Conditioning time for commerical beers....

[Nial]

I was a beer tasting run by the guy who owns Alechemy Brewing not far from here in
Livingston last night.

I asked him how long they condition the beers before bottling
and he said it's at least two or three weeks conditioning, then a week in the cold
toom before bottling, so it looks like even the professionals have to wait for their
beer to mature.

I had presumed that with the volumes they brew it would have been much faster.

Nial.

 

[DoctorMick]

I spoke to a guy who ran a very small brewery a year or so back and he said he could have a brew fermented and conditioned within 7 days. I never tasted any of his beer mind so it could have been rubbish. :lol:

 

[strange-steve]

Apparently the Westvleteren XII can take a good 12 weeks conditioning before bottling, then another couple of weeks in the bottle before going on sale. Great beer can't be rushed :smile:

 

[machin05]

I spoke to a guy who ran a very small brewery a year or so back and he said he could have a brew fermented and conditioned within 7 days. I never tasted any of his beer mind so it could have been rubbish. :lol:

Surely that would have to be filtered and force carbed after primary.

 

[simon12]

I have a 1bbl cask brewery and we chill the beer to 6C a few points below the final gravity then add isinglass to the cask and its ready to drink a week later (2 weeks total). If I bottled the same way the beer would be very cloudy, anything any quicker would need to be filtered and force carbed like machin said.

 

[Nial]

I spoke to a guy who ran a very small brewery a year or so back and he said he could have a brew fermented and conditioned within 7 days. I never tasted any of his beer mind so it could have been rubbish. :lol:

What sort of beers do they brew?

Alechemy's beers tend to be very hoppy IPAs (and I suppose everything else),
whether this makes a difference I don't know?

They do filter their beers so I presume they have to be 'done' before bottling.


He also said that canning is becoming more popular as there's no risk of light
damage so it keeps the beer better longer, and the tins are more easily
recycled.

Nial.

 

[ericmark]

I watched a TV program where they said the IPA was left for at least 6 months to emulate the time it would have been on the sailing ship going to India.