Generally i'm with Whorst here, especially for beers around the 1.040 and below level which I allow to drop bright and drink them within the week. Use your on discretion here. If you're constantly finding that your beer tastes iffy for the first half of the keg then gets better towards the end, then you're drinking too soon. It won't kill you to take small samples early and often to see where it's going. CRITICAL to drinking beer fresh is healthy yeast, lots of it, plenty of aeration/oxygenation, and sensible fermentation temps!
My own personal rules of thumb:
I'll also add that if you're force carbonating the beer needs about a week AT the desired carbonation level to taste right.
Ales (real ale style ales) i will naturally carbonate with a VERY small amount of sugar and allow the pressure to be vented from the keg and served by gravity! Usually dry hopped in the keg but if not I'll use a big dose of finishing hops while chilling and drink the beer fresh otherwise hop aroma = nul points.
HOPPY beers I will always bottle condition now and allow 3 weeks before popping the first cap.
Wheat beers, if you're drinking these with so much yeast that its clinging to the side of the glass it needs a few days longer at cool temperatures, then its good to go.
Maturation
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gunner
Re: Maturation
I recently used 40g of sugar to carbonate in a kk,when i released the cap 24H later there was no gas release as expected.I thought that maybe i needed more sugar.The brew was 19L ale, and it was only half filling the kk,would there be to much head room in the kk from the start to get any form of carbonation gas release.mysterio wrote
Ales (real ale style ales) i will naturally carbonate with a VERY small amount of sugar and allow the pressure to be vented from the keg and served by gravity!
Do you not recommend any form of co2 gas for real ales.
regards Graham.
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mysterio
Re: Maturation
This is one of those subjective things, everyone will have their own ways
I generally keep CO2 away from cornie kegs except for a little bit of minimal 'blanket' pressure. If you like fizzy ale then ignore this.
40g should create plenty of gas, my guess is you didnt have a great seal on the KK cap, those kegs are quite guilty of that. Using gas on KKs is fine because you don't get into a situation where it becomes fizzy.
I generally keep CO2 away from cornie kegs except for a little bit of minimal 'blanket' pressure. If you like fizzy ale then ignore this.
40g should create plenty of gas, my guess is you didnt have a great seal on the KK cap, those kegs are quite guilty of that. Using gas on KKs is fine because you don't get into a situation where it becomes fizzy.