whens my beer ready?

[shaun]

hello every one,

is there an easy way to tell whne my beer is ready to drink?
acording to the instructions it should be ready from next monday but should i leave it a little longer, im trying to have a dry january so im goint to try and leave it till the 1st of feb. then going to reward my self with a nice bottle of my home brew?

also is there a way of working out how strong it is i was going to go on the method of drinking 6 bottles of it and seeing if i can speak properly lol

Thanks

Shaun :

 

[phettebs]

Well, it's ready to drink when it's ready to drink. :-) There are a lot of variables at play here. What was the original gravity? What is the current gravity? Is it still dropping? Strong beers typically take longer than lower gravity beers. There's no simple answer on when it's ready. As the brewer, you can decide when it's ready for you to drink. However, it may or may not be at its prime when you do!

You can tell how strong the beer will be by taking an original gravity reading via hydrometer at the beginning and then one at the end of fermentation. There are formulas that will calculate the abv based on that.

Baz

 

[oldbloke]

If you're bottling, you'll be wanting to give it a few weeks to condition and carbonate anyway, so your dry January is safe.

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Send it to me by courier and I'll keep checking it and let you know when it's in peek condition.... :thumb:

BB :drink:

 

[Duxuk]

Beer needs a week for every ten points of OG over a thousand. So if it's 1040 it needs 4 weeks.

I read that somewhere, probably on this forum. It sounds very unscientific and I've no idea whether it is advice of any use at all!

I suppose the only truth in it is that stronger beers usually take longer to reach their peak of scrumptiousness.

I'm very impatient and often notice how the last few bottles are the best 'cos I started drinking it too soon. :

 

[calumscott]

A week for every ten points of gravity dropped isn't a bad start point.

"Big" beer needs longer on top of that, Dark beers add a bit more, light beers may be ready a bit quicker.

Wheats are, I've been told, ready very quickly.

 

[LeedsBrewer]

after bottling you leave it in the warm for 2 weeks, then move it to a colder location (mine are in the garage) for 3 weeks. Then you can start on them. Though if you leave them longer they're better. i find they get pretty good around the 12 week period. :thumb:

 

[shaun]

thanks every one i didnt understand hald of what was said but im going to leave it till feb then try one and see how good it tastes. :drink:

 

[carl_saint]

The longer you leave it the better it gets!