When do you start drinking a new brew?

[timtoos]

I brewed a landlord clone 30/3 and racked to brite tank 11/4.
It's carbed up and I was planning on serving through a beer engine.
When would you think this is ready? I usually drink early but not sure I should be for this style.
Is there a rough idea, 3/4/5 weeks?
OG was 1.044.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

This depends on stock. If I have stock then my new batch gets to mature without too much interference. If I’m completely out of stock (of that beer), my first pint is taken out of the fermenter!

Maturation is different for each beer with bitters taking just a week or two, most other ales taking three to six weeks, and at the other end of the scale strong ales like imperial stout can take months.

Highly hopped ales can be a bit more challenging because as the beer matures the hops fade so you need to find your sweet spot. For my own Summer Breeze ale the sweet spot is from two to six weeks - it doesn’t usually last the whole four weeks though.

 

[timtoos]

TBH the plan was to let mature 2 weeks but I have no beer in at all - except some kronenbourg!
Think I'll get serving it tomorrow

 

[Graz]

Depends on my stock and the beer style. Darker beers I try to leave for longer. Lighter stuff happy to drink around 2-4 weeks after kegging.

I have an IPA kit for my next brew and I'm purposely delaying brewing it so it can be drunk while it's nice and fresh.

 

[timtoos]

thanks all for the advice

 

[Didge]

I usually start drinking mine about a month after bottling.

Although I've recently sampled a new brew just 5 days after bottling, it was clear and absolutely beautiful, in fact its tastes better than any other brew in my store room.

 

[NormanHurst]

I try and keep to 2+2+2 but invariably open a bottle of 2 a fortnight or so after bottling.

This is total impatience on my behalf but I justify by telling myself I am learning how beer changes and develops as or conditions.

 

[cushyno]

I'm finding that for around 5% beers with a little colour and fruity character they are improving most up to the 5 week mark. For lighter, simpler pale ales around 4% three weeks seems to be enough.

Most of my brews have so far been packaged in bottles, so seem to take a little longer to carb before conditioning. Because of this I've ordered a set of kegs to do that bulk conditioning a bit earlier and save some bottles to condition longer.

 

[doccy]

I bottle my brews and usually wait three weeks, probably my imagination but I find bottled conditioned beer goes through a few different phases - maybe hoppy and fresh for 3 to 6 weeks, goes through a bit of a bitter stage for a week or so and finally after that settles down to a more measured hop taste but probably the best tasting at this stage. Purely anecdotal though.

 

[Alan_Reginato]

2 months after brew, with min 1 month after bottling. Because, sometimes I let 3 to 4 weeks in the fermenter, with cold crash included.

 

[timtoos]

Thanks all. I guess it depends on style. MM say the Taylors Landlord is best left a while to get better but I cant see TT having the space to be able to age to this degree. I am sure 1 month is more than enough and in reality 2 weeks in BBT is more than enough. I'm just like a kid at Christmas when I have a new beer and I wanna dive straight in.
I resisted hooking up and dispensing yesterday. I may struggle this weekend though if the sun keeps shining. I was planning (hoping) to be able to get the party started next weekend after 2 weeks (ish) of conditioning - its my little lads birthday so thought it would be a good time for me to start the sampling process.

 

[damienair]

I am new since beginning of December. I learnt pretty quickly not to invite over the next door neighbour to enjoy the fruits of my labour in my garage whilst socially distanced in lockdown. I follow the 2+2+2 advice. But my first two brews were left drank within a month. Reason why there is a partial ban on my great neighbour. So I basically started fresh so as to build up a healthy stash of beer. I have the below ready:
Mangrove Jacks Pink Grapefruit IPA
Festival Oaked Apple Cider
Bruphoria James Blonde Ale
Conditioning- Mangrove Jacks Bavarian Wheat Beer
Bottling - Mangrove Jacks Juicy Session IPA

It has been hard holding off, but I wanted to wait until all 5 brews were ready. So I’ll be enjoying the fruits of my labour in the middle of May in perfect time for BBQ season. I’ve also just ordered a cool box so as to have a nice garden refrigerator.

My plan is to always have something of my own to drink and have something in the FV.

 

[CD]

As soon as it starts to taste superior to the bottles of commercial beer I've been forced to drink, which is usually about a fortnight after brewing.

 

[Clint]

So...if the same brew was bottled,put in a pb or force carbed in a corny,which would condition better and be ready sooner?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

So...if the same brew was bottled,put in a pb or force carbed in a corny,which would condition better and be ready sooner?

This is more about HOW the carbonation is achieved. Forced carbonation is just a few hours, carbonation by secondary fermentation will take several days.

You can force carbonate all and you can use secondary carbonation for all.

 

[Clint]

Hmmm. I see carbonation and conditioning as separate processes..as commercial brewers aren't waiting round for beer to come good..

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Hmmm. I see carbonation and conditioning as separate processes..as commercial brewers aren't waiting round for beer to come good..

They are. Carbonation can happen in hours - it can even be achieved during fermentation! Conditioning takes longer and is arguably more important because this is more about flavour. As a home brewer you have no commercial pressure so in theory conditioning is more important - but you might also be impatient

 

[Clint]

They are. Carbonation can happen in hours - it can even be achieved during fermentation! Conditioning takes longer and is arguably more important because this is more about flavour. As a home brewer you have no commercial pressure so in theory conditioning is more important - but you might also be impatient

If I rearrange ", impatient" I keep getting "greedy pig"!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

If I rearrange ", impatient" I keep getting "greedy pig"!

Well if you are that would make 2 of us!

 

[Clint]

Okey dokey pig in a pokey!