Planning on doing a test batch for a Christmas Ale that I plan to give out as gifts this year. I rarely do higher gravity beers…
This one is calculating out to have an OG of 1.077 and end up around 8.2% ABV. I guess this may be the lower end of ‘high gravity’ but I was wondering how long I should let this condition in bottles before it will be best to drink.
I assume it would need at least a couple of months. Any input?
couple months would be good. if you do it right it should be drinkable right away but it will still be good, maybe even better after a few months, years.
Thanks Mort. I am going with 50% Munich along with 50-55 IBUs to balance and provide some hop character. Also planning on some spices and orange zest. It could need some extra time for everything to come together…
sounds tasty.
let it ride till near christmas (if you manage to make it that long without tasting at least one you have WAY more self control than I ;D)
Haha…yeah I plan on drinking this first batch to see what adjustments would be needed. I am bad about waiting until beers are actually ‘ready’ and taste often during the conditioning process. I plan to do a small batches throughout the year. I think I will be good to go If I can finish the last batch by the end of October and maybe just tell people to age it for a bit longer.
Man, it’s tough. I’m always really excited when a high gravity beer is really good fairly young( 2 or 3 months), sometimes a little too excited. It’s a nice payoff to have several bottles hit their intended flavor peak. I’m not too proud to admit that the ones I’ve aged the longest were ones I found that I thought were gone. A 3 year old quad comes to mind that was unreal. Good luck !