How long for a bigger beer to condition?

[Fritzpoll85]

I brewed up a weizenbock at the end of November. It fermented quite quickly but I let it sit on the yeast for 2 weeks to completely finish off.

It has been in a keg on gas since early December. Early on, the taste was quite harsh, which given it is near 7% and a dark beer kind of made sense. But even sampling it last night, there was an unpleasantly harsh aftertaste. It seems to improve and then get a little worse.

I'm aware of the need for patience, but it's getting on for a month in the keg now and I'm wondering if this is normal for a slightly bigger beer or if something has gone wrong?

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

I brewed up a weizenbock at the end of November. It fermented quite quickly but I let it sit on the yeast for 2 weeks to completely finish off.

It has been in a keg on gas since early December. Early on, the taste was quite harsh, which given it is near 7% and a dark beer kind of made sense. But even sampling it last night, there was an unpleasantly harsh aftertaste. It seems to improve and then get a little worse.

I'm aware of the need for patience, but it's getting on for a month in the keg now and I'm wondering if this is normal for a slightly bigger beer or if something has gone wrong?

Hi Never brewed one of this style

But do brew the likes of Old Tom which is ~8%

I usually leave that 7 weeks to mature and this works really well. My rule is one week for each 10 points above 1000 OG hence 1060 = 6 weeks

I don't think leaving it on the yeast would have made any difference, indeed recipes on line suggest that is what is needed

May be leave it a little longer?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

My own beers generally reach their best after 4-6 weeks but strong dark beers can be double that so I wouldn’t worry just yet.

 

[Sadfield]

No special treatment, here.

 

[Fritzpoll85]

Looks like i should hang tight for a few more weeks. It's currently in the fridge. Any benefit to it being warmer?

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

If you brought it here and put it in the garage where my beers are conditioning it would be colder than your fridge

I don't believe there is any advantage to it being warmer

 

[Fritzpoll85]

If you brought it here and put it in the garage where my beers are conditioning it would be colder than your fridge

I don't believe there is any advantage to it being warmer

Lol, same here at the moment, but I could in principle pop it elsewhere in the house. Still don't quite understand what is happening chemically in conditioning, hence not being sure if temperature matters

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Lol, same here at the moment, but I could in principle pop it elsewhere in the house. Still don't quite understand what is happening chemically in conditioning, hence not being sure if temperature matters

Conditioning is an extension of fermentation. During primary fermentation the yeast gobbles up the sugar and produced lots of by-products. When the easy meal is over the yeast goes back to these by-products and tucks into those. A bit like us making a fry-up from left-overs . The most obvious visible clue of conditioning is the beer dropping clear but there’s lots more going on, and that keeps on after the beer clears.

 

[MrRook]

I did a British style barley wine some years ago that I entered into a competition and got a so-so score, (too hoppy for style). I entered the same competition a year later with another bottle from the same batch that got second in best of show.