Finishing, conditioning, maturing

[gnorwebthgimi]

Does anyone have any advice on how long to mature beer before drinking.
I have produced some rather overly bitter beers that have taken more than four months to come into their own and I have produced some low bitter beers that I can't keep my hands off after two weeks.
Does the amount of bittering hops and ABV affect how long a beer should be left to mature? If so any guidance on the length of time would be great.
What is the quickest that a low bitter, low alcohol (say 3.5%) beer would start to lose charm?
Does anyone have a minimum or maximum maturing period?
I'd rather get some advice this time than fumble in the dark and learn from experience [ mistakes].

Cheers

PS the reason I'm asking is because there is a couple of birthday's coming up in two months and I would like to start brewing so that the beer is ready for a specific date.

 

[arturobandini]

Most people say that for every ten points of gravity* you should leave your beer a week to condition. Not sure how true that is but as a broad rule of thumb it seems to stand up. As far as hop bitterness is concerned that's a personal taste issue but i'd hazard a guess to say most people who brew very heavily hopped beers will leave them quite awhile for the green bitterness to give way to more refined smoother bitterness.

Definitely a personal taste issue as there may be people out there adding 200g of Target to the start of a 90 minute boil and necking it 2 days out of the fermenter

EDIT - Made that a little clearer. It took me about 15 minutes to type as I was doing it with one finger whilst trying to cradle my son in the other. Lousy blighter won't sleep unless he's being held.

 

[Alton_Bee]

The normal recomended time scale on maturing is a week for every .01 of OG.

therefore if your OG is 1.050 give it 5 weeks conditioning time in the keg or bottle before drinking.

 

[A T]

The normal recomended time scale on maturing is a week for every .01 of OG.

therefore if your OG is 1.050 give it 5 weeks conditioning time in the keg or bottle before drinking.

That's the general belief alright but i find myself that it has more to do with the hops mellowing, some hops mellow quicker than others so for me the only way to find out when a beer is ready is to keep trying it til i'm happy with it Everybody to their own eh!

 

[gnorwebthgimi]

Thanks guys, I appreciate that. I haven't heard the "week of maturing per .01 OG" rule before and I think it's a useful guide, certainly fits with what experience I have had to date.

Regarding the recent brew, I was aiming for an Adnams Broadside clone (called Adnims), I think I went a little overboard with the hops:

60g Challenger (7.1% AA) for 45 minutes
the remaining 40g for 10 minutes.
I estimate that its around 35 IBU (it does seem quite bitter, not an unpleasant bitterness just over abundant)
I was aiming for a reasonably high gravity and got 1.015 down from an OG 1.050 so I make that 4.6% so its suited to a higher bitterness, just not quite so high perhaps.

The colour was almost spot (nice dark brown) on and thanks to Safale S-04 it was crystal clear out of the fermenter.
The aroma has a strong toffee note with some biscuit
Strangley the famous "fruit cake" aroma is absent except in the taste, which has a great malt profile overshadowed by the bitterness at present. I was hoping it would age nicley for the end of May.
According to the general rule With an OG of 1.05 it should take 5 weeks and be in it's prime by mid May. I'm sure another week or two won't hurt.
Besides I can (will) always hedge my bets by making another brew nearer the time.

Thanks again for the advice!