how long for a Pale Ale brew after bottling?to drink?

[vealy]

Just wondering how long after bottling do you let Little Creatures Pale Ale sitand how do you know when its ready?

[Lachy]

Well, that's going to depend on a few things... namely, what recipe is used, what temperature is the brew stored at, and finally how patient are you?

Generally, I'll try a brew that's stored at room temperature after a fortnight. Ales are generally ready sooner than lagers (which require, in my experience, about three months minimum) and therefore you should be safe drinking the brew fairly soon. Having said that, most ales really seem to shine after a couple of months in the bottle as any rough edges get smoothed out. I recently unearthed and tried one of my first brews - a basic pale ale with some cascade hops added - that I found lurking under the house, with at least two years of age behind it. It was beautiful...

The flip side of this is that beers do have a finite shelf life. I made a Little Creatures clone about a year ago, and I found its really strong hoppiness mellowed right out after four or so months, and so therefore it was best consumed within a few months of bottling.

[vealy]

Thanks Lachy.
I brewed this one at around 16 degrees but am worried cause its been sitting in my shed and it's been pretty cold in there.
Will this effect the beer?I'm like a dad with a new born baby.
Are you supposed to cover the bottles when you bottle the brew?
Cheers
Vealy

[warra48]

Cover them by all means if you can, to keep the light off your bottles, or at least try to keep them as much out of the light as possible.
It will help the longevity of your brew, but I wouldn't sweat it if you can't do these things.
Most of our brews are consumed within only weeks / months of bottling, so it's not really an issue except with longer stored brews.
The temperature of 16ºC is no problem, except it will take longer to carb up your bottles, 3 to 4 weeks, rather than 1 to 2 weeks at a higher temperature.

[Trough Lolly]

One other minor point Vealy - depending on the hops you used in the brew, you may notice a slight decline in hop flavour and aroma if you leave the beer in the bottle for more than a couple of months. But it certainly won't make the beer undrinkable.

Cheers,
TL

[vealy]

Well another brew that went bad.
I've already said about the Little Creatures Pale ALe i brewde left it for 2 weeks & it smelt alright &tasted alright but was flat.I know that the Pale Ale is abit flatter but this doesn't even fizz when i unscrew the lid.
I did everything to the letter.I even wrapped up the fermenter in a downer cover.The only thing i put it down to is that i didn't screw the top on the fermenter tight enough,because it wasn't bubbling till i screwed the lid on tighter.I left it another week then bottled it.
Have been told that in the winter months it's harder to brew,is this right?
The wife won't let me bring the fermenter etc in side.
Can this brew be saved?
Please help!!
Frustrated Brewer

Vealy

[KEG]

did you prime when you bottled it?

[rwh]

Yeah, I have two questions.

1. did you prime it?
2. is it warmer than 18°C? You can put a dooner on it and it won't do shit if the ambient temp is less than 18... it doesn't make heat. You need some kind of heat pad or whatever, or you need to negotiate with the powers that be to let you use a cupboard somewhere inside. Is it just me or are chicks really unreasonable sometimes?

Either that or you can use a lager yeast in your next brew (they can go below 18°C) and leave this ale to drink after the temps have warmed up enough for the yeast to wake up.

[Canbrew]

I find the Coopers kit ale yeasts will still work effectively down to 15/16 degrees. A recent Canadian Blonde can never went over 16 and came out quite nicely and that was with a can of LLME and 500g of dex. I have a Coopers European in the fermentor now and is bubbling away nicely at 9 degrees in the shed. It hasn't gone over 13 so is quite possibly S-189 like the Bavarian.

[vealy]

If you mean use the carbon drops,yes i did.the temp was around 16 Degrees.I have bought a heat band & the temp went up to 32 degrees.
Am too scared to brew in winter.What are your thoughts?Do you guys brew in winter or wait for summer?

Sorry i know i'm a bit of a pain asking questions all the time,i would just like to be able to enjoy a brew and not have my wife pull the piss out of me cause another brew bit the dust.

Vealy

[rwh]

Am too scared to brew in winter.What are your thoughts?Do you guys brew in winter or wait for summer?

Winter is the best time! Do lagers (the yeast will ferment @ 10°C and lower)!

Sorry i know i'm a bit of a pain asking questions all the time,i would just like to be able to enjoy a brew and not have my wife pull the piss out of me cause another brew bit the dust.

Questions are what the forum is for! The wife I can't help you with.

[ryan]

Don`t give up,vealy.
Once you get sorted out you`ll be right and marvel at just how easy it is to make good beer.
DON`T GIVE UP!!!

[Bizier]

I am (probably like everyone else) brewing at a lower than optimal temperature.

Others may have better solutions, I am only new, but I reckon:

Pitch at about 25 degrees if you can, and insulate it really well somehow - I am using self-inflating camping mats, and they are a perfect size. The heat from the yeast fermenting should bring it back up after a few days. If you have the heat belt under all of the insulation, you should be able to switch it on for an amount of time each day (I'm unsure how long, I have never used one), and it should be totally fine conditions for a very decent beer.

If I wasn't doing this, my beer would be at 14 degrees, I just checked it and with no heating, and 2 fermenters insulated together, it is at 21 - which is even a little warmer than desired, but I am just letting them do their thing before I resort to artificial warming.

Dan

[drtom]

Am too scared to brew in winter.What are your thoughts?Do you guys brew in winter or wait for summer?

Winter is the best time! Do lagers (the yeast will ferment @ 10°C and lower)!

+1 I brew between March and October. I don't get the heating mat out until the temperature of the fermenter drops below about 15 - 16.

dT.