Waiting time

[junior1]

Ok guys I would like to know on average when ive brewed an AG batch how long should I leave in the bottle's before drinking .As in some books it says a boy 6 weeks.

 

[HisDudeness]

Depends what you are brewing but I think generally most people stick to 2 weeks to carb up in the warm followed by 2 weeks cool/cold conditioning as a minimum. That said a lot of AG beers are pretty drinkable as soon as they are carbonated, wheat beer I have found is fine to drink very young and light hoppy beers as well are often better fresh. Generally the more complex/dark/strong the recipe the longer it will take to reach its best in some case months rather than weeks. I have a porter conditioning that I will cold condition for at least a month based on previous experience where I had drunk most of a batch before it really came good!

 

[junior1]

Great thanks for the info .its an apollo single hop ale it's 6.5% really looking forward to tasting it

 

[HisDudeness]

At that strength I would try and leave it a bit longer if possible but its a good idea to sample at the various stages of conditioning as well to get an idea of how the beer develops.

 

[Fil]

its a matter of personal taste, by all means sample a bottle as soon as you want to, i think i prefer my beer more mature than some as i will gladly let a brew sit for a couple of months.

generally speaking beers with lighter malt bills tend to mature quicker, and beers brewed with dry hop additions for huge aroma effects tend to be drunk green to get the most aroma in the pint.
as a rule of thumb if you dont think a brew is at its best when you sample it let it sit a few more weeks before cracking another sample..

 

[VW911]

Call me impatient, but I rarely leave mine more than a week before "testing"!

 

[Covrich]

Depends on the style, stronger ones will take longer but honestly I find my AG are great mostly after 4 weeks, but I always try a few before then on like 2 weeks and even then they are pretty good..

I don't make a batch drink than and then make a batch ect.. I always have a few spread out so I am half way through a batch or two, some nearly at the end and some at the start. I will genereally consume a batch over several months..

 

[simon12]

Just like most people have said light hoppy beers are better young darker grainy beers improve with age also the higher the abv the longer you want to wait. Also if you are dry hopping the extra aroma can fade fast.

 

[geetee]

For me I think 4-5 days for secondary fermentation /carbonation followed by 7-10 days as cold as possible to prevent haze and to condition. Usually will drink some before then to test.