The waiting is the hardest part

[PKHomeBrew]

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

I wonder if Tom Petty(rip) was talking about home brewing.

I think I have brewed over 15 batches (kits and extracts included) and I have never successfully waited long enough to crack the keg. Not once. I keep promising myself that i will. I put a ‘first pour of Kölsch’ date in my calendar. I hook up the CO2 only, and not the tap. Once i even left the tap assembly disconnected. I always find an excuse to try it early. Just a sip- then a 1/2 glass, then what the heck.... every single beer (with the exception of one very bitter but mysteriously aromaless IPA) has tasted better 3 weeks in. My brain knows that beer is better a couple of weeks in, but something compels me to test it a couple of times a day. This time i even made three batches almost at once, to try and assure that at least one could remain untapped for a couple of weeks.

I have will power- i know i do (i once went a year without caffeine). However I can’t leave a keg untapped. If i really honest with myself, I know that I should probably condition in something else - like another Carboy. Maybe I’ll try that next time. Or maybe I’ll brew right now as all my taps are currently full.

Am I alone in this, or are others struggling here too?

 

[springinloose1]

Hahaha! Yes, I would be remiss in my comment if I didn't fully admit guilt in not waiting until the keg is fully carbonated. So to fix this, I started doing 10 gallon batches & I'll keg 5 and bottle 5. I don't know why, but that's what helped me is knowing if I don't wait the time with bottles, it'll be 22oz of flat beer instead of just a half a glass. I almost feel wasteful if a get an under carbed bottle but will go back and pull the keg handle again the very next day knowing full well there's no way my beer is properly carbed, but I do it anyway and drink it with a smile. Granted, I moved to kegs to get away from bottles, but I like having beer on hand for when the keg runs out... plus I have a ton of bottles so I have to fill them with something! So while I'm drinking under carbonated beer from a keg, my bottles are carbing up nicely. Cheers man, I wish you success in your quest to wait until your kegs are fully carbed.

 

[Miraculix]

Just let it sit in the fermenter, on the yeast cake for additional 3 weeks. Does wonders to the beer and you don't want to drink that.