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How long do you age your brews?

Northern Brewer General
#1

I’ve gotten in the habit of giving my brews about 6 weeks from brew day to kegging day (mostly out of laziness). Sometimes, I’ll let it go longer, but usually it’s not more than 2 months (because I run out of beer to drink). Typically, I leave a brew in the primary for 2 weeks, then I rack it to secondary, and let it sit for another month.

I’ve read posts on here talking about how a brew is ready to drink after 2 weeks, and I’m always surprised. I mean, I know that it’s done fermenting, so it’s technically drinkable, but I’d like to think that the extra time in the secondary lets it clear, and lets the flavors meld/mellow.

How long do all of you let your brews age?

#2

If its over 1.050 or requires specialty ingredients in the secondary around six weeks from secondary to pint glass. if its a low gravity beer or requires nothing other then a fermentation/cleaning phase about four weeks secondary to pint glass. most beers I’ll tap into the keg about a week after kegging. Laggering is another story all together. it could be up to four - six months before I tap it.

#3

I go two to four weeks in primary. Secondary for the same amount of time if it’s a high gravity beer or I’m dryhopping. Then at least 2 weeks bottle conditioning. I’ll try a beer after 2 weeks in the bottle and have had a few that are good right then, but most get real good at about 4-5 weeks. I have a Patersbier that was good after 4 weeks primary and 1 week in the bottle. I also have a Rye IPA that’s been in the bottle for almost 4 weeks now and is still green. So it all depends on the style I guess, but 2-4weeks primary, 2-4weeks secondary if necessary and 2-4weeks in bottle.

#4

when i get in the brewing mood i make 25 5 gal kegs worth, so some get drank within a month and some might sit for 3-4 months of longer.depends on how thirsty i am :mrgreen:

#5

That is a ton of beer. I make about 10 gallons per month, and I need my friends and my wife to help me drink it all. You’re brewing enough to have about 25 gallons per month; How do you drink it all? You must either you have 4 beers with every meal, or you water your lawn with it.

#6

I don’t have a set time for aging. It depends on the beer. I taste it and let it tell me when it’s ready to drink.

#7

Pretty much my attitude as well. Drink it when it tastes right to you.

For me, generally speaking, average beers get anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks of aging by the time I start consuming them.
But my porter, IPA, and other stronger beers (including Burton/Barleywine/Old) get far longer aging times…like 6 months to a year. They taste very good as young beers, but they taste incredible after a long rest. Long aging for the strong beers is not a problem, if you brew enough.

My meads get an average of 5 years, but I have aged them as long as 15 years.

#8

3-4 weeks in primary for most of mine. Even been dry hopping in the primary lately after active fermentation has subsided. I primary my big beers for 3 weeks and secondary for 3-4 months.

[quote=“NinjaBob”]
That is a ton of beer. I make about 10 gallons per month, and I need my friends and my wife to help me drink it all. You’re brewing enough to have about 25 gallons per month; How do you drink it all? You must either you have 4 beers with every meal, or you water your lawn with it.[/quote]

10gals wouldn’t work out at my house either. I brew 20+gals a month and have a keg blow once a week.

#9

Man, I’m chomping at the bit because I have a mead that’s nearly a year old.

I don’t know how you guys drink more than 10 gallons / month. 10 gal / month is about 2.67 pints per day, every day. You must have more friends (or thirstier friends) than I do. Then again, I still spend a lot of money at bars; if I only drank my own beer, I’d probably go through more.

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