Beer Styles And Their Ideal Aging/drinking Time

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Mr. No-Tip

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So following the ACTABC last week, I've been thinking about how to schedule brewing across a year to get beers ideal for comping in September/October.

I think know the extreme ends:

Lambics/belgians/etc, ages beforehand.
Hoppy beers - soon beforehand.
Wheat beers - very soon beforehand.

...but I'd really love some sort of scale across the style categories. Is this a realistic thing to seek? Couldn't really see anything in the search...
 
Hoppy beers should be served sooner
Darker beers should be aged longer
stronger beers should be aged longer
sour/funky beers should be aged longer

Wheat beers are served soon. I'm thinking because the proteins effect stability but I'm not sure exactly why they change so much so quickly. I'm not sure what rule to give them as I'd suggest an american wheat or similar doesn't need to be as fresh as a weizen or wit.

Combine those rules to decide what you want in your beer.
 
I brew lighter ales and drink them about 15days from start of ferment lol they get good the last few schooner :p
 
Some yeasts mature the beer faster than others so you need a bit of experience and to put down a brew with a few different yeasts to see which does what maybe.
 
Agree totally, I have done same grain bill, same hops, same ferment temp with different yeasts, one peaks at 2 weeks then starts losing flavour and going dry tasting, the beer with the other yeast stayed fresh tasting for 12 months in cold storage.



Some yeasts mature the beer faster than others so you need a bit of experience and to put down a brew with a few different yeasts to see which does what maybe.
 
Are you bottle conditioning or kegging?

What i did was to pick out all the styles i wanted to brew for the comp, then come up with a rough plan of action that i thought would have the beers peak in aug/sep. As i brewed quite a few styles, all i was able to do was brew them one after another in rough order order of strength/flavour. Many of mine had already peaked well prior to the August comp, sadly, but really couldn't be helped.

Books such as Clone Brews gives 'ideal' cellaring times for each of the clones given, & is a good place to start.

Also, note that the cellaring times quoted by most books/sites are usually based on a temp of 11-13 deg C. Warmer temps reduce the cellaring time considerably. A fridge set at 12 deg is good, as is a cold fridge to put the comp beers in to slow their ageing once you're happy with their condition.
 
Agree totally, I have done same grain bill, same hops, same ferment temp with different yeasts, one peaks at 2 weeks then starts losing flavour and going dry tasting, the beer with the other yeast stayed fresh tasting for 12 months in cold storage.

Thread resurrection time!
Any pointers / memory on which yeast was which?

Have been reading below, with same problems. An extremely hoppy pale ale has tasted fantastic 2 weeks post bottling, but has faded to pretty mediocre after 4. Still malty and bitter, but no aroma and little hop taste. Was us05, bottle conditioned at 20 deg, chilled to 5 deg, and stored for the most part At 5. Glass and pet bottles the same.

Am too getting disillusioned with this, if I can,t store a great beer for more than 2 weeks I,m going to buying lots of sculpin / green gold. / Yakima monster, or be well pickled drinking my own quick enough before it goes stale.


http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...55103&st=20
 
I've been wondering of late if its best to store beer at its ferment temp to maximize flavour retention. For example, lagers at near zero and ales at around or just below twenty, or room temp for the less sophisticated.
I have in the past suggested storing beer as cool as possible, but for me that means on the cold cement or in a cellar. I'm an ale brewer.
 
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