BeerBorg

I'm impatient.

Yes, we all know that patience is a virtue, and for homebrewers it's a necessity. But when your pipeline is only just getting barely filled after the summer dry spell, it's tough to wait.

I'm drinking a 2.5 gallon batch of Trilby Brown Ale right now, but I've only got a six pack left, so that'll go quickly.

I've got a keg of FedoraDave's American Ale force carbing in the keezer, and since it's my first kegged batch, I'm very eager to try it. But I don't dare make any draws yet. I promised myself to be patient.

And I have a 2.5 gallon batch of Copperbottom Lager in the lager fridge. I bottled it in late August, gave it 3 weeks at 65 degrees to carb, and only turned the temperature down to 34 degrees two weeks ago. I was curious, and tried a bottle this morning while I was doing some maintenance on the brewing station. It's very good, even this young, so I told myself to wait at least another couple of months. This might be a good beer to bring to Christmas celebrations. I might even reserve a couple of bottles for Homebrew Alley IX in February.

I've got production back up to a weekly bottling/brewing session. I'll be bottling a 2.5 of Rushin' Pale Ale tomorrow, and on Sunday I'll brew a 2.5 of Tennessee Cream Ale. I'll get the pipeline filled and flowing tickety-boo before too long.

It's just really hard to wait.

Patience is a virtue.
Virtue is a grace.
Grace is a little girl
Who doesn't wash her face.

When did you keg the fiver? If it has been a week, it should be ready to go. I have pulled a liter or so at 4 days, other than a little more carbonation needed it was good.

I connected the keg on Monday, so it's a little less than a week. I also had a problem with the connection leaking from the CO2 tank, because I was stupid and didn't use Teflon tape, so it was actually turned off for all of Tuesday, so subtract a day from that.

I don't mind waiting, because I figure it'll be worth it.

I'll normally try mine about 5, 10, 15 days in. That way I get a taste and can see how it changes over time.
Another thing I do is keep track of my pours. My system is simple, but works pretty well. It's just a cork board with the name of the beer, ABV and when kegged. With each pour I just make a hash mark on the paper. There are around 50 pours in a keg so depending on your consumption volume this will help determine when you need to brew again. Mine is when there have been 30-35 pours, because there is a 4-6 week turn around time to have more ready to drink. You have to plan ahead for when the keg kicks. That's one thing my non brewing friends just can't seem to understand.

Gonna have to remember that Ink, I have a dry erase board that I haven't mounted yet. I did surprise myself with my Oktoberfestiv-Ale kicking when least expected!

I've found that most of my kegged beers taste better at about a month after carbed but bottles taste better sooner. I think it's because there's more sediment to settle??????

It's been so long but I do remember drinking my kegged beers after 5-7 days of carbonating in the refrigerator. Of course that'll assure you of getting the right carbonation level but taste is another story. Some beers taste better young and others will need longer to condition.

Beer-lord wrote:I've found that most of my kegged beers taste better at about a month after carbed but bottles taste better sooner. I think it's because there's more sediment to settle??????

Out of curiosity, are you priming it in the keg, or force carbing it? My impression has been that force carbed kegged beers tended to be ready a little bit sooner then bottle primed/primed kegs, due to acetaldehyde/etc. not being produced and then having to be cleaned up in that little bit of extra fermentation. (but I don't have a keg, so this is all just impression based on stuff I read)...

95% of the time I force carb setting about serving pressure for 7-8 days or so before drinking. In my case, I believe it's mostly that I make heavily hopped beers, and until recently, couldn't cold crash and it took longer for things to settle out.
I did just do a beer where I primed with a small amount to get it started while keg space for not open. And, I just changed the lines so I know now I'm working with uber fresh stuff so I can already tell the difference. The bad news is that my not so great beers really stand out more.

I'm force carbing; I figured why bother priming if the gas is gonna get it done for me?

Also, Jeff, I've got two taps, but I've got room for three kegs, so I intend to have the untapped keg be a stand-by. Then, when Keg 1 punts the pail, I can just disconnect, reconnect to Keg 3, and I'm good to go. And just keep rotating through them that way.

Since FedoraDave's American Ale is most likely closest to an APA (I honestly don't know what category it would fall into, but it's a nearly SMaSH recipe with a fairly strong Simcoe presence for the hops), it will probably be better when it's still young. I might try one on Sunday, just to see where I stand.

I got a second keg online, which arrived today (I was stupid and ordered a pin-lock before I realized what I'd done; but I can get a conversion kit no problem). The 2 Daves Irish Red won't be ready to keg for another two weeks, so I've got plenty of time to get that taken care of.

I find that 10-14 days is the sweet spot for my beers to carb up and be ready. Paul, I think you nailed it on the head on terms of why your kegged beers taste better after a month. Now that you're cold crashing I would expect you to think they are ready much sooner.

Roger, I have found what you said to be true. Without the mini fermentation needed for carbonation I've found my beers ready sooner.

Dave, R
FYI. draw a half pint for your first pour and dump it down the drain. i learned u get a little bit od sediment that settles out and gets sucked through on that first pour so my first impression wasnt great of my porter. Needless to say ive tried it since and the added carb and no sediment has really helped the second week in the kegerator.

Inkleg wrote:Another thing I do is keep track of my pours. My system is simple, but works pretty well. It's just a cork board with the name of the beer, ABV and when kegged. With each pour I just make a hash mark on the paper. There are around 50 pours in a keg so depending on your consumption volume this will help determine when you need to brew again. Mine is when there have been 30-35 pours, because there is a 4-6 week turn around time to have more ready to drink. You have to plan ahead for when the keg kicks. That's one thing my non brewing friends just can't seem to understand.

I do similar with bottles. Grease board shows what is in frig, how many, age, and total quantity so you know whether to savor each bottle.

Spreadsheet has total inventory by beer by bottle size, and formula displays "REBREW" when I reach the equivalent of 18 bottles left.Also shows clean empties by size, how many 5 gallon batches I can bottle, dirty bottles, number of caps....