good thread on aging

[mtsoxfan]

+1 on the generalizations. I only tried 1 brew or so early, it was green, so I never did again. Is it my brewing? Maybe... I just finished my last Belgium tripel, well over a year old, and It was drinkable, but not like many of my other complex beers of the same age. It was all out of balance, way too sweet. I'm trying to brew less (gasp) so I can finish a 5er while it's in it's prime. Kegging has also demanded that of me, as I only have 3 kegs. Usually two online, the 3rd empty, or fermenting because one will kick soon. I do find my American Ales, American Rye, and the like are best 4-8 weeks. I do have two bottles of a chocolate stout that are old enough for me to have to look at notes to tell it's age... those are designated to be consumed this week.
All my stouts were best after 6 months, but then again, it may be my processes... but they are damn good when the reach the right age.

[Brewbirds]

After reading all the responses on this thread I have to say that the Borg as a whole deserves a lot of credit for how they have treated this subject over time for the newer brewers.

Like the 3-2-2 for new MB brewers who didn't have a hydrometer the general rule of advise to put one in the fridge for three days and taste it seems very practical when you think about it.

They mentor(ed) new brewers who struggled with the idea that patience was critical and by tasting each batch over a period of time opened there minds to the theory of this very thread.

"Resistance is futile" may be our motto here but we should figure out how to add live and learn in somewhere as well. Or "if you like it drink it" but that just sounds to BMCish.

[Gymrat]

I dont think it sounds BMCish at all. We are talking about hand crafted beer here. And whether or not a beer improves with age is totally subjective. An IPA freshly carbonated has a crisp fresh hop flavor and bitterness. Both of those fade as the beer ages. Maybe one guy prefers that fresh crisp flavor and bitterness, another guy prefers the beer after those things vs have faded some. To the first guy the beer is best as as soon as it carbonated, to the second guy it improved with age. How did it improve? It conformed to his particular preferences. This can be said of every style you can think of. This is why I encourage new brewers to experiment rather than falling into any dogma, even Borg dogma.

[mashani]

FWIW: One of the reasons I tend to wait 3 weeks before I crack most beers isn't that it's not carbed and ready to consume if I wanted to at 2 weeks - it's just that I'm an acetaldehyde super taster. I taste it in much lower quantities then most folks do. I can consume a low carbed mild or bitter at 2 weeks because I've used a lot less priming sugar in them, and the crystal malt flavors must cover up any bits of acetaldehyde that's still there from bottle carbing. But I don't like most other beer that is bottle conditioned that young because I taste the acetaldehyde. It's gone by week 3 except for weird batches.

If I was kegging, I think most anything could be consumed sooner.

[Yankeedag]

funny, I've let a few go longer than the 4 weeks, and for some reason, it turns out better. But then, we're talking me here, which has nothing to do with anything.

[Chuck N]

I let mine sit at room temp for four weeks before I put any in the fridge. Then I only out them in a six pack at a time. The previous six pack gets moved to the front and since I generally only drink one beer a day they sit in the fridge for up to six days before I start to drink them. This all means that by the time I get to that last bottle of the batch it could potentially have been in the bottle for more than two months. And I've always noticed that those last bottles are better than the first ones.

[RickBeer]

I let everything go at least 4 weeks. I don't sample before then, no need to. For a new brew, I then refrigerate 6 of them, and all labels have a "in refrigerator" date on them. A few weeks later if that particular brew has any bottles in the frig, I pull them out, note the new date, and put in bottles that have warm conditioned longer. I usually only do that a few times, and never after 12 weeks (those then stay in the frig). Many of the brews I'm drinking now have been aged a year or more since I'm finishing off things like Aztec, Blue Patriot, Jamaica Mon, a a Munton's Nut Brown. I expect to be down from 17 to around 8-10 brews normally, with 6 of each in the frig.