How soon a brew is ready to drink

[Matt]

Is there anything like a rule of thumb for determining when a brew is going to be ready to drink? I see some recipes that say it is best consumed fresh, or some say 3 or 4 months conditioning is better

(my thought would be that bitterness level is a factor? i.e. a high IBU level will not be drinkable when 'fresh' ?)

Or is it simply an experiment for each recipe (and test of patience) ?


Cheers,
Matt

[bitter_dave]

The question of when a beer is 'ready' is a subjective assessment. According to Wheeler typical maturation times can be approximated by taking the OG and dividing it by two - i.e. a 1040 beer requires 20 days maturing, in addition to the primary fermentation - so we're looking at about 4 weeks. Having said that, extended periods of maturation are often good - jim swears by 6 weeks I believe, and I get the impression a month of maturing is common.

I tend to leave the beer a month or so before starting properly, but consume it relatively slowly, so you can see the effect ageing has on the beer anyway.

I've heard that wheat beers should be drunk fresh(er) and very dry ales - but can't validate the accuracy of this, or explain why :blink:

[PieOPah]

Personally I get impatient and start drinking my beer a couple of days after it has been kegged. This is a habit I try to get out of by having plenty of beer on supply.

In about 90% of cases my beer has always tasted better the longer I have left it. While 2 weeks is an advisable amount of time, I would suggest at least 6 weeks. Obviously when you start drinking it is entirely up to you though

[bitter_dave]

Daab got in there quicker than me .

[Matt]

Thanks gents,

1 week/10 points is dead handy.

Cheers,
Matt

[mysterio]

I tend to give it a week's primary, two weeks secondary, then I'll start drinking bottles after 10 days.

[Bigster]

As soon as its clear