I’ve seen it stated several places that some people wait for their beer to “mature” before they drink them. Are they speaking of green flavors or waiting and having one every so often until it hits a “sweet spot”? Usually I start drinking at two weeks after bottling and I see little to no change over the 2-4 weeks it takes me to get through the bottles. Tastes good to me, this is more just for general knowledge.
I start drinking after about a week. But I go slowly until I think the flavor has stabilized. I think there are significant flavor changes over the first 1-3 weeks. The beer clarifies and I think some of the stuff that drops out takes unwanted flavors with it (that’s just my uneducated hypothesis).
Flavor changes over the first 1-3 weeks . . .
1-3 weeks after what point in time?
End of fermentation? Bottle carbonation? Kegging?
Thanks in advance for your answer.
After kegging for me.
My understanding and limited experience is that maturity varies greatly with beer type. Some beers are best as soon as they are carbonated. Others can take years. Like most things in life, there is a spectrum.
Yes. But surprisingly for me was the realization that the beers everyone says should not be aged (APA/AIPA) do IMO need a couple of weeks to come into their own. Stouts are a different issue. I am drinking a barrel aged imperial stout I brewed two years ago and it shows no sign of being over the hill.
So the answer is (which I expected) it depends 
any general guidelines on that? Obviously higher alcohol beers (~8+ ?) would need some time for the alcohol flavors to round off. What else?
I wouldn’t even assume that in every case. I recently made an 8.5% BDSA that was perfectly drinkable less then 3 weeks after brewing.
aside from lambic style beers, which its almost universally agreed upon that they require extended aging, I’m not sure theres an answer.
Maybe get away from the idea that beer “matures” like wine and spirits do. Beer changes. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not, but that really depends on your tastebuds. I’ve made 10 percent Belgian tripels that taste fine at 2 weeks and 4% saisons that seem to improve at 2 months.
So truly… “It depends”
Thanks guys!
It’s up to you…when it tastes good, it’s ready to drink!
+1, drink it when you like it
This. Also, I typically wait at least 2 weeks after kegging for my IPAs/PAs, to come together.
Another vote for ‘It’s ready to drink when it tastes like it is’. Beers mature differently obviously. Lagers need to be crystal clear to appreciate their flavor (aside from keller) IMO. Strong beers need a little more time, but ferment cool enough and they can be surprisingly good at a couple months, even better with time. Past that, drink it when it tastes good.
Beer flavor develops over time, but it is different for each recipe and style. Since I am “one of those” who likes to brew a different beer every batch (will eventually repeat those I like best), I do the following:
-
On bottling day, I cap 5 bottles during the middle of the run with a different color cap. When they go in the box, I know which ones they are.
-
1 week after bottling, I chill one of the 5 bottles for 3 days and drink it. This is repeated each week until I really have an urge to want to open another right then! At that point, 1/2 of the bottles go into the fridge.
-
I continue to open the remaining bottles from the original 5, at 1 week intervals, noting any changes in flavor. Once the flavor stabilizes, all of the remaining bottles get chilled and consumed.
I have a Belgian Dubbel just about ready to bottle, and I am guessing that I will need to change my interval for the 5 testing bottles to 2 or 3 weeks. I set the interval for my last Dry Irish Stout to 2 weeks, and its flavor developed nicely after 6 weeks in the bottle.
If you bottle you only really need to wait until the beer is carbonated and then it’s usually good to go. However, the time it takes to carbonate can vary. My bottles are usually ready at 3 weeks but a recent batch with the lager yeast w34/70 took 8 weeks to carbonate. I think the yeast had become dormant and took a long time to chew its way through the priming sugar.
If you force carbonate in a keg, you can drink the beer sooner, pretty much immediately if it’s clear.
I’ve never waited to drink any beer I’ve made. My current Triple was fantastic at a month. I think bottle conditioned beers age way better. I also think, depending on ones ability to keep O2 out, makes a huge difference in aging. I’m struggling with beers that age in the keg. No matter how hard I try to purge everything well, kegs do not compare. Some beers may improve or change w age. I’ve never poured a fresh beer and said it sucked because of being fresh. I agree that lagers do improve. Lagers at 3 months are way better than at 4 weeks. So yes, It Depends.