How long does it take?
How long do I have to wait before I taste it?
How long does it store before it goes bad?
These are all common questions I get when friends ask me about getting
started homebrewing. The easy answer here is simply "it depends." This is an unfortunate answer though, as it provides no useful information. The fact of the matter is, at some point as a brewer, you develop a certain cadence to your brewing. Because of this, I have a recommendation for a good answer to this question.
So, how long does a batch of beer take to make? My answer, two months. Some folks will say this is too long, other folks might say that you need to let it go longer, but for me, this is about right. Here is a breakdown of my timing:
Day 1: Brew Day - Extract brewers will find that a brewday takes a good 3-4 hours. It can certainly take more or less time, depending on how well you prepare.
Day 30: Bottling Day - It's best to give my beer a full month to finish fermenting. I usually do check my batch with the hydrometer for three consecutive days to make sure that the sugar level doesn't change. As long as the reading is consistent, it is safe to say the yeast are done. At this point, if you are adding fruit, oak, or anything extra, it may be necessary to rack this to a secondary fermenter for another couple of weeks. This will add time to the total brew time. In this example, we are going directly from the fermenting bucket to the bottle, or keg.
Day 60: Drink! - This is the easy part. Under most circumstances, the batch of beer will be at prime carbonation level for the first time after about three weeks of being in the bottle. I like to give it an extra week to make sure it has stabilized. At two months, the beer is likely good to go.
The bottom line for me is always the same. Patience makes better beer than haste. Some beer ingredient kits will have you fermenting for 10-14 days and telling you that the beer is ready to drink after as little as one month. Double that, or just take my advice and wait it out, you'll thank me someday.
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