What is the Science behind "Waiting" or "Time"

[Majed41]

I really want know What is the Science behind "Waiting" or "Time" when it comes to brewing ?
i mean what we waiting for exactly ? is there some Molecules drop out over time or mix with each other ?
and why with all the technology we have we can't speed that up ?

 

[shoengine]

You can speed almost anything up with increased temperature. Try it!

Also, a hint on what specifically you are wondering about would be helpful, such as fermentation, haze, mashing, etc.

 

[Bobby_M]

There is a lot of waiting. Wait for water to heat, wait for enzymes to mash. Wait for wort to boil. Wait for hops to isomerize. Wait for wort to cool. Wait for attenuation. Wait for byproduct cleanup. Wait for clearing. Wait for carbonation. All of those are important but which one are you asking about?

 

[Protos]

is there some Molecules drop out over time or mix with each other

I understand the time is needed for the molecules to interact with each other and to form new desirable chemical compounds. Technically, it's possible to speed up those processes. But then the reactions will proceed in a slightly different way not always giving desirable results. And undesirable processes would be speeded up as well and might prevail.
Just look at the Big Beer industry: they're aiming for the fastest turnover possible, they employ a lot of advanced techniques to reach that, but even they are able to speed things up only that much, or else they'll get a totally unacceptable product.

 

[Bramling Cross]

The science of time is in a bit of an awkward place right now. The Large Hadron Collider has failed to find the supersymmetric "sparticles" predicted by the various flavors of String Theory/Supersymmetry. It's starting to look like String Theory is well and truly on the ropes. Its most promising competitors do a nice job of cleaning up Supersymmetry's reliance on multiple tiny dimensions, but they have the messy habit of playing hell with our notions of time and causality by suggesting that spacetime is constantly emerging from within itself, rather than being a fundamental property of the Universe. Lucky for you, these emerging competitors to Supersymmetry (Entropic Gravity, Asympototically Safe Gravity, Loop Quantum Gravity, and Amplituhedron Formulation of Quantum Theory) seem to suggest that the simple act of waiting may actually gradually increase the efficiency of the time you've spent waiting. And if that isn't a comforting thought, boy golly, I don't know what is.

 

[TheMadKing]

The science of time is in a bit of an awkward place right now. The Large Hadron Collider has failed to find the supersymmetric "sparticles" predicted by the various flavors of String Theory/Supersymmetry. It's starting to look like String Theory is well and truly on the ropes. Its most promising competitors do a nice job of cleaning up Supersymmetry's reliance on multiple tiny dimensions, but they have the messy habit of playing hell with our notions of time and causality by suggesting that spacetime is constantly emerging from within itself, rather than being a fundamental property of the Universe. Lucky for you, these emerging competitors to Supersymmetry (Entropic Gravity, Asympototically Safe Gravity, Loop Quantum Gravity, and Amplituhedron Formulation of Quantum Theory) seem to suggest that the simple act of waiting may actually gradually increase the efficiency of the time you've spent waiting. And if that isn't a comforting thought, boy golly, I don't know what is.

I almost posted something similar to this but I used up my snark quota for the day. Love it!

 

[Bramling Cross]

I almost posted something similar to this but I used up my snark quota for the day. Love it!

Much to my constant regret, snark is to my mind what dark energy is to the cosmos.

Glad I caught you, MadKing. Around this time last year, I told you I was going to brew a nice looking, brown malt-heavy porter that you recently posted. Life, and life spent living on vampire time due to being asked to lead a COVID night shift, got in the way. I've had the specialty grains for your recipe measured and vacuum packed for a year now and it'll--finally!--see strike water before the month is finished.

There aren't a lot of brown malt enthusiasts left in the world, so I'm really eager to sample your take on a brown malt-forward porter.

 

[TheMadKing]

Much to my constant regret, snark is to my mind what dark energy is to the cosmos.

Glad I caught you, MadKing. Around this time last year, I told you I was going to brew a nice looking, brown malt-heavy porter that you recently posted. Life, and life spent living on vampire time due to being asked to lead a COVID night shift, got in the way. I've had the specialty grains for your recipe measured and vacuum packed for a year now and it'll--finally!--see strike water before the month is finished.

There aren't a lot of brown malt enthusiasts left in the world, so I'm really eager to sample your take on a brown malt-forward porter.

Glad to hear you finally have the time to brew it and I hope you enjoy it

I actually spent the day today making my own brown-ish malt by toasting base malt in my oven to varying degrees.

Funnily enough I'm actually planning to brew that same porter again next weekend too.

 

[Majed41]

There is a lot of waiting. Wait for water to heat, wait for enzymes to mash. Wait for wort to boil. Wait for hops to isomerize. Wait for wort to cool. Wait for attenuation. Wait for byproduct cleanup. Wait for clearing. Wait for carbonation. All of those are important but which one are you asking about?

I'm talking about waiting after fermentation and i don't mean carbonation as we can do that within a hour or 2 now days . a beer like stout that will takes a month or 2 month to develop a great taste .

 

[Yooper]

I'm talking about waiting after fermentation and i don't mean carbonation as we can do that within a hour or 2 now days . a beer like stout that will takes a month or 2 month to develop a great taste .

Well, mostly harsh flavors meld, and smooth out. Nothing really magical happens, just as with aging wine. Most ales don't need aging, but with complex flavors and ingredients (think roast, high alcohol, oak), aging does smooth it out, just as in great wine.

 

[TheMadKing]

Just look at the Big Beer industry: they're aiming for the fastest turnover possible, they employ a lot of advanced techniques to reach that, but even they are able to speed things up only that much, or else they'll get a totally unacceptable product.

This is very well said

There are thousands of possible organic chemistry reactions that can take place in beer to benefit the flavor profile. Some of these simply require time to happen.

If it was possible to speed up the process significantly, multi billion dollar beer producers would have figured it out. As far as I know, even using the most advanced brewing tech on earth they still need 4 weeks to turn around a batch of budweiser.

 

[oakbarn]

The most important "waiting time" is to enjoy one of the products of your work. We always "Mash" for 90 minutes. That insures conversion. We tried 60 and immediately went back to 90. We also boil for 90 minutes.

This is largely a personal preference as we brew in a crowd and it is always a fun day. We enjoy our waiting.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm talking about waiting after fermentation and i don't mean carbonation as we can do that within a hour or 2 now days . a beer like stout that will takes a month or 2 month to develop a great taste .

Fermentation naturally produces diacetyl and acetaldehyde and the days following the attenuation stage of the ferment are when the yeast will clean that up below perception ranges assuming they don't crash out too quickly due to temperature drop, that they are not fully nutrient depleted, and that the beer is not removed from the yeast too quickly. While that is happening, break material and other fine particles begin to fall out and settle. It's not just a visual purpose either. They lend to the same muttled taste.

 

[dmtaylor]

The biochemical steps involved in brewing include thousands of diverse and complex topics. If you can formulate very specific questions, we can try to provide very specific answers.

I'm talking about waiting after fermentation and i don't mean carbonation as we can do that within a hour or 2 now days . a beer like stout that will takes a month or 2 month to develop a great taste .

The specific reason for this one mostly has to do with the yeast "cleaning up after themselves", which involves them eating or reabsorbing off-flavors such as diacetyl and sulfur compounds. If the beer tastes great right away, go ahead and drink it! If not, then wait a few days or weeks and it will likely improve. Don't follow a set number of days. Yeast is a living organism; it works on its own schedule. If it tastes good, drink it!