Is a month ok to be drinking a beer?

[mancer62]

Hi just on to find out the general opinion about the length of time to brew and drink a beer?
I have always went a minimum of 6 weeks...ie 2 weeks primary...2 weeks secondary & 2 weeks in bottle or pressure barrel.
I now have a couple of corny kegs now and was wondering if I could confidently increase my turnover of beers?
I brewed a mangrove jack's new zealand American Pal Ale on 21st July before racking it into secondary on the 5th Aug along with 50g of American Cascade to dry hop.
I plan to keg it on saturday which would be a total of 25 days (6 days dry hopped).
I then seen a guy on you tube recommending......purge your keg...put in 45psi and rock on your knees for 3 mins......then wait few mins then taste to test.
if not enough a further 1 min rocked on knees etc etc till you happy with it.
It wasn't clear however at this point whether he reduced the gas to serving pressure.
I don't leave my gas connected all the time in fear of leaks...So if I used this method once I had cranked up to 45psi would i then just reduce to serving pressure eg 10psi
how soon would u recommend it could be drunk after this method....

ps... I use hop pellets in a muslin back to dry hop... The last pint of my keg was like like mud with all the hop sediment.
would it be advisable for example to first remove hop bag from secondary...and rack into a clean FV and leave for day or two before kegging. Or would there be little difference as I will always get that stuff at bottom of keg. Look forward to your replies ty.

 

[Drunkula]

how soon would u recommend it could be drunk after this method....

For me - pffft, 45 seconds. Of course the beers mostly do get better over time but your turnover will go up because you don't have that extra priming fermentation and settling time. When you keg a beer it might have finished ages before and priming kinda wastes that time.

Kegging is great but because you don't have the bottles showing you your tally for an evening that thing can be empty in three sessions.

 

[MrRook]

2 2 and 2 is totally unnecessary. Mid range beers (<1.050) can be bottled after 2 weeks in primary. In most cases secondary is a waste of time and effort.

 

[phildo79]

I don't bother with a secondary. Don't think I ever have. As for hop pellets, I just chuck them in loose and ties a fine mesh bag around the end of the syphon tube when transferring to the keg. Or at least that is what I used to do before fermenting under pressure. Hop debris can be a right pain in the arse if it clogs up your dip tube. My last pint, before the keg kicks, is always clear but when you open the keg, there is a load of mud like gunk in the bottom.

To burst carb, I leave the keg in the fridge for about 24 hours, then hook up the gas at 30 psi and roll it back and forth for 5 mins. Then SLOWLY reduce the psi (whilst still connected) to serving psi. If you reduce it too quickly, beer will come back up the tube, out the reg and hit the ceiling. I have always found this method to work, as far as carbing levels are concerned. Occasionally, I will feel like the carb level could be slightly higher. When this happens, I just leave the gas connected, at serving psi, overnight. This usually does the trick.

You will almost certainly have a higher turnaround if you have enough kegs. I find 3 to be the magic number for me.

You will also have a far higher turnaround if you get away from kits and perhaps brew with extract and grains. For some reason, I have always found that kits take a minimum of 4 weeks, from brew day, to come good. You could halve or even quarter that with extract and grains. I had a very drinkable IPA that was turned around in 8 days.

 

[peebee]

2+2+2? Isn't that the amount of time before the beer goes off? Better to get the beer drunk before then?

Actually it's guidance for new-comers to beer brewing to help produce decent beer. And effective guidance as I understand it.

 

[ppsmith]

I’ve broken records with my latest batch (Jarl clone). Brew day was last Thursday, it had fermented out by Monday. Kegged it on Tuesday and I’m drinking it now.

it might improve given time but I’m impatient and it tastes pretty good to me

 

[darkbright]

It's your beer. Drink it however and whenever you like.

 

[uDicko]

Kegging is great but because you don't have the bottles showing you your tally for an evening that thing can be empty in three sessions.

This has escaped me many an inquisition, just sneak a couple extra

 

[Clint]

... yes,I have an ever growing family of empties..you have to keep brewing to hide them...

 

[An Ankoù]

Two weeks primary fermentation is often too long for an ale or stout, especially when it's warm. 3-5 days in secondary gets the beer off the trub and the racking helps the beer drop clear, even without chilling and that's when I'd add the dry hops. So count on 2 weeks-ish before bottling. Once in the bottle, you're looking at four weeks if you're lucky, and six is better.
When I used pressure barrels, I'd do primary in the FV and secondary in the PV and normally start drinking within a week or so after that. It's a completely different ball game.

 

[jof]

If you are making standard strength beer (ales, not lager) 4-5% then I think 1 month should be fine from spring to autumn - but maybe a little longer in the winter for secondary fermentation - depending on where you store it.

Primary fermentation is usually about 1 week, but can take up to 10 days for me in the winter. Also longer if you make your beer stronger.

Once bottled - wait a couple of weeks & shine a torch through the bottle to determine if its clear enough to serve

 

[user 18729]

It’s dependant on your process- yeast strain, health, temperature, pitch rate etc. I tent to go from grain to glass in 2 weeks (Force carb) or 3weeks bottle conditioned

 

[Doive]

Usually brew on a Friday & the yeast has done it's business by the Tuesday. Transfer into either a King Keg or corny to finish in secondary, add any dry hops as required in a stainless mesh container for the desired duration. Remove hops, pressurise to 30psi for 12 hours, then reduce slowly to ~10psi & begin dispensing. So, dry hopping notwithstanding, I can brew on a Friday, and be enjoying a pint of it by the following Friday brewday.

 

[mathorp]

My beers generally finish fermenting in 3 to 4 days, then 1 day to chill plus 1 or 2 days to clarify with colloidal silica before transfer to a corny keg. Some yeast (e.g. WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale) does not need clarification. Altogether this is 7 days from grain to glass.

These are all grain beers in various styles of pale ale and stout.

Storing the beer longer does not improve it at the strength I brew - about 5 to 6%. Getting it away from the dead yeast ASAP seems to help the flavour.

 

[peebee]

... Storing the beer longer does not improve it at the strength I brew - about 5 to 6%. Getting it away from the dead yeast ASAP seems to help the flavour.

That has to be wrong. Storing the beer longer does not improve the beers you brew perhaps, but I wouldn't drink beer as strong as 5-6% after only a week. The 6% beer I've just started has matured for 3 months … and needed that time!

 

[Leon103]

Brewed a saison 11 days ago, going to be drinking it tonight

 

[mathorp]

That has to be wrong. Storing the beer longer does not improve the beers you brew perhaps, but I wouldn't drink beer as strong as 5-6% after only a week. The 6% beer I've just started has matured for 3 months … and needed that time!

Agreed - I can only comment on the beers I brew. My perception is that the hops fade a little as time goes by. Otherwise I find the malt stays constant. I know that conventional wisdom in home brewing goes against my observations here.

 

[Leard]

Usually 10 days in the primary for me. Depends on the beer though. I brewed a wheat pale not too long ago and it was done after 7 days in the primary. Then into the corny keg where I sometimes dry hop. Leave at room temperature for 3 days. Then I cold crash for a day and carbonate in the kegerator. So far I've been force carbing where you set a high pressure and shake the keg, I'll usually then have one glass to taste. However I'm going to start burst carbing which takes a few more days. So all in all I'll be drinking beer roughly 14-20 days after the brew day.

 

[Moe]

My last brew was grain to glass in 9 days: 8 days in primary, 20 ish hours in the fridge and then force carbonated in the keg (40psi, shake, repeat). Probably could have shaved a couple of days off this but I didn’t have a chance to keg it until Saturday anyway.
It probably will improve with age but it’s totally drinkable now so why wait

 

[peebee]

My last brew was grain to glass in 9 days: …

I don't get it? What is this tap on the front of the fermenter for? Don't I keep pouring out glasses from this tap from day one, and when it stops making me sick after 1/2 pint it must be ready?

And who's that clown above who thinks some beer needs 3 months? The sod nicked my avatar too.