Almost every time when I tell that I’ve brewed beer in the weekend I’m asked if the beer is tasty. Unfortunately brewing beer isn’t that quick, but how long doest it take before the beer is ready to drink?
Actually, the question is not easy to answer. When you start brewing you will see that one beer takes a little longer than the other beer. In general, my experience is that it takes at least four weeks before a beer can be consumed.
But what are the things that takes time and how much time is that exactly? From my perspective there are three stages in the brewing process, each with its own duration. These stages are respectively:
- The brew day itself
- The fermentation of the wort
- The conditioning in the bottle
The first stage: brew day
On brew day, you will end up with wort containing enough fermentable sugars extracted from the grain bill. You will also add hops that will give bitterness and flavors during the boil.
I estimate that the brew day itself will take about six hours. This is time to prepare the equipment, grinding the malts, mashing, filtering and boiling the wort. And last but not lease it also takes time to cool the wort.
The second stage: fermentation
Your wort is ready for fermentation when the boil is finished and chilled. At this point you can pitch the yeast and the fermentation can be started. This stage will last between the 1 and 2 weeks. From experience I have learned that it tends to be closer to 2 weeks.
The main fermentation is mostly finished after a couple of days. After one week I transfer the wort to a clean fermentation bucket. Transferring results in the trub and dead yeast cells being left on the bottom of the first vessel. This makes my beer a bit clearer. With the transfer being done I let the beer ferment for another week.
Some beer styles require a lagering step. For these types you store the beer at a temperature. By doing this the small particles will sink to the bottom and that will give you a good clear beer.
The lagering step is an optional one. By fermentation and transferring itself I’ve brewed a lot of good beers.
The third stage: Bottling
The last phase of brewing is bottling your beer. The time you will need depends on the amount of beer you have brewed. The larger the amount the longer it will take to complete this step. I would say that you have to think about 1 or 2 hours in time.
When the bottles are filled it is just a matter of storing them in a warm place (room temperature). After two week the beer should be drinkable.
After about a week I open a beer to see its progress From my own experience I know that waiting two weeks is better, but most of the times the curiosity wins it from patience. When the two weeks are passed the beer should be less sweet and the carbonation will be right.
Please take in mind that heavier beers might need more time to mature. The carbonation can be low after two weeks with resulting in a disappointing foam retention.
In summary: How long does beer take to brew?
I’ve given a detailed overview of all three phases from brewday till bottle conditioning. Now it’s time to sum up.
The most time is spent on brewing the beer. In terms of active time this will be take six hours. Transferring the wort to the fermentation vessel costs you about 30 minutes. And filling up the bottles takes between 1 and 2 hours. So the active time spending on brewing the beer will be about 9 hours.
For the rest it’s a matter of having some patience. The fermentation takes about 2 weeks and bottle conditioning also needs a week of two. To sum everything up: from brew day till the enjoyable moment of pouring yourself a glass of beer will be about a month from begin to end.
