Is it just me?

[seabrew8]

Hey folks, i brewed an all grain irish red ale just 10 days ago and it tastes great and it is clear with no chill haze! It just needs probably another 10 days to carb better but i can easily drink this beer has is.

I fermented it for 6 days at 20C, cold crashed for 2 days and then bottled. If i could of hooked it up to a keg instead this would of been my best AG homebrew EVER TODAY!

I see nothing wrong with all the wait wait advice on HBT but i'm starting to think its a personal choice and really good beer can be made much faster then a lot of folks espouse.

Thoughts?

 

[mattdee1]

I agree with you to a point. The community dogma definitely pushes a wait, wait, wait philosophy and almost stigmatizes early drinking as a foolish noob practice.

But, time does different things to different beers; of this, I am fully convinced.

For my low-ish ABV blonde and pale ales, I have seen zero benefit to waiting beyond 2 weeks primary + 1 week bottle conditioning. Stouts are different. I'm not yet on board with the idea that you need 6, 9, 12 or whatever months of bottle conditioning to do them justice, but based on my tasting notes I've seen marked improvements at 2+ months in bottle as compared to 2 weeks.

 

[kev211]

I agree with you to a point. The community dogma definitely pushes a wait, wait, wait philosophy and almost stigmatizes early drinking as a foolish noob practice.

But, time does different things to different beers; of this, I am fully convinced.

For my low-ish ABV blonde and pale ales, I have seen zero benefit to waiting beyond 2 weeks primary + 1 week bottle conditioning. Stouts are different. I'm not yet on board with the idea that you need 6, 9, 12 or whatever months of bottle conditioning to do them justice, but based on my tasting notes I've seen marked improvements at 2+ months in bottle as compared to 2 weeks.

Im on board with this. IPA's, APA's, etc grain to glass in about 3 weeks. But I have noticed improvements in my choco stout and especially my cinnamon vanilla milk stout that I recently did. I think the flavors meshed and the more dominant/harsh flavors became more subdued the longer I left it. Its way better now than it was December 1st

 

[mattdee1]

I think the flavors meshed and the more dominant/harsh flavors became more subdued the longer I left it. Its way better now than it was December 1st

This is almost exactly what I saw in my notes for my stouts. The best part is, I know I wasn't "conditioned" to see that happen because it's even in the notes for my very first brew and I didn't know **** from shinola about how things work when I wrote it.

 

[seabrew8]

I agree with you to a point. The community dogma definitely pushes a wait, wait, wait philosophy and almost stigmatizes early drinking as a foolish noob practice.

But, time does different things to different beers; of this, I am fully convinced.

For my low-ish ABV blonde and pale ales, I have seen zero benefit to waiting beyond 2 weeks primary + 1 week bottle conditioning. Stouts are different. I'm not yet on board with the idea that you need 6, 9, 12 or whatever months of bottle conditioning to do them justice, but based on my tasting notes I've seen marked improvements at 2+ months in bottle as compared to 2 weeks.

Yeah i should of added the red was only 1.046 OG. Like i said this beer would of been my best batch ever if i could of force carbed in only 10-12 days grain to glass. It tastes great and its a clone - got the basic recipe from the actual brewmaster - of the first craft beer that made me realize beer can be tasty!

 

[blizz81]

Can good beer be made and consumed fast? Sure

Will this be ideal or even work for every beer? No

If you bottle and follow this as dogma for all beers, will you experience more bottle bombs than the average brewer? Most likely

 

[kev211]

This is almost exactly what I saw in my notes for my stouts. The best part is, I know I wasn't "conditioned" to see that happen because it's even in the notes for my very first brew and I didn't know **** from shinola about how things work when I wrote it.

Ya, and what I noticed is that my "control group" aka the wife, mentioned the changed in taste without being prompted. She enjoys beer and drinks mine, but is much less of a beer geek than me. So, it was cool to see that even more "inexperienced" (for lack of a better term) palates can discern the change

 

[MFWINZLOW]

I think the intent has everything to motivate one way or the other.
If you are going to consume it all...drink it when you like it.
OTOH, if you are looking to impress someone or entering into competition, you should give the time that is needed maybe more.

It's YOUR beer...drink it when YOU want to

 

[BadWolfBrewing]

I've made beers that were pretty tasty straight out of the fermenter, so I get it. I have a Pliny clone on tap now that is fantastic the instant it gets close to carbed up, and you want to drink it ASAP. I have an RIS on tap that gets better with every passing month. Two extreme examples, but it is enough to illustrate that there is no such thing as an accurate, generalized rule in brewing. Every beer is different. Heck, every batch is different.

As mentioned, you can play a little more fast and loose with kegging. With bottling, the risk of fermentation starting back up is enough to make me patient. Haven't bottled in a LONG time though, so my opinion probably isn't worth much on that front.

 

[seabrew8]

I think the intent has everything to motivate one way or the other.
If you are going to consume it all...drink it when you like it.
OTOH, if you are looking to impress someone or entering into competition, you should give the time that is needed maybe more.

It's YOUR beer...drink it when YOU want to

I like that one. Its your beer drink it whenever you want!

 

[MFWINZLOW]

.

 

[TheHopfather]

The "wait, wait and wait some more" advice tends to pop up on the beginners forum more often than not. You hear it get preached because you see so many "what's wrong with my beer?" threads that are often just inexperienced brewers drinking green beer. I've done some beers grain to glass in 2 weeks (kegs) that were great. I've had other beers that peaked after 3 or 4 weeks in bottles.

Each beer is different, there are no hard and fast rules as to how long to leave everything.

 

[seabrew8]

The "wait, wait and wait some more" advice tends to pop up on the beginners forum more often than not. You hear it get preached because you see so many "what's wrong with my beer?" threads that are often just inexperienced brewers drinking green beer. I've done some beers grain to glass in 2 weeks (kegs) that were great. I've had other beers that peaked after 3 or 4 weeks in bottles.

Each beer is different, there are no hard and fast rules as to how long to leave everything.

For sure, i just see a lot of 3-4 week primary and 3 weeks in the bottle for an average ale. I think its way over the top personally in most cases. For my tastes at least, maybe i'm just really lucky that i like young beer a lot.

I'm actually a new all grain brewer but i spent thousands of dollars in brewpubs and beer stores trying everything under the sun.

 

[Sammy86]

I tend to agree that it does depend on the style of beer. With my beers I'm usually grain to glass in 28 days. Two weeks for fermentation, 5 days for dry hopping, 2 days cold crash, keg and then let it sit on gas and I'm good to go.

 

[jiMithing83]

This is almost exactly what I saw in my notes for my stouts. The best part is, I know I wasn't "conditioned" to see that happen because it's even in the notes for my very first brew and I didn't know **** from shinola about how things work when I wrote it.

I independently confirmed that my milk stout was better at 2 months than 2 weeks, and at 9 months than at 2 months, by giving some to SWMBO.

2 weeks: this is gross
2 months: that's so much better than it was!
9 months: make this again. no, like right now. if I have to wait 9 months for it to taste like this you should be making it right now.

 

[seabrew8]

I guess i could of read this post - again.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=84005

But isn't a forum more of an interactive platform then a library? Thats what makes it fun IMO.

 

[Stillraining]

No way! All beer takes 6 weeks minimum......someone had to say it.....its the code.

 

[seabrew8]

No way! All beer takes 6 week minimum......someone had to say it.....its the code.

Off topic - in the context of your sig - i have to say the grainfather i bought a month ago took my beer from zero to hero in 4 weeks.

 

[bluue13]

Any of my bigger or darker beers I tend to wait just a little bit longer, but IPAs, PAs, etc... I give them the 2 week carb time and then pop 'em!

 

[Stillraining]

Off topic - in the context of your sig - i have to say the grainfather i bought a month ago took my beer from zero to hero in 4 weeks.

Ah..well that's only because you finally decided to be nice and brew something your wife would drink after allowing you to spent that kind of money on your " little hobby" as she puts it