How long do you condition for?

[BeardedMag]

Just curious after reading a load of info today on conditioning and how long people leave brews for before trying. I'm an absolute hop head and usually condition for around 4 weeks before I pop one open but saw some people mention times up to 18 months! Is this even possible? I wouldn't have enough stocks to condition for that timescale haha!

 

[WierdFish]

I've probably got a few bottles that are 18 months old, but they are left overs rather than the norm. About 3 to 4 weeks before trying one if I can, is the norm.

 

[ACBEV]

For me it depends on the beer, low ABV bitter, mild and brown is 3 to 4 weeks. At the other end of the scale, 6 ABV and above, I might keep for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. For the last few years I've brewed a Christmas ale in January, so its ready for the following December.

 

[LarryF]

Not long enough, the last bottle always seems to be the best one.

 

[Oneflewover]

Depends on the beer, but I nearly always drink one or two about a week after bottling / as soon as it's carbonated :beer6:

 

[peter nemec]

Hi there,

I condition ales for about 3x weeks, then start drinking, but because I keep learning and experimenting and want to know how taste develops at the beginings, I do crack one open every week... I have few that have been conditioning over 5 months, and I tried one recently, and it was the best homebrew I ever tasted, so definately it does get better over time like wine, because homebrewers do not filter their beer in most cases, and hence the aging continues after racking, again, same like wine. I did a serious mistake I want to warn you about. I attempted a lager recently, and after primary, I placed it straight into my fridge, and 3x weeks later it tasted horrible, when while racking it was great and no off flavors. It turned out that because the cold fridged slowed down the development of carbonation, the oxygen in the bottle headspace had enought time to oxidise my beer, which taste sour and stale now. I shoud have left it for 2 weeks in warmer temp before laggering...

 

[Fil]

no harm in cracking a sample early to taste test
conditioning takes a week or two but maturing can take longer. Generally as a rule of thumb a beer benefits from a minimum of a week per every 10 gravity points the OG is above the FG, And the darker and more specialty grain and adjucnt full the brew is can also mean it will benefit from longer in the bottle/keg for all the flavours to meld..

when first starting brewing impatience can easily get the better of you but once your brewing regularly and have some stocks built up its easy to let a few bottles sit longer and it can be very enlightening cracking a bottle 4-6months after it was brewed.. I like to keep a few bottles back from each brew for an end of year tasting session..

at the end of the day though taste is a subjective quality and when the beer tastes good to you is probably a fine time to quaff a few

 

[krispn]

I’m really bad for this as I’m super keen to try the beer and I probably don’t leave it long enough. Limited space versus unlimited enthusiasm :)


I’ve kegged a beer and it’s been lagering for about 4 weeks. Carb‘d it and now a 2 week wait but it’s difficult not to keep taking samples!! One was dry hopped and the other left as is.
It’s a German alt and I know it will benefit from time but still eager to try it!

 

[steveshep8676]

Hi there,

I condition ales for about 3x weeks, then start drinking, but because I keep learning and experimenting and want to know how taste develops at the beginings, I do crack one open every week... I have few that have been conditioning over 5 months, and I tried one recently, and it was the best homebrew I ever tasted, so definately it does get better over time like wine, because homebrewers do not filter their beer in most cases, and hence the aging continues after racking, again, same like wine. I did a serious mistake I want to warn you about. I attempted a lager recently, and after primary, I placed it straight into my fridge, and 3x weeks later it tasted horrible, when while racking it was great and no off flavors. It turned out that because the cold fridged slowed down the development of carbonation, the oxygen in the bottle headspace had enought time to oxidise my beer, which taste sour and stale now. I shoud have left it for 2 weeks in warmer temp before laggering...

purge your bottles with carbon dioxide prior to filling and capping then the head space is 100% CO2 as it’s heavier than air it forces out the air on filling. It also acts as a safety blanket over the beer to stop ingress of air.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Slid]

Most beers are best after 3-6 months in my experience. The exception is hoppy beers that are best after 3-6 weeks in the bottle.
The higher the gravity, the better they age, as a general rule.

My 2018 Xmas beer is an Old Ale with an addition of raisins and other dried fruit. Recipe is based on Randy Mosher's recipe in the Radical Brewing book, p168 Fruitcake Old Ale. Bottled only a week or so ago and tasting a bit weird, TBH.

 

[svenito]

Depends on the type of beer, bit a minimum is a about two weeks bottle conditioning. Of course some beers do taste erster a few weeks later but some don't (wheats)

I like drinking beers over time to see how the flavour profile changes to give me an idea of when I can expect different styles to be at their best. It's also a lovely journey through a beer's life.

 

[Gunge]

As soon as it's clear, which is often less than a week. But my ol' man was such a desperado he'd sup it straight from the FV. Beat that.

 

[Robsparky99]

2-3 months on average

 

[BeerCat]

As soon as it's clear, which is often less than a week. But my ol' man was such a desperado he'd sup it straight from the FV. Beat that.

Respect to your father. Men were men in those days! :hat::Cheers:

 

[-Bezza-]

Interesting that nobody is mentioning the temperature at which they choose to conditions. Does that not affect things or is it just a given that conditioning is always done at X*c?

 

[Gunge]

Interesting that nobody is mentioning the temperature at which they choose to conditions. Does that not affect things or is it just a given that conditioning is always done at X*c?

All mine gets thrown into the space under the stairs. The temperature is what it is. High summer or the depths of winter, it all comes out the same in the end. I've been at it long enough (35 years) to ignore all these people who say you've got to do this and you must do that. It's mostly cobblers and tends to come from over-zealous newbies who think they know the lot cos they've spent an hour or two on the 'net.

 

[-Bezza-]

All mine gets thrown into the space under the stairs. The temperature is what it is. High summer or the depths of winter, it all comes out the same in the end. I've been at it long enough (35 years) to ignore all these people who say you've got to do this and you must do that. It's mostly cobblers and tends to come from over-zealous newbies who think they know the lot cos they've spent an hour or two on the 'net.

But, but, but a video on Youtube said that I have to condition beer at 8.4*C for 4 days followed by a +/- 5.7*C sine wave pattern on 31 hour cycles, making adjustments every 6.5 hours so that's what I'm going to do. Or I'll just leave my beer dotted around my shed or in the fridge, wherever I can find space. Decisions, decisions...

 

[JonBrew]

Once I've bottled I become quite impatient to try one. Generally speaking though, once it's properly carbonated I starting drinking them regularly. As someone above mentioned, it's quite good to have one every week and you can taste the beer maturing/conditioning over time.

We talk about the style dictating conditioning time somewhat but I understand the famous Imp Stout, Old Rasputin, goes from grain to glass in something crazy like 28 days and the brewery release it at that point. I imagine this beer is force carbonated thereby eliminating the need to wait for it to carbonate in the bottle. However, the fact that a drinkable imperial stout can be turned out in a month does make you wonder.

 

[Gunge]

But, but, but a video on Youtube said that I have to condition beer at 8.4*C for 4 days followed by a +/- 5.7*C sine wave pattern on 31 hour cycles, making adjustments every 6.5 hours so that's what I'm going to do. Or I'll just leave my beer dotted around my shed or in the fridge, wherever I can find space. Decisions, decisions...

Lol! But all this waiting around is no good, and every beer reaches a turning point where it goes downhill. Best get it down the neck than run the risk of that and ending up with stockpiles of swill.

 

[marshbrewer]

To be fair, I've just done an AG mild that was in the FV for 16 days, and the sample I had whilst packaging was perfectly drinkable. I'm not saying it won't improve with age but straight from the FV it was fine.