Bottles conditioning for 8 days...should I sample?

[BeerAddikt]

I haven't home brewed in over 6 years and my first batch since then (Amber Ale) has been bottle conditioning for 8 days now at about 70 degrees. The bottles are taunting me every time I walk into my fermentation cave (spare bathroom ).

Should I put one in the fridge and sample in a few days or just suck it up and wait longer? I'm dying to try these but don't want to waste a bottle that's not ready yet. I need some sort of motivation, my will power is whittling away.

 

[TheMadKing]

do it.. try one... nobody will know..

 

[jerbrew]

If you want to taste it then do it. When I exclusively bottled, taking one out of 50 bottles to drink "too early" never bothered me. put it in the fridge and drink it tomorrow its your beer.

 

[unionrdr]

I prefer to wait it out. I know in 8 days, on average, they won't be carbed much at all. Maybe tasting a bit green yet as well.

 

[MarkZ56]

I always wrestle with it myself and usually (always) cave and try one when I have the urge. I always tend to feel like I enjoy them more after 3 weeks in the bottle and feel sad that I 'wasted' one too early.

I balance that with the fact that no matter when I start drinking them, I'm sad when I run out so maybe I just like beer.

I like beer.....

I'm with jerbrew. Its your beer. Do with it as you please.

 

[Tknishi]

you haven't brewed in 6 years.....pretty sure you deserve to try one of those beers early.

 

[GHBWNY]

You can try one early, though 3 weeks @ 70F and a week in the fridge will give you a better idea of how it's come out. That said, if it tastes good now, you can probably expect it to taste better down the road and that's a good thing!

 

[Electrake]

I couldn't help myself after bottling my saison... 5 days in I wrapped a bottle in wet paper towel and popped it in the freezer for 15 minutes. I was utterly surprised when it gave a hiss as i cracked the top open, I had even exclaimed to my wife that there's no way it's fizzy yet. Anyways, it was pleasantly carbonated, although I had planned to carbonate quite heavily.

 

[Terek]

Most of my beers are carbed enough to drink in 5 days or less. Fully carbed in 8-10 days. It may taste a bit green, from lack of aging, but the carb level should be fine. The ONLY time i have had a beer not carb up in 8-10 days was a very low abv brown that i cold crashed with gelatin. That one took 4 weeks.

 

[Sadu]

Yeah do it. It's good to get a feel for how the beer is progressing. I think they do get better once fully carbonated but no harm in sneaking one.

I snuck one after 4 days in my last batch - it was pretty much flat and a waste of a bottle. Next time I'll add in a few smaller sized bottles sor pre-sampling.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

do it.. try one... nobody will know..

This^

I take out sample bottles at the 1 week mark to check if they are starting to carb, it's very obvious when they aren't (this is with beers less than 8%, anything higher I wait till 4 weeks to bother checking). It's a good way to check if it's started to carb or if it's already massively carbed, it which cases the bottles are heading for bottle bombs and require a safe bunker to keep them in.

 

[GHBWNY]

Yeah do it. It's good to get a feel for how the beer is progressing.

Agree. Afterall, brewing is "science" and science involves, amongst other things, experimentation and data collection, both of which are legit reasons for tasting one of your beers at ANY point along the way. I always draw at least a full hydro tube FG sample at least 3 times prior to conditioning to taste what's going on. Amazing how much a beer can change in a couple weeks' time. I do this all for 'science' of course...

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I bought and drank a 6 of Corona ponies ( it was a labor of love )just so I could have the smaller bottles for sample bottles. Most times at the end of week one there is enough carbonation to call it okay. Let us know what you did.

 

[Bradlo]

I use twist off bottles (NOT long necks - the ones Kevita comes in) for some of my bottling. They come in handy for checking carb and aging. I find that my pales, ambers, and IPAs are carbed in 3 to 5 days. Drinkable enough in 5 - 7. In another few days they start to get nice.

 

[CUrchin]

A few weeks from now you'll be wishing you had just one more beer from that batch. Just saying.

 

[brewcat]

I sample throughout the process. It's research.

 

[PADave]

I almost always sample after 1 week in the bottle and they have always had some carbonation. I like to see how the beer gets better over time.

 

[Yooper]

I would. They are probably fully carbed, and if the beer is well made, it won't be "green".

Conditioning is part of the process, sure, but lengthy conditioning is rarely necessary for most ales. If it's a beer with lots of complex flavors, time is a good thing, but in many cases it's not needed.

 

[BeerAddikt]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I've caved in and have one cooling in the freezer as we speak. Will crack it open in bit and give an update.

And I love the idea of getting some of the tiny corona bottles for sampling. It sucks that they are clear but that's not a deal breaker if they are just for sampling.

 

[PGEduardo]

I hate waiting even though I keg. What I do instead if my pipeline is low is reward/placate myself by buying a new commercial microbrew. Or two. That will keep me busy while I wait for it to carb up...

 

[Singletrack]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I've caved in and have one cooling in the freezer as we speak. Will crack it open in bit and give an update.

And I love the idea of getting some of the tiny corona bottles for sampling. It sucks that they are clear but that's not a deal breaker if they are just for sampling.

Nooooo!

Okay, yeah, of course you are going to sample after one week. I wouldn't think twice about it.

Lots of comments here, without anyone asking what yeast you're using and ABV. IME, 1 week is never enough for full carbonation, yet others say that's enough time for them -- and I don't doubt them. So what gives? Maybe they aren't working their yeast hard enough during fermentation. I make mine WORK. By bottling time, they WILL be tired, but I will ask a little more from them anyway. By the time carbonation is completed -- in 2 to 3 weeks -- my yeast are so exhausted that all they can do is sink to the bottom of the bottle.

Okay, none of this matters to you, because you NEEDED to sample yours, regardless of carbonation level. However, there may be an alternative better than getting small bottles for sampling. Brew larger batches for more bottles. I don't feel bad about sampling a bottle at 1 week, because I have 41 more, and 38 of them are bombers.

 

[BeerAddikt]

However, there may be an alternative better than getting small bottles for sampling. Brew larger batches for more bottles. I don't feel bad about sampling a bottle at 1 week, because I have 41 more, and 38 of them are bombers.

Now that's some advice! How can you disagree with a person telling you to brew larger batches?

 

[worlddivides]

It's not gonna be fully carbed, but I say do it. Personally, with the first beers I brewed, I tried them every 5 days or so. At the very least, it teaches you that beers usually aren't ready until about 2 weeks after they've been bottled, but it is satisfying (at least, at first) to see how far along they are. Then you gradually learn, "You know, I probably should wait at least 2 weeks before sampling them." But, since it's been 6 years since you brewed, I say "Try one."

 

[BeerAddikt]

So I cracked the bottle open to a nice crisp sound...it's carbonated, almost completely.

The smell is amazing...bready malt with a slightly hoppy aroma.

The taste is good IMO but I can tell it's not fully aged and a bit green. There's some obvious yeast bite to it.

The head was good on pour but didn't retain well and I had a ton of chill haze but that doesn't bother me.

I'M STOKED!!!! Cheers...

 

[DaNewf]

The cure for wanting to sample a bottle early is to have plenty of other beer that is ready to enjoy.

I'm going to be bottling a wheat beer soon. I'll have no problem leaving it for my standard 3 weeks since I have many bottles of blonde ale, brown ale and foreign extra stout I can drink in the meanwhile. I also have 3 different wines to choose from.

So my advice is get a pipeline going.

 

[Jim311]

I think the best IPAs I've ever had were in the bottle MAYBE 3 days conditioning. The flavor is just out of control good. I have since went to kegging to drink these beers super young!

 

[mattdee1]

Sample whenever the heck you feel like it. Myself, I don't like the "every early sample is one less good beer you'll have at the end" argument, even if it's sometimes true. Doing 10gal batches I get upwards of 100 bottles. If full 6 packs grew legs and walked away in the middle of the night, I probably wouldn't even notice. Sampling 2-3 before the often recommended 3-4 weeks is way too insignificant to hold you back from sampling a beer you desperately want to sample.

 

[unionrdr]

Meh. I just conditioned myself to stop being so impatient & wait until they're ready to properly enjoy them. Although some do condition faster than others...even with the same style. So it's still a learning curve.

 

[GHBWNY]

Sample whenever the heck you feel like it. Myself, I don't like the "every early sample is one less good beer you'll have at the end" argument, even if it's sometimes true. Doing 10gal batches I get upwards of 100 bottles. If full 6 packs grew legs and walked away in the middle of the night, I probably wouldn't even notice. Sampling 2-3 before the often recommended 3-4 weeks is way too insignificant to hold you back from sampling a beer you desperately want to sample.

Agree. Again, for scientific research.

 

[PADave]

I just sampled my latest brew, a black IPA. Was in the bottle 6 days. Was carbed and was really good. Glad I had 2 in the fridge.

 

[Clavain46]

Yes sample. It might be a tad green but it's still beer, it won't hurt you and it might be delish. I usually sample on day 7 in the bottle, if for no other reason than to see if it's carbonating.

 

[brockchance]

Can you tell if it's carbed without crackin one??

 

[Singletrack]

Can you tell if it's carbed without crackin one??

I can't, but some can. They use one of those water... er, beer witches. Or, I guess, some fill one or two plastic bottles per batch so they can feel how hard they are.

 

[khannon]

Feeling how hard they are.. guess my twelve year old self is showing.

 

[unionrdr]

Uh huhhuh, huh...they said hard!... Those plastic bottles really get a major stiffy when they're all carbed up & no where to blow...Cooper's cums to mind...

 

[BeerAddikt]

Status update: Bottles are officially past the 2 week mark and don't seem any more carbonated that they were at 8 days, however the flavor of the beer is improved. Delicious stuff if I do say so myself.

Me and my mates have already consumed at least 15 bottles at this point and all who have tried it said they would buy it off me if I was willing to part ways...I'm not.