How long do you wait to drink?

[Bryggmester]

It depends on the brew. I sample usually a week or two after the brew is kegged/polypinned. Sometimes it is spot on and ready for drinking, other times there are signs that it could benefit from a little longer maturing eg a slight harsness in the flavour, then it gets another couple of weeks. I don't think you can have hard and fast rules, it's up to the individual and how he likes his beer.

[confused]

I tend to follow the rule of one week conditioning for each 10 points of gravity. That said I will taste all of my beers weekly and start drinking them when I think they are ready. Most of what I brew is in the 1060 plus range so six weeks is the norm.

Invariably I find the best pint is the last one and that can be anything upto six months after it was kegged. The one exception to that rule was a Stout that I made for aprty in June (my only one to date). It was great at the party and got rave reviews form the two stout drinkers it was brewed for, but the last few pints got dumped a couple of weeks ago as it was deteriorating.

[mshergold]

I've not started brewing AG yet, but have a few a few kits under my belt and usually leave them in the bottle for two weeks. My latest was Burton Bridge Best Bitter from which I'd put aside three bottles to see how much better they got with age. One I was going to keep for three months, another for six months and the last for a year but ended up swapping them for favours by accident!

I remember my last attempt at kits about seven years ago I'd bottled some and it tasted awful when I opened the first one after about two weeks, but being lazy just left the rest for a couple of months and then thought I'd try one when I finally got round to pouring the rest down the drain and it was pretty good.

Being a regular visitor here I'd say that hold long you mature beer for depends on many things such as:

If you have any beer in the house.
Storage conditions (temperature, light etc).
Whether the beer is bottled or kegged.
Quality of ingredients.
How competent/experienced the brewer is.

[Scooby]

.

I also bottle my beer, do kegged beers mature quicker?

Roger

Yep, beer matures quicker in bulk

[Roger]

.

I also bottle my beer, do kegged beers mature quicker?

Roger

Yep, beer matures quicker in bulk

You can't pull the wool over my eyes, thought so

Cheers Scooby,
Roger

[charlie]

I brew approx every five weeks, have five kegs, and, by and large, drink in rotation so my beers are normally 4months+ old when drinking.

[MartialAnt]

I have two bottles of a IRS that I did in 97 that are still waiting to be drunk

You've been homebrewing that long?!?!?! Bloody hell ive only been doing it 7 months & already my docs concerned over my abnormal liver function. I think in 11 years time people will be calling me George Best.

[PaulStat]

Argh I cracked and had a half!!!! But how glad am I that I did!!! I've had a few bottles of commercial brew tonight including fiddlers elbow, old peculiar and youngs special london brew (all bottled), and to me it tastes pretty much as good as any of them!!!! Although perhaps slightly less carbonated?

But! Out of the beers I've had tonight it's had the best 'head retention'

[Aleman]

I have two bottles of a IRS that I did in 97 that are still waiting to be drunk

You've been homebrewing that long?!?!?!

I actually think I started brewing in 1980 . . . but my big drinking days are behind me . . . . funnily enough it was working for a brewery that stopped me drinking completely for a while . . . .its getting so bad that although I am going to still brew big batches (because of the consistency) I may well end up either giving away a corny or two or even worse tipping them away So if you are ever down this way bring a keg and I can do a transfer . . . better your liver than mine

[haz66]

So if you are ever down this way bring a keg and I can do a transfer . . . better your liver than mine

I`ll travel to Blackpool for free beer, its only a 45 min drive just let me know when you are about to tip some down the drain and i`ll pop over with an empty keg

[haz66]

I brewed a mini batch (20 pints) of bitter 5 weeks ago and i`ve just 2 pints left, i only had 6 pints left a week ago.
I got to curious to how it tasted, it tasted good so drank it
I`ve got a light ale bottled at the moment and it taste horrible and that was brewed 4 weeks ago so i`m guessing it needs quite a bit longer, unless its just a bad brew

[mrbenbod]

I would like to offer my services as an impartial taster, for scientific research purposes.
Your all welcome to pop a few bottles round and I'll sample one at regular intervals and write a detailed report on
the effects of ageing in AG home brewing.
I wish I'd thought of this when I was a uni for me dissertation, instead of 'the effects of air pollution on British lichens'.