Rob Courtney Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) Besides the obvious answer...anytime. If you are new to brewing, the tough decision is how long to leave a keg in secondary to be able to have a flavour that will impress your friends, or in these Covid restricted times, allow you to impress yourself even more than you do when you look at yourself in the mirror first thing. When a beer has been kegged it will need to go through a process called secondary which allows the beer to mature. Yes you can drink it straight after the second week of secondary, it will be carbonated from the primer but it still has time to go and it isn't like you can slip a keg in and out of the Brewflo and do little samples like you could with your brew bottled, so here are some ideas of how long I have found you should leave your brews in secondary before whacking the keg in the flo. With Lagers and Pilsners, by the 5th week of secondary, it is starting to build a good profile, your friends will be impressed by the brew, so anytime from that point is good but... Every week you leave it til week 9-10 gives the profile a bit more character. Now some people will prefer the characters at week 6, some at week 10 but it is in that time that is the strong point of the brew. I have left lager brews until 16 weeks and it made no improvement other than the head of the beer was a bit creamier but if anything didn't quite hit the higher notes of flavour of weeks 6-10. If anyone who drinks Brewflo kegs has other opinions on when to drink kegs and especially from outside my comfort zone of Lagers/Pilsners, I'd be interested in your thoughts as would new brewers Edited April 28, 2020 by Rob Courtney 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted January 1, 2021 Report Share Posted January 1, 2021 On 28/04/2020 at 3:08 AM, Rob Courtney said: Besides the obvious answer...anytime. If you are new to brewing, the tough decision is how long to leave a keg in secondary to be able to have a flavour that will impress your friends, or in these Covid restricted times, allow you to impress yourself even more than you do when you look at yourself in the mirror first thing. When a beer has been kegged it will need to go through a process called secondary which allows the beer to mature. Yes you can drink it straight after the second week of secondary, it will be carbonated from the primer but it still has time to go and it isn't like you can slip a keg in and out of the Brewflo and do little samples like you could with your brew bottled, so here are some ideas of how long I have found you should leave your brews in secondary before whacking the keg in the flo. With Lagers and Pilsners, by the 5th week of secondary, it is starting to build a good profile, your friends will be impressed by the brew, so anytime from that point is good but... Every week you leave it til week 9-10 gives the profile a bit more character. Now some people will prefer the characters at week 6, some at week 10 but it is in that time that is the strong point of the brew. I have left lager brews until 16 weeks and it made no improvement other than the head of the beer was a bit creamier but if anything didn't quite hit the higher notes of flavour of weeks 6-10. If anyone who drinks Brewflo kegs has other opinions on when to drink kegs and especially from outside my comfort zone of Lagers/Pilsners, I'd be interested in your thoughts as would new brewers Hello Rob Do you prefer maturing chilled or room temperature ? Or does it matter? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted January 2, 2021 Report Share Posted January 2, 2021 Also, are there any brew types that are drinkable early? What about pale ales? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted January 2, 2021 Report Share Posted January 2, 2021 23 hours ago, Andy said: Also, are there any brew types that are drinkable early? What about pale ales? There are a few lagers that are drinkable early (imo) - Birra Italiano, Lawn Mower Lager, Czech Pilsner. The English Pub Draught is a good early ale. For pale ales you could try the Lords English Pale Ale and the West Coast Pale Ale. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted January 3, 2021 Report Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Captain 3 Droids said: There are a few lagers that are drinkable early (imo) - Birra Italiano, Lawn Mower Lager, Czech Pilsner. The English Pub Draught is a good early ale. For pale ales you could try the Lords English Pale Ale and the West Coast Pale Ale. Cheers Thanks...still frustrated a bit by temperature to mature at. I have a cellar that maintains 18 C year round and is most convent to store the 10l ikeggers. Do you think that’s safe for most brews? Room in refrigerator is possible but frustrates better half. thanks Edited January 3, 2021 by Andy Add Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted January 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2021 3 hours ago, Andy said: Thanks...still frustrated a bit by temperature to mature at. I have a cellar that maintains 18 C year round and is most convent to store the 10l ikeggers. Do you think that’s safe for most brews? Room in refrigerator is possible but frustrates better half. thanks Hi Andy, maturing in the cellar at 18C is perfect, the only time you'd want it in the fridge is cooling it ready to drink Edit, sorry I can see you are using Ikeggers, C#D will have a better idea on storage of those, I tend to either bottle or keg using the Brewart kegs, which both benefit from 18-26C storage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted January 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2021 On 02/01/2021 at 10:37 AM, Andy said: Also, are there any brew types that are drinkable early? What about pale ales? Yeah, Deutsch lager drinks very well early as well as a few other s that have been suggested Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted January 3, 2021 Report Share Posted January 3, 2021 18c perfect for your stainless kegs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted January 3, 2021 Report Share Posted January 3, 2021 Thanks as always Happy New Year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Dalton Posted April 17, 2022 Report Share Posted April 17, 2022 Hey all, I just stick to a general rule. Lagers 6 weeks minimum, anything else 8 weeks minimum. Of course as first time brewers we hook in at about 4 weeks or less, just to sample the product. But after that just be patient, it’s well and truly worth it. Cheers! Anthony 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted April 17, 2022 Report Share Posted April 17, 2022 9 minutes ago, Anthony Dalton said: Hey all, I just stick to a general rule. Lagers 6 weeks minimum, anything else 8 weeks minimum. Of course as first time brewers we hook in at about 4 weeks or less, just to sample the product. But after that just be patient, it’s well and truly worth it. Cheers! Anthony I disagree a bit, however some lagers can be consumed early like 4 weeks and are enjoyable with no apparent flaws. Eg Birra Italiano. Other that high alcohol brews, and stouts, I think 6weeks plus. Now this is my opinion and would say and agree that longer storage is better, but don’t stick to a rule, try some younger and you may be surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Dalton Posted April 17, 2022 Report Share Posted April 17, 2022 7 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said: I disagree a bit, however some lagers can be consumed early like 4 weeks and are enjoyable with no apparent flaws. Eg Birra Italiano. Other that high alcohol brews, and stouts, I think 6weeks plus. Now this is my opinion and would say and agree that longer storage is better, but don’t stick to a rule, try some younger and you may be surprised. Hey Captain, Your experience far outweighs mine. Some of my bottled stuff I will sample early, but given I generally keg, I am extremely reticent to go too early, particularly with the ales; look they taste fine at 4-6 weeks, but I have found letting them go a bitter longer is the difference between a really great drop at 6 weeks and Angel’s cum on your tongue at 8-10 weeks. In regards to the lagers I am still working it out, and have discovered I am a bit of a convert. I will try my next batch at 4 weeks and check it out. It’s all trial and error. Cheers! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted April 17, 2022 Report Share Posted April 17, 2022 1 minute ago, Anthony Dalton said: Hey Captain, Your experience far outweighs mine. Some of my bottled stuff I will sample early, but given I generally keg, I am extremely reticent to go too early, particularly with the ales; look they taste fine at 4-6 weeks, but I have found letting them go a bitter longer is the difference between a really great drop at 6 weeks and Angel’s cum on your tongue at 8-10 weeks. In regards to the lagers I am still working it out, and have discovered I am a bit of a convert. I will try my next batch at 4 weeks and check it out. It’s all trial and error. Cheers! Your not wrong with what your saying, the longer the better, all I’m saying is some can be drunk early particularly if your stock supply’s are down. However you are right and what you are doing will give you great results. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J P Posted April 17, 2022 Report Share Posted April 17, 2022 …and you have incredible descriptive analogies 🤓 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted April 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2022 53 minutes ago, J P said: …and you have incredible descriptive analogies 🤓 LOL, it made me go back and read what he wrote... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted April 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2022 5 hours ago, Anthony Dalton said: . It’s all trial and error. Ain't that the truth! The weird thing is, there are times I drink a beer ( like Duetsch lager) and the first couple of times i had it, just great between 3-5 weeks and not so brilliant afters and the last time I had it, thought it was crap early on and then about 8 weeks in...bam, absolute treat to drink until I finished it at 3 months. It is why I like to bottle my beer cause I can knock of a stubbie ealy at say 3 or 4 weeks and I'm like "giddy up" or I know to let it sit a bit longer and try again 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted April 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2022 Then there is the whole bit about drinking types of beers in different styles of glasses 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Frothman Posted April 18, 2022 Report Share Posted April 18, 2022 15 hours ago, J P said: …and you have incredible descriptive analogies 🤓 I just hope for his sake the angel’s name isn’t Gabriel … Not that there’s anything wrong with that! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Dalton Posted April 21, 2022 Report Share Posted April 21, 2022 Hey all, I have noticed a lot of the photos in the forum utilise different glasses for different drops. I hadn’t really considered it, I generally drink from a 500ml stein or a 700ml Pilsner glass. Are there specific glasses for specific drops? Does it affect flavour across different brews? Any feedback appreciated. Cheers! Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted April 21, 2022 Report Share Posted April 21, 2022 9 hours ago, Anthony Dalton said: Hey all, I have noticed a lot of the photos in the forum utilise different glasses for different drops. I hadn’t really considered it, I generally drink from a 500ml stein or a 700ml Pilsner glass. Are there specific glasses for specific drops? Does it affect flavour across different brews? Any feedback appreciated. Cheers! Anthony I don’t get overly fussed about it but do believe that a difference/improvement can be achieved through glass choice, particularly in the areas of taste, aroma and head retention. You can only keep a certain number of glasses in the fridge or freezer so as a general rule - I use the dimple mug style glass for ales (particularly English styles) or the general pint glass. Lagers/pilsners the stemmed Stella glass or the “balloon” glass (forgot the name) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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