maturing strong beers

[delboy]

Im supping on my kwak clone which was orginally scheduled for xmas (it was pants then) which is really coming into its own 2 and a half months later.

Of course i know that beers like these (strong) take time to become drinkable/mature when homebrewed, but how the hell do the monks/proffesional brewers they employe manage to turn it around in a matter of weeks? They certainly don't leave their beers for several months/years on end to mature before sending it out to use punters.

[mysterio]

but how the hell do the monks/proffesional brewers they employe manage to turn it around in a matter of weeks?

Not always for the monks, a lot of Belgian beers mature for a good few weeks at the brewery. I know Orval takes about two months to leave the brewery and Duvel more like three months. If I was to guess, they can turn them around quicker because they can pitch exactly the right amount of yeast, oxygen, get the fermentation temps just right etc, so less time is needed to remove any undesirable flavours.