How soon to drink

Get advice on making beer from raw ingredients (malt, hops, water and yeast)
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trucker5774
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How soon to drink

Post by trucker5774 » Wed May 12, 2021 2:18 pm

I have brewed many different types and different ways over the years. I tend not to use finings (occasionally protafloc in the boil) I am regularly drinking my beer 7 to 10 days from brew day. I don't drink it all, so I have beers at different ages. Anyone else getting stuck in early?
John

Drinking/Already drunk........ Trucker's Anti-Freeze (Turbo Cider), Truckers Delight, Night Trucker, Rose wine, Truckers Hitch, Truckers Revenge, Trucker's Lay-by, Trucker's Trailer, Flower Truck, Trucker's Gearshift, Trucker's Horn, Truck Crash, Fixby Gold!

Conditioning... Doing what? Get it down your neck! ........

FV 1............
FV 2............
FV 3............
Next Brews..... Trucker's Jack Knife

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MarkA
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by MarkA » Wed May 12, 2021 3:57 pm

Yes, it's called 'research' ;-)

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bitter_dave
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by bitter_dave » Wed May 12, 2021 5:21 pm

I don’t start quite that early as it needs to carb up in the barrel, but I find for fairly low abv bitters and milds they seem to taste best when relatively young (at least when I make them!).

McMullan

Re: How soon to drink

Post by McMullan » Wed May 12, 2021 7:33 pm

These days, much more than 10 days for a standard English ale - fermented with a decent English yeast strain - and I'm disappointed with my management of things. Things have changed a lot, though, to be fair. Especially in terms of what's available - even on a budget - to the home brewer, equipment wise in particular. Sealing a pressurisable FV before reaching FG speeds up the process dramatically, in my experience. Key is to 'over pitch' healthy yeast generally, not under pitch according to home-brew lore. Ironically, your 'radical' novice these days seems more interested in over hopping more than anything else. And maybe he's a 'kveik' fanatic too; generally clueless and at the mercy of savages.

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MashBag
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by MashBag » Thu May 13, 2021 3:20 pm

And maybe he's a 'kveik' fanatic too; generally clueless and at the mercy of savages.
:D :D

I like 2+2+2 weeks but still find time for plenty of testing normally. Plenty of testing.

rowyourboat
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by rowyourboat » Mon May 17, 2021 6:54 pm

If you're "over" hopping (arguably a question of personal taste) then kviek is a more viable option because the big flavour will be from the hops and not malt/yeast. (I've tried kviek and am not blown away by it, but it's a fast way to get a beer going.)

I don't pressure ferment or keg so i usually work to a min of 1-2 weeks fermenter - usually 2 since i started temperature control. 1 week bottle carbing before sampling. But i do find more time usually improves things greatly.

WalesAles
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by WalesAles » Mon May 17, 2021 7:29 pm

Any time after 10am! :lol: :lol:

WA

guypettigrew
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by guypettigrew » Mon May 17, 2021 7:53 pm

rowyourboat wrote:
Mon May 17, 2021 6:54 pm
I don't pressure ferment or keg so i usually work to a min of 1-2 weeks fermenter - usually 2 since i started temperature control. 1 week bottle carbing before sampling. But i do find more time usually improves things greatly.
Timings like this always seem odd to me.

On Saturday, 48 hours ago, I started a brew using WLP001. Fermentation has been going like the clappers and, by tomorrow evening, 72 hours after pitching, I expect the primary fermentation to be over. Possibly 12 hours later.

It'll then be cooled for a coupe of days to drop a lot of the yeast out and kegged 5-7 days after starting it. Leaving the beer in the FV for a fortnight, at fermentation temperature, seems to me to be asking for trouble.

A couple of days in the keg with finings and it'll be ready for drinking--although another week will improve it significantly.

Guy

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MashBag
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by MashBag » Tue May 18, 2021 7:09 am

You have made me think I ought to review.

2 weeks primary. There is more more going on in fermentation than just alcoholic fermentation, I recall the yeast bed is active.

2 weeks chill. Other than Irish moss, I don't use finings and gravity is a bit slower.

2 weeks maturing / carbonation. I bottle and that take longer to carbonate and clear, than kegging.

You have made me think there is opportunity to reduce some of these.

guypettigrew
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by guypettigrew » Tue May 18, 2021 8:15 am

MashBag wrote:
Tue May 18, 2021 7:09 am
You have made me think I ought to review.

2 weeks primary. There is more more going on in fermentation than just alcoholic fermentation, I recall the yeast bed is active.

2 weeks chill. Other than Irish moss, I don't use finings and gravity is a bit slower.

2 weeks maturing / carbonation. I bottle and that take longer to carbonate and clear, than kegging.

You have made me think there is opportunity to reduce some of these.
Kegging my beer (King Kegs) gives me the opportunity to shorten the timescales.

Yes, the yeast stays active once the primary fermentation has finished--it has the longer chain sugars to feed on. But I'd prefer the yeast did this in a keg. It's completely protected from the atmosphere and it frees up the FV earlier. It also means my beers don't need priming sugar as there are enough sugars left to do the job. The keg is kept at 12°C, so the secondary fermentation is slow, but steady.

When I used to bottle I'd run the beer into a secondary container after a few days in the FV, then bottle from there. Moving to kegs from bottles was liberating, though!

Do you chill in your FV? If so, your beer is there for 4 weeks before bottling.

Presumably it works well for you without problems and you're pleased with the beer. But, as you say, there might be an opportunity to reduce the time from grain to glass by a couple of weeks, if that's what you want to do.

Guy

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Hanglow
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by Hanglow » Tue May 18, 2021 9:44 am

Depends entirely on the beer, but some have a really quick turnaround, the urweisse that I just brewed I started drinking 6 days from brewing. Most bitters I'm drinking within two weeks, assuming a flocculant yeast. That's bottled and I never use auxiliary finings

8 days from brewing urweiss. All typical weiss beers should be drinking in a week from brewing. Bocks maybe a bit more
Image

Bitter, brewed 2 weeks previously
Image

Pils brewed 1 month before, this was just testing carbonation. Some yeast still there as w34/70 isn't the best for clearing, and it's still lagering at this point
Image

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Meatymc
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by Meatymc » Tue May 18, 2021 10:38 am

McMullan wrote:
Wed May 12, 2021 7:33 pm
Ironically, your 'radical' novice these days seems more interested in over hopping more than anything else. And maybe he's a 'kveik' fanatic too; generally clueless and at the mercy of savages.
Hmmmmmm...........and your definition of ''radical' novice' and 'over hopping' is?

I'm not Norwegian by the way although the wife says I might as well be after I've had a few :wink:

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MashBag
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by MashBag » Wed May 19, 2021 6:55 am

guypettigrew wrote:
Tue May 18, 2021 8:15 am

Do you chill in your FV? If so, your beer is there for 4 weeks before bottling.

Guy
Each 2 weeks is a separate vessel, secondary is a 25l jerry can that goes in a fridge.

Kegging doesn't work for me, I can't finish it quick enough.

guypettigrew
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Re: How soon to drink

Post by guypettigrew » Wed May 19, 2021 7:32 am

MashBag wrote:
Wed May 19, 2021 6:55 am
guypettigrew wrote:
Tue May 18, 2021 8:15 am

Do you chill in your FV? If so, your beer is there for 4 weeks before bottling.

Guy
Each 2 weeks is a separate vessel, secondary is a 25l jerry can that goes in a fridge.

Kegging doesn't work for me, I can't finish it quick enough.
You need more dedication to the art of brewing--and more beer loving friends!

Guy

McMullan

Re: How soon to drink

Post by McMullan » Wed May 19, 2021 6:56 pm

Brewing is a science. Drinking is an art.

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