Carbonation?

I just bottled up my first batch of homebrew last night. How long does it take to become carbonated?

Depends on how high of ABV it is, if its a standard IPA around 5-6%, leave it at room temperature(70ish) for a minimum of 2 weeks...then throw ONE bottle in the fridge for 24 hours and sample it.

If its not to your liking, wait another week and repeat...by week 4 it should be done unless its an imperial or other high ABV brew. Most of the time by week 2 its not quite done but still carbonated enough that its drinkable.

Putting it in the fridge is key, the liquid getting cold for several hours is what absorbs a lot of the CO2 into the beer.

The average gravity beer will take 3-4 weeks at warm room temp to carb & condition. Then a week in the fridge to get god head & carbonation. Not to mention,a few days to get chill haze settle out,if any. Two weeks fridge time gives thicker head & longer lasting carbonation. & the yeast settlings compact on the bottom of the bottle more.

Three weeks @ 70 degrees F is the baseline for typical beers. Higher gravity or colder temps can take longer. Some get carbonation quicker than that, but the three week mark is a great rule of thumb.