optimum conditioning time questions

[bog69]

what is the optimum conditioning time for kit beers. bottled or kegged. we have only been brewing since september & have drank most of what we have brewed after around 4-6 weeks & it has been very good. will it get loads better the longer we leave it or only a little.
we have a christmas party this week & have a choice of 2 beers (in pressure barrels) to try out on the guests. 1 is a quality brupak kit the other is a cheapy single can kit with bke added they have been in the barrels about a month now. we tried a very small sample about a week ago & they both werent ready. do we keep the brupaks going 4 another month or so & use the cheapy kit now or would the brupaks be ready 1st (as i assume it is better quality) & keep hold of the cheapy kit to get the best out of it???????????????? or just get a 36pint box from the local micro brewery & keep both

[randomdave]

IVe read on other threads that a good rule of thumb is for ever 10 points of gravity give it 1 week to condition. So if the SG is 1040 its 4 wks. But if you can leave it longer ive heard it will taste better. Personally i get really impatient and havent quite got a rolling stock on the go so my brews are demolished a couple of weeks after bottling

[bog69]

thats our problem. i have kept a few sample bottles back but that is only for future reference. a friend said he found a bottle that was over a year old & it tasted lovely, but he drinks anything as long as it has alcohol in. he is not really a real ale person either

[anomalous_result]

do we keep the brupaks going 4 another month or so & use the cheapy kit now or would the brupaks be ready 1st (as i assume it is better quality) & keep hold of the cheapy kit to get the best out of it????????????????

From my experience higher quality kits benefit more from longer conditioning than cheaper ones. I'd sample a little of each before the event so you have an idea of what's going to be on offer.

or just get a 36pint box from the local micro brewery & keep both

Tempting, you don't want to waste all your hard work on other people

[bog69]

we dont like giving our good beer away but if we give our guests a pukka pint it may encourage them to start doing some homebrew as well. bit of a catch22 situation.
also we always think our own beer is lovely. wadda u do

[randomdave]

Im a bit selfish in that respect, only 1 bottle of the 70 that i have brewed to date was shared. The rest i consumed myself at a steady pace

Altho i have been trying to convince my friends to do it so i have someone else to compare beers with.

[bog69]

we have trouble trying to get our mates to try it. they dont mind once they have tried but still say they prefer carlsberg or carling. fu****g heathens