How young is too young?

[bransona]

Get your mind out of the gutter---this post is strictly about beer. Now then, how young IS too young?

I've recently been sampling my beers along their fermentation and aging journies; many (if not all) have been delicious right around 8-10 days. My SMaSH IPA (which friends will NOT shut up about, even though it's not really my favorite) is ready at 8 days. I thought it was just good then and would get better---wrong. It was just "ready." It hasn't changed a bit in weeks in the keg or bottles. Same story for my amber ale. Right around 10 days it hits the keg and is perfect at 12-14 days total.

Now I have a stout fermenting. It was meant to be a big imperial but I missed my numbers (single-mill wasn't enough) and have something closer to 7.5% instead of the projected 9+%. It's at 9 days in the fermenter, and it tastes GREAT. Like, ready-to-serve great. I don't know that I'll serve it yet regardless, but that really got me thinking.

We all preach about aging and what it does for beer---frequently for correcting flaws. However, what about when you just nail it and it tastes great very early on? Do you just let it ride because of standard advice? Or do you serve it because it's good?

 

[mongoose33]

We all preach about aging and what it does for beer---frequently for correcting flaws. However, what about when you just nail it and it tastes great very early on? Do you just let it ride because of standard advice? Or do you serve it because it's good?

You need our advice on what to do with a beer that tastes great? Send it to me and I'll assess it for quality.

This is a no-brainer: Let your taste be your guide.

Too young is when beer hasn't reached its peak flavor. I've had beer that at 2 weeks was great; other beers that take a few weeks to smooth out, then they're great. Just won a small comp with a Czech Pils that took several weeks of lagering to be right.

 

[dmtaylor]

When the beer tastes good, drink it. Rules of thumb and guidelines and recipes all suck. Use your own best judgment. When it tastes good, drink it all up.

 

[bransona]

You need our advice on what to do with a beer that tastes great? Send it to me and I'll assess it for quality.

This is a no-brainer: Let your taste be your guide.

Too young is when beer hasn't reached its peak flavor. I've had beer that at 2 weeks was great; other beers that take a few weeks to smooth out, then they're great. Just won a small comp with a Czech Pils that took several weeks of lagering to be right.

That's a valid point. Good is good. But, it goes against so much of my reading that this little voice starts shouting, "Hey, hey, it's gonna get SO MUCH BETTER if you just leave it," despite my experience showing me consistently good and unchanging (at least in any significant way) results. It's strange, really.

I make very small batches, if that makes any difference in aging. I didn't think it would though.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I bottle for now but I know what you mean, I've brewed trappist ales that got no better after 2 months than they were after 2 weeks. I thought the rule of thumb was the higher the ABV the longer it needs to condition but my tripel at 10% was in primary for 3 weeks then took about 10 days to carb, chilled overnight in the fridge and impressed the guys at my LHBS. Maybe the traditional long conditioning period applies more to lagering and perhaps strong dark beers that can be harsh/bitter if drunk too young.

I was listening to an episode of the Jamil show about belgian singles yesterday and he pretty much said that long conditioning periods are bogus and nearly all beer styles are intended to be consumed fresh.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Last fall I cut a week off my process for IPAs...and I was on a pretty short schedule to begin with.

The answer to this question (other than the unequivocally correct answer from @dmtaylor above), is that it varies greatly by type. An IPA can be ready very quickly. A RIS, no matter how good the recipe, probably isn't going to be good at 10 days.

Then you also have to consider the difference between when it's good and when it's at its peak. If you read through the bourbon barrel porter thread in the extract forum, people really like that beer at 3 months. They love it at a year.

 

[bransona]

I bottle for now but I know what you mean, I've brewed trappist ales that got no better after 2 months than they were after 2 weeks. I thought the rule of thumb was the higher the ABV the longer it needs to condition but my tripel at 10% was in primary for 3 weeks then took about 10 days to carb, chilled overnight in the fridge and impressed the guys at my LHBS. Maybe the traditional long conditioning period applies more to lagering and perhaps strong dark beers that can be harsh/bitter if drunk too young.

I was listening to an episode of the Jamil show about belgian singles yesterday and he pretty much said that long conditioning periods are bogus and nearly all beer styles are intended to be consumed fresh.

The more I make, the more I prefer fresh beer. Glad to hear Jamil would agree, lol. This "stout" is really just a ramped-up version of Founder's Porter (which already includes black malt). Maybe that's why it's good already? It's done fermenting, and it comes across as strong coffee and chocolate in the palate, caramel malt and roasty in the nose along with fruit from C120 and mosaic hops. No harshness, and entitely appropriate hop bitterness from NB.

It was brewed to be racked onto cherries and cacao nibs as a wedding gift, but I may split the batch to preserve the base beer.

 

[Yooper]

That's a valid point. Good is good. But, it goes against so much of my reading that this little voice starts shouting, "Hey, hey, it's gonna get SO MUCH BETTER if you just leave it," despite my experience showing me consistently good and unchanging (at least in any significant way) results. It's strange, really.

I make very small batches, if that makes any difference in aging. I didn't think it would though.

Good beer rarely needs aging. Aging is great for huge barleywines and big tannic red wines, where microoxidation and time smooth out complex flavors. Generally, if your non-complex beers need aging to be good, there is a flaw in the brewing or packaging process.

 

[bransona]

Good beer rarely needs aging. Aging is great for huge barleywines and big tannic red wines, where microoxidation and time smooth out complex flavors. Generally, if your non-complex beers need aging to be good, there is a flaw in the brewing or packaging process.

My favorite local brewer has been helping me along the way, and has basically been telling me how to improve recipes. He hasn't found any "flaws" so far, despite having some 14-day-old brews. That's not to say he's a bjcp master by any means---he just makes great beer.

It's nice to know my process is good at this point, but I'm continuing to learn about ingredients and to refine the process further. You've been a big help in a lot of my brewing as well!

 

[LostHopper]

Not aging beer and rushing/hurrying a beer may be two different topics.

I've not found a need or benefit of aging my beers (hoppy ales) but they are usually gone before they get a chance to age.
At one time I did "age" some older cans of Ten Fidy but realized it was really more for discussion than enhancing the beer so I abandoned that and just open one when I feel like it.

OTOH I don't think rushing a beer to the glass is a good thing and bottling seems to slow down the whole process anyway. Waiting on carbonation is something that may drive me to keg at some point.

 

[seatazzz]

I've got an American Strong that I pulled out of the lineup a month ago to make room in the kegerator, and was going to let it age for a month or two. This beer was fabulous at 12 days and was getting better, so I thought a month or so would really improve it. Not. The sweet maltiness is still there, as well as some hops, but it's starting to taste a bit stale. Mind you, this is in a keg that had plenty of co2 and couldn't have oxidized (I may be wrong), and was kept in my fairly cool garage. I tap my IPA's and lighter beers at no more than 13 days, sometimes less, and only once has one tasted too "young" (was a cream ale that was much better after another week). I too think 3 weeks primary for something that isn't a huge RIS or something else big is bogus. When it's done and tastes good, it's done!!

 

[Calder]

Some beers are ready early, and then just fade with time. For the most part, Wheats and Hoppy Ales should be consumed relatively fresh.

Dark, Roasty, Heavy beers can be excellent when young, but if left will change; it becomes a gamble, sometimes they become smoother and/or more complex, and turn to great beers, but ..... unfortunately ... some just become undrinkable. I've had many that went from pretty good to great, some that were fine after storing, some that I regretted not drinking young, and fortunately, only one where I ended up pouring it down the drain, after a year of storage; the beer was absolutely fantastic when young, and I was really looking forward to how it turned out after some time in storage, but it went downhill, and I ended up wasting what had been a great beer.

I have 10 year old Barley Wines and Sours that taste excellent today.