Patience really hasn't been an issue for me. However, I went a few months without brewing and decided when I was down to about a half keg that I'd better get to brewing! So I brewed a Nut brown. 2 weeks in the primary and I thought I'd wait until the 3 week mark to keg. Gravity is stable at 1.010. Well, Monday rolled around and I had this HUGE urge to clean and sanitize my keg. So, once that was all done, I said screw it, prepped and transferred my nut brown a week early. Well, it was in the primary for 16 days. It tasted awesome...just green. Carbing it up now...even though it's green. Pulled a taste last night and it's about 1/2 way to being carbed already. Taste is really good...just a bit yeasty. So, needless to say, impatience got the better of me. It will age over time in the keg....just wish I could have waited another week or two before kegging. I have a blue moon clone in the fermenter as well. I'll for sure wait to week 3 before kegging that one. Running super low on beer makes one do crazy things....it's not really my fault see! oh well, time will improve the beer, just had to tell someone damnit
Impatience got the better of me
- Thread starter Brewnoob1
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lol. yeah, patience isn't a strong point of mine either. it's really hard to just rdwhahb. any time i get the urge to fiddle with a batch, i just run around the corner and brew a new one. of course, now i'm sitting on about 60 gallons of beer....
You said it was in the primary 16 days and you tasted it last night and the taste is really good but yeasty. Noting settles out yeast like being in a 40 degree keg and pulling a couple of pints off the bottom so I'm not sure where you think you erred?
3 weeks would be longer than I'd go on a low-medium ABV wheat beer like your blue moon clone. If you have the keg space and it's done fermenting I'd get it kegged in 10-14 days but that's just my practice. If you like a longer primary go for it.
3 weeks would be longer than I'd go on a low-medium ABV wheat beer like your blue moon clone. If you have the keg space and it's done fermenting I'd get it kegged in 10-14 days but that's just my practice. If you like a longer primary go for it.
OP
OP
Brewnoob1
Well-Known Member
I normally do an average of 3 weeks. Time seems to be my friend in the kegerator. The last 1/3 of the keg is always the best it seems. Well, not for my IPAs, but all the others anyways. The Nut Brown was a medium ABV at 1.066 to 1.010 leaving about a 7.2% brew. It could probably have used a bit longer to age. It will be fine in the keg after another few weeks. The Blue Moon started at 1.065...so it's on par to be a 7% beer too. I thought it would be a bit lower, but it turned out in the 1.060s...so whatever haha. It wasn't a kit, just something I threw together. We'll see!
HuxleysBrew
Member
I made a bourbon ale that was not very good when it was early on in the process. I bottled them and forgot about it and left it in my brew room for several months. Now, 4 months later, it's one of the best batches i've done. It's crazy how much of a difference time makes.
It depends on the type of beer you are making. As it so happens, the 2 brews brewed by the OP, Nut Brown Ale and Blue Moon Clone, would typically be some of quickest grain to glass beers out there, that could easily be ready to consume with no expected improvement from further aging by 28 days max. But it appears he likes a little extra kick in his giddy-up. At 7.2% ABV that would be about twice as strong as a typical NBA, and again at 7% would be significantly higher than your true Blue Moon clone so it is likely his beers could benefit form a longer primary, and maybe some bulk aging for the NBA.
homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
For what it's worth, I have noticed improvement in my brown ale as it has aged in the bottles. I did 2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, 3 weeks bottles. Once it hit around 6 weeks bottles, it went from good to really good.
OP
OP
Brewnoob1
Well-Known Member
Yeah, my first nut brown did a 3 week primary and then kegged. After a month in the keg, it got REALLY good! Unfortunately, people caught on and it was gone in no time. Seems like the 6-7 week mark things turn with the nut browns
HuxleysBrew
Member
I feel what you guys are saying! It seems like there's a point where the beer all of a sudden loses its "homebrewyness" and the flavors you aimed for come together. I agree that it depends on the beer itself, but the point of this thread is that we all need to be patient, right!!?! If we make enough batches, then we won't need to worry about beer shortages!!
I think that the time in the fermenter for the beer to be ready varies with the SRM of the beer. I'd be kegging (bottling in my case) a Blue Moon clone at the 2 week mark or maybe even at 10 days but my stout will be sitting for 4 to 5 weeks. Dark beers take longer to mature than the light colors. Your nut brow was in the middle. By kegging it sooner you have traded time in the fermenter for time in the keg for maturity and I think it will take longer in the keg than it would have sitting on the yeast cake.
