Bottle conditioning

[xmacro]

Is beer sufficiently matured after a month-long primary fermentation, or does the second month of bottling/leaving at room temp contribute anything to the maturation process (besides carbonation of course)?

 

[Revvy]

It really depends on the beer. There's no quatifiable answer that can be defnitive, there's thousands of variables at play for every beer. All you can do is taste your beer after it's carbed and see. Some will, some won't. If they aren't leave them til they are.

Think about it logically...we don't know from any batch in the fermenter how long the yeast need to do anything and how long the flavors need to marry....so How do you know if your beer needs 4 weeks to condition in primary and comes out the bottle fine, or needs 4 weeks before and 8 weeks in bottle, or if you left it for 8 weeks in primary or secondary......and would the same recipe/batch behave differently next time you brew it?

I always say, a beer needs EXACTLY how long it needs, and not a moment sooner.

Remember when dealing with living microorganisms there's always wildcard factors at play.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Some beers will benifit from more time, others will not. In general, harsh flavors will mellow. So lighter ales, that don't have much flavor, are better off with less time ageing, and complex beers do better with more time as some of the flavors that may have been hidden will come out. There's quite a bit more to it, but that's my nut shell version of it.

 

[unionrdr]

The bottle carbing/conditioning process is beyond the length of primary time. They condition as they carbonate. But I've found conditioning takes a little longer. About 1 week more for the average pale ale.

 

[xmacro]

Much appreciated

I've been thinking about moving to kegs, and whether to stick the keg directly in the fridge after primary or let it sit for another month under carbonation.

So would this be a good game plan for bigger beers?:

- 1st month: primary fermentation

- 2nd month: Put beer in keg, gas it once to 20 PSI, disconnect gas, and let keg sit at room temp for a second month to continue clean-up

- 2 weeks: Put beer back on gas after second month, set to 12 PSI (according to gas/temp chart for 2.7 volumes), leave for 2 weeks so beer slow carbs

 

[xmacro]

Much appreciated

I've been thinking about moving to kegs, and whether to stick the keg directly in the fridge after primary or let it sit for another month under carbonation.

So would this be a good game plan for bigger beers?:

- 1st month: primary fermentation

- 2nd month: Put beer in keg, gas it once to 20 PSI, disconnect gas, and let keg sit at room temp for a second month to continue clean-up

- 2 weeks: Put beer back on gas after second month, set to 12 PSI (according to gas/temp chart for 2.7 volumes), leave for 2 weeks so beer slow carbs

Bump - just wondering if this will work