I usually wait about six weeks from brew day to drink from my bottles but I am growing rather impatient. I have tried my beer around the four week mark and it usually tastes a little green at that point. I am currently waiting on a scottish ale it fermented for 14 days and was in the bottles for a week. I want to crack one open for the 4th but am afraid to jump the gun. How long do you all wait before drinking your ales?
How Long Do I Have to Wait?!?!!!?
- Thread starter rdude6
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azscoob
Brewpub coming soon!
I keg, so I can be drinking a simple APA in 11-12 days from brewday, a wheat in 8-9 days, the key for me is proper yeast pitching amount, and temp control. a complex or high ABV beer will take longer to be ready, but the simple ones can go fast.
thebamaking
Well-Known Member
generally, the rule is wait 3 weeks after bottling, and thats just when the beer will be ready. some brews can take as long to 2 months to even carbonate fully after bottling, some are best when opened 6 months or 2 years after bottling, it all depends on your style. like azscoob said, generally the higher the abv the longer you want to wait for everything to settle and mend. ipa's you want to drink as fresh as possible, but still wait 3-4 weeks. it will be green if you open it before 3 weeks, regardless.
JNye
Well-Known Member
i always crack one open at 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks, just to monitor the progression. if its good on week one, then its go time. So i would definetly try one tommorrow.
ChshreCat
Well-Known Member
I've found that beer conditions faster in bulk than it does in bottles, so you might be robbing yourself by rushing to bottle. If you give it another week in primary or secondary, you might find it a lot less green after the same amount of time in the bottle.
But... the true solution to your problem is the pipeline, my friend. If you have more good, conditioned beer to drink then you'll be less tempted to start drinking your next batch early. Brew early and brew often and you'll find patience much easier to come by.
But... the true solution to your problem is the pipeline, my friend. If you have more good, conditioned beer to drink then you'll be less tempted to start drinking your next batch early. Brew early and brew often and you'll find patience much easier to come by.
kpr121
Well-Known Member
So how "green" do these beers taste this early? I was under the impression that even if you keg, its better to let it mellow and cleanup before serving.
I'm asking because I have a Hop Head DIPA from Midwest in ferm for 7 days now, and I have a small party planned for next week. I have all the materials to keg, and dispense (although the bar is not complete, i did make sure to have a working tap!)
I was planning on bottling this batch and dealing with the absence of homebrew for the party, but if I can keg it sometime this week and have it carbed by Saturday with no taste issues I'm going to go for it.
azscoob
Brewpub coming soon!
I pitch the proper amount of yeast according to Mr Malty calculator, I make sure the grains and hops are fresh, and I have a converted mini fridge that I ferment in usually at the low end of the temp range, this gives me control over most things that cause off flavors, like stressed yeast or high fermentation temps. check out This Thread the info learned there and the techniques I have adopted havent led me wrong yet. read it through, and if you are on track with proper pitch and temps, and the beer tastes good, keg and serve! I guess it boils down to trying to keep the off-flavors out of the beer to begin with so you dont need to mellow them out with lots of conditioning time when its finished.
Chuck_Swillery
Well-Known Member
The adage goes the longer you wait the better... here's my latest story however.
I brewed an AG Magic Hat #9 clone awhile back. I let it ferment out then set in the primary for a total of 28 days before bottling. While bottling I was concerned the caps I had bought weren't seating correctly and even removed a few and recapped immediately. Still worried I pulled one out of the closet after having been in the bottle only 6 days, flash cooled it (aka, desparate for beer, shoved it in the freezer for 25 minutes) and popped the top. It is absolutely delicious. I'm curious how it will change with time but I could keep it just like it is and I'd be happy. In the past I had a brew that was drinkable but not great. At the 10 month point it was great.
Point... as long as it is carbonated where you want you can drink it now if you like the flavor or wait until it mellows and matures. Its a matter of choice.
I brewed an AG Magic Hat #9 clone awhile back. I let it ferment out then set in the primary for a total of 28 days before bottling. While bottling I was concerned the caps I had bought weren't seating correctly and even removed a few and recapped immediately. Still worried I pulled one out of the closet after having been in the bottle only 6 days, flash cooled it (aka, desparate for beer, shoved it in the freezer for 25 minutes) and popped the top. It is absolutely delicious. I'm curious how it will change with time but I could keep it just like it is and I'd be happy. In the past I had a brew that was drinkable but not great. At the 10 month point it was great.
Point... as long as it is carbonated where you want you can drink it now if you like the flavor or wait until it mellows and matures. Its a matter of choice.
I wait for at least a month in the primary before I do anything !
Beer is better served by bulk aging it !
A great rule to abide to is " The darker the beer the longer the wait."
I have a Barleywine that has been in secondary for 6 months now !
Brewing is a procrastinators hobby !
Beer is better served by bulk aging it !
A great rule to abide to is " The darker the beer the longer the wait."
I have a Barleywine that has been in secondary for 6 months now !
Brewing is a procrastinators hobby !
I leave it for 3 - 4 weeks in primary, and then keg. If I am going to dispense from the keg (90% of my beers), I leave it in the keg for another 6 - 8 weeks. If I'm going to bottle, I leave in the keg for 2 weeks to carbonate, and then bottle. I then leave it in the bottles for 4 - 6 weeks before sampling.
I seriously doubt that I need to wait that long, but sometimes life gets in the way of my brewing, and I would hate to run out of beer; besides which, you asked how long do you wait, rather than how long do you need to wait.
-a.
I seriously doubt that I need to wait that long, but sometimes life gets in the way of my brewing, and I would hate to run out of beer; besides which, you asked how long do you wait, rather than how long do you need to wait.
-a.
It's a Scottish Light 60-/ and a OG of 1.080 fermented with two smackpacks of Wyeast Irish ale if all goes to plan, the FG should be around 1.025 or so. This is the first time I am going to calculate my attenuation seeing that I got a hydrometer I can trust.
iron_city_ap
Well-Known Member
Try one and find out....
Sounds like your best option would be to keg ASAP and let it sit under pressure for a few since there are more variables with bottling.
Mermaid
Well-Known Member
I brewed up the NB "Twisted Enkel" partial/extract kit back at the beginning of May.
Bottled on May 28th. It's just now starting to be carbed enough for me. I probably would have added a wee bit more sugar because the carbonation is not quite as high as I wanted it to be. The yeast is definitely a slow poke, and I probably could have done it better by keeping it "warmer" for the first couple weeks in the bottle (vs. stashing it in the basement), but it's coming along.
I have found that patience IS rewarded, you just have to get past the first couple weeks of "holy crap this beer is NEVER going to be ready and I want to drink it NOW!!"
Bottled on May 28th. It's just now starting to be carbed enough for me. I probably would have added a wee bit more sugar because the carbonation is not quite as high as I wanted it to be. The yeast is definitely a slow poke, and I probably could have done it better by keeping it "warmer" for the first couple weeks in the bottle (vs. stashing it in the basement), but it's coming along.
I have found that patience IS rewarded, you just have to get past the first couple weeks of "holy crap this beer is NEVER going to be ready and I want to drink it NOW!!"
