Why is it that my bottled beers only begin to taste great 5 to 8 months post bottling?

[Silver_Is_Money]

And its been that way for me since the late 80's when I initially started brewing. It makes no difference if it is all-grain, partial mash, or straight extract, or if it uses liquid or dry yeast, or if the mash pH is carefully regulated or not, or if it's an ale, lager, light, dark, if I prime with table sugar or dextrose/corn sugar, if I use oxygen scavenging caps or not, etc...

The odd thing is that in general they all taste fine at bottling, then they taste off after allowing 4 weeks of carbonation/conditioning post the addition of priming sugar, and then great again after an additional 4-7 months beyond that.

 

[portera86]

Same for me. Even longer in keg.
Don't know how commercial breweries have taste developed so quickly.

 

[MildAvers]

You like oxidation and how it enhances the flavors of your beer.

 

[portera86]

Is that genuine or sarcastic?

 

[MildAvers]

I suppose it could be interpreted as sarcastic but it's mostly serious, unless the OP practices LODO/LOB brewing, in which case there would be a problem with his process.

 

[portera86]

Is all flavour development after several months oxidation?

 

[kh54s10]

I have only noticed that effect in high ABV maltier beers. My pale ales, and such, peak in flavor at about 3 weeks and stay stable until I consume all of them. They don't remain in the pipeline long enough to degrade.

I had a Winter Ale and a Russian Imperial Stout that I drank each slowly. Those did peak in flavor between 6 months and a year aged, and I had them long enough to notice them on the down slide. That was at about 2 years.

 

[SEndorf]

Taking into account the experience and knowledge of the OP, and the phenomenon is universal with all beer styles and all his brewing methods, I would seriously chalk this up to a discerning palette.
I suspect this is rather common; I can tell the effect in many beers but not all styles. Most of my kegged beer is much better after some months.

 

[McKnuckle]

Generally speaking, I think it's the impact of complete clearing and settling which can take months.

Big breweries are able to perform filtering miracles to remove yeast, trub, proteins, tannins, and lord knows what else - and can dramatically and consistently drop temperature to extreme levels. This rapidly accelerates beer clearing, and while we think we can approximate that at the homebrew level, we really can't. Not that we don't occasionally come close if we do nearly everything "right."

Some people say "Pssh, I don't need clear beer" but I strongly disagree. As my beer clears, the flavor and overall sensory experience always greatly improve - to my palate.

 

[Home_alone1]

My saison and quads take about 6 months to get good . I find my Pilsner and cream ale are best about 3-4 weeks after bottling and I find my Hefeweizen seems to be best as soon as it’s carbed in the keg.

 

[Vale71]

Some people say "Pssh, I don't need clear beer" but I strongly disagree. As my beer clears, the flavor and overall sensory experience always greatly improve - to my palate.

That's because your beer is aging as well while it's clearing. You can't really separate the two processes. Suspended yeast and haze actually have no discernible taste, although sterile filtration does lower color and bitterness a little bit it's really only done to please the eye.

What big breweries often but not always are capable of doing better than HBs is properly manage their fermentation and maturation, and that can have a big impact on how fast a beer develops.