but thoroughly mixed in the priming sugar. My last batch (which was my first ever) had some un-even carbonation. Some bottles way too much, some not.

Maybe my next bottle will have different results. By the way, it chilled in the fridge at 45F for about 4 days before serving.
 
The amount of head is governed by the amounts of proteins in the malts &/or extracts used. But is driven by carbonation once poured. I've had interesting experiences with this myself. Take my Cooper's English bitter for example. I used Munton's plain DME in my batches of it so far. I was told adding plain light DME & some EKG hops would make it more like a Fuller's ESB. OK, sure I said. Using the Cooper's (international series) English bitter, a 3lb bag of Munton's plain light DME & an ounce or two of EKG @ 15 minutes, it looked like this;

This last time, using Munton's plain extra light DME & one ounce EKG, it looks A hair lighter with a 3 finger head. (need to get pick of latest one yet) So the extra light DME is the only thing that changed. Bittering is a bit better & head is way better. So it's the amount of dissolved proteins in the malts for one. I'll get a comparison pick of the new one later or tomorrow.:mug:
 
When I pour from the bottle I normally do so quite aggressively from the start to about 3/4 then I let up looking inside the bottle for the yeast layer from the bottom (now making its way toward the neck) and stop a little short to keep from letting it into the glass. I then mix up the dregs and drink it from the bottle.
I don't mind the yeast even enjoy it but I like to stare longingly into the glass at bright clear beer.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1448458057.414468.jpg
 
When I brew IPAs I like to drink them very young so I pop open a bottle as soon as 3 or 4 days after bottling. It's not usually fully carbonated like it should be but who can resist cracking a few open? Still tastes great! I live in a warm climate though and it's common for those beers to sit in mid 70 degree temps. The quickest I've seen them carbonate up was about a week. If I cold crash it takes much longer though.
 

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