So, I’m posing this question, because I basically want some input from other brewers. When is your beer ready? Does it vary from recipe to recipe? Do you drink it when it tastes good, or do you follow a certain routine regardless of what style it is?
I’ve got a really good IPA that tastes the best 3 weeks after brewing. One week primary, followed by a week dry hop, keg it two weeks from brewing. Carb for a week and it’s great. The flavor fades after the first couple weeks in the keg. I brewed a Porter recently and it was ready in less than three weeks. Granted, my beer is not clear, since I only crash cool for a couple days before kegging, but I’m not concerned with a crystal clear beer. I think the haziness is indicative to the fact that it is home brewed and unfiltered.
I know some local brewers who let their beer condition for up to two months for an IPA and they keg as well. ??? I guess it’s up to each brewer to perceive when his/her beer is ready for his/her taste and the style.
It’s ready when it’s ready. I don’t call primary done until I get a couple of stable hydro readings. Even then it ussually sits for another week or so until I get the time to take the next step. If I dry hop I try to bottle within a week or two but other than that the schedule is determined by the beer. Also once in bottles I get impartient and start taste testing after a week. Generally, except with small or session beers it takes a couple of weeks in the bottle to really come into it’s own. had an RIS that didn’t really taste great until 6 months in the bottle. Just cracked open a rosemary/sage mead that was 1 year in bottles. Still needs more time.
+1. It varies. Don’t judge it using a calendar. Look at it and taste it.
It’s like when someone asks about cooking. How long do I cook it? Until it’s done. Sounds trite, but it’s the right answer. There are so many variables involved, that there just isn’t a good time-based answer. Learn to recognize the signs, and use those.
Learning this comes with experience. Generally I look at the yeast’s AA% and the grist bill then estimate from there but I let the beer decide when it’s done.
Typically speaking when the krausen falls and the beer is clear I’ll take a hydrometer reading and make a call from there. Usually it’s ready to rack or bottle after the beer clears. That can vary in time from 2-4 weeks depending if it’s an ale or a lager and the beer strength as well.
My beer is usually ready when I run out. There’s always something in the queue. I usually try to have a few beers on tap and replace the empties when I feel like drinking that beer.
Two weeks is the fasted turn around I’ve done. Three to four weeks is normal for my regular ales. Six weeks or more for the lagers. Very few of my beers gain anything for long aging. I’ve found that good fermentation practices do wonders for making good beer faster. But then sometimes I just don’t have time and beers can sit a month longer than I’d like them too.
I find that to be true. I really prefer my beer fresh.
I try to get my beers into a glass by 6 weeks or less, when possible. Beer rarely seems to get better after this, just older. The exception being beers with fermentation problems, pretty common for big beers, that require time to age out the problem. I find a well made lager to be much better at 6 weeks than at 10, so I avoid any more lagering than it takes to drop the yeast.
I’m surprised to hear extended lagering isn’t beneficial. I’ve only limited experience but it seems like 8-10 weeks was when my German pils hit its peak.
You don’t find that a Pils is starting to loose hop character by 8-10 weeks?
Sure, the beer is perfectly fine at 10 weeks, but in my hands, the malt and hop flavors just don’t seem to pop as well as they do earlier. They all just start to blur together and get a little dull.
It really is interesting if not nerve racking to observe and learn how different yeast and ingredients work together. Some seem to get down to it and wrap up their work in a couple weeks. Others like the honey beer I kegged last weekend, start fast and then settle in for a slow and steady five week fade. As long as the numbers are falling and the aromas are not off putting I’m able to fill a pint and ride along.
For Ales, “when their done”…see above…for Lagers I adhere to the six month aging at close to freezing for a “sophisticated beer”
Unless of course if I screwed something up and it’s a dumper but, most times it is elegant.
My Dutch brewing forum friends say a week for every ten points… Seems to be working for me. But, when you’re out you’re out and you grab the next one in the line… ;D