do we need to wait months on end for a good beer ?

[ChrisRedWills]

hi brewers

before all u master brewers inundate me with the longer you leave it the better idea I've had bottles now in my shed for months & they taste & look no better than after a couple of weeks & I'm talking about ipa's ales of different types & lagers the only thing I can say is the sediment is a lot more solid but apart from that am I missing something or doing something wrong all my brews taste good so I'm happy with wot I'm doing

perhaps when I cross over to the so called dark side I will notice a significant difference perhaps ! :

 

[31bb3]

beers generally do improve after a couple of months but are perfectly drinkable once they are conditioned

 

[PD]

depends on their strength a low abv is perfect a few weeks old something around 6% above needs a few months

 

[calumscott]

What is the rule of thumb again...?

A week conditioning for each ten points of gravity lost? Then tweak it a bit for the "weight" of the beer, longer for darker...

Summat like that anyway. :thumb:

 

[abeyptfc]

if they are still tasting the same or not as good as expected then maybe it something in your brewing water or your cleaning process?

 

[Pawlo7671]

Imo up to six weeks see's the best improvements, after that its only very slight if any difference at all.

 

[Pearlfisher]

I only use pressure barrels and usually brew kits which are 4-4.5% , I've found the optimum taste to be with about 3-4 weeks conditioning and then the flavour/taste seems to dissipate .

 

[graysalchemy]

I think when we are new to brewing we are conditioned to drink green fresh beer as that was has been available to us. however as we brew and particularly experience all grain brewing we come to understand the subtle changes that beer undergoes with time and our palette changes and becomes more refined.

Personally i leave my beers at least 3 months and i don't think they reach ther peak until 6-8 months (usually when they have been drunk :lol: )

 

[boozy_shoes]

What is the rule of thumb again...?

A week conditioning for each ten points of gravity lost? Then tweak it a bit for the "weight" of the beer, longer for darker...

Summat like that anyway. :thumb:

I go with a week for every 10 points or part of original gravity (eg 1.047 OG = 5 weeks in the bottle conditioning) but it usually gets too tempting and i've tried a bottle or two strictly for educational and quality control reasons before this time.

The one exception for this was a German wheat beer that was ready 2-3 days after bottling (possibly due to the low floccuation yeast?) and gradually got worse as the weeks went on. has anyone else experienced this?

 

[The Goatreich]

I usually attempt to stick to the 1 week per 10 points OG rule, but I always end up trying them earlier, and they're always good. However my chocolate stout I made was superb after 4 months in the bottle, but a little too bitter previous to that.

Wheats are best drunk young I've read, so boozy_shoes, your findings are correct.

 

[Archtronics]

I drink it when it tastes good :thumb:

 

[calumscott]

I drink it when it tastes good :thumb:

That poses a small problem... pretty much every beer tastes good as soon as it's carbed and cleared. I have to be careful to have enough in the pipeline to ensure that at least some of any given batch makes it to "when it tastes best".

My RIS tastes "good" now. However my current estimation is that it will taste "best" about 18 months from now...

My AG#1 Hooky clone tastes great just now. It's still in FV and hasn't quite finished fermenting... working on the "tastes good" principle I wouldn't even bother bottling it!! :lol:

 

[fbsf]

I find they tayste batter effter 6 or 9 obttles... : :drunk:

 

[Baz Chaz]

I'm lucky enough to have plenty of storage room, which can be a problem for some I'm sure

I just did a session of re stacking shelves this morning and I've somewhere over 200 maturing in storage. So between those on shelves and a few boxed up, I've stuff thats as much as 18 months old in there :thumb:

But even then I always try an odd bottle of 'freshly bottled' a couple of weeks after its been in the bottle, curiosity/quality control, whatever you want to call it I can't resist :lol:

 

[LeedsBrewer]

i bottled about 6 or 7 275ml bottles so that I can do quality tests every 3 or 4 days without drinking half my stock.

 

[fbsf]

I normally try my beers after about 2 weeks conditioning to make sure nothing is awry, but generally leave the rest about 6 weeks or more. All my beers have shown a great improvement during that time, getting less yeasty and generally having a better balance of flavours.

I must admit that for me the differences with a standard-made kit (i.e. no dry-hopping or steeped grains added) above 6 weeks aren't anywhere near as big as the difference between 2 and 6 weeks, but the all-grain and extract brews I've done seem to be getting to their best at around 8-10 weeks.

They are perfectly drinkable before then, but as long as you build up a stock there should be no need to drink the young ones before they are at their best.

 

[PD]

I've got to admit to tasting a few early......
I do try to keep them into the 2/3 months before its open house on them, and thats for 4-6% beers and ales.
I've got a Muntons Old Conkerwood Ale made up beginning of September, a couple of bottles tried and its showing no where near its drinking best, so it will be left till around Christmas, approx 4 months in the bottle.
I do like to put a few beers away from each brew to see how they go on. I've got a couple of bitters from July which have all been drunk youngish, but I'll leave these again till Christmas and when they taste bad I will have a good reason to give myself when I drink the next lot early ! if you see what I mean.