Beer Forum

The Sunday Session has talked about timing your brewing so the beer reaches the optimal age for competition. Has anyone ever complied a list by style about what to brew, when?

Also, I do realize that such a list would just be an educated guess.

It really depends on the style involving abv, amount of hops, ability to keep your final product cold and stable, and most of all your ability to minimize oxygen pickup at every step along the way. Your best bet is to brew a handful of recipes that you want judged and take good tasting notes along the way so you can start to get a feel for when each recipe is at its freshest.

brewinhard wrote:It really depends on the style involving abv, amount of hops, ability to keep your final product cold and stable, and most of all your ability to minimize oxygen pickup at every step along the way. Your best bet is to brew a handful of recipes that you want judged and take good tasting notes along the way so you can start to get a feel for when each recipe is at its freshest.

I know that is the best way, and I am working on keeping notes. But, it's going to take me a least a year or two just to get in the ball park. Would you be willing to share what aging works for you and your set up?

I'm pretty good about keeping oxygen out of my beer. I thoroughly flush with co2 before transferring(lines and kegs), and keep a trickle of CO2 going into the keg while transferring. I store my beer at consistent 52-55 degrees.

Some things I do know.

My barley wines starting getting good at 1.5 years, and start going down hill no later than 4 years. I don't know if they start getting better after 5 years. I've never been able to keep one for over 5 years.

Imperial IPA's 2 to 3 months (cold conditioned at 45) And i dry hop for 14 days before they go on tap.

Any sour..... I wont even taste them until at least 9 months. They start getting good at 1 year and stay good until at least 2 years.

I close transfer everything into corny kegs directly out of primary including sour beers. Sour beers will be left at basement temps till they reach the right acidity and funk levels per style while all other brews go immediately into a chest freezer or fridge both kept at 35F with temp. controllers.
This has greatly prolonged the shelf life of even my lower gravity beers keeping them tasting fresh several mos longer than normal.

brewinhard wrote:the shelf life of even my lower gravity beers keeping them tasting fresh several mos longer than normal.

?? I don't understand this concept ??

Low gravity beers? Months? I count the longevity of mine in hours. Even then, sometimes the keg blows early & I'm off by a couple dozen hours.

Yeah unfortunately a wife and two little ones get in the way of my raging time!