Length of time required to condition

I have been brewing for about 15 years, but really took it seriously about 3 years ago. I have tried to devour anything I can get my hands on to learn everything I can about brewing. But the one thing that really eludes me is how do you know how long a beer should wait until it is ready?
I have seen many recipes that have very different "ready times" from 4 weeks to six months (or more for barleywines and meads). I understand why meads and wines need more time. But what about other styles, how do I know how long I should wait for it to be ready? I would prefer not to keep tapping a keg only to find out it still needs to sit longer.  I have been designing recipes for a while and I think this would be helpful to know that an IPA should be ready in 4 weeks and a Tripple should be 3 months. I currently brew all grain, partial mash batches and keg with forced carbonation.
I have asked everybody..even pro brewers and have not ever been given a "guide" or way to figure out how long a beer style should take to be finished.

there are rough guidelines but it's so subjective and you have to remember that beer is a living thing, each batch, heck each pint will be different than the last. This is why the big guys spend SOOO much money trying to make the product as close as possible to 'the same' each time. it's really really hard and expensive.

so rough guidelines:

Wheat beers, fresher the better. Just short of 'still fermenting' is about right. you want the yeast to have attenuated fully, re absorbed any undesirable compounds they excreted earlier and that's about it. they should still largely be in suspension even.

IPA's, IIPA's (american style), pretty fresh. you can give them more time if they are a little hot or need the time to clean up above mentioned compounds and drop more or less bright. I don't like too much suspended yeast in really hoppy beers because the yeast absorb so much bitter hop compound that I get really harsh notes from them. The important thing here is to dry hop just a few days - a week before you want to serve so the aroma is nice and fresh still.

APA's, Bitters, other hop forward session beers, similar to IPA, it should be done and clean but that can happen pretty quick. I've gotten an ordinary bitter 1.032 done, kegged, carbed, cold, and drinking in 8 days grain to glass. but I've also let APAs set for 4 weeks in primary before kegging and they were good too.

More malt forward styles like malty lagers, ambers, scottish shilling beers, blondes, can take longer but once they are bright and clear they are usually good. maybe 4 weeks in primary and then another 2-3 on a keg?

big beers other than IIPA's, if brewed well should be quite nice after say 2-3 months but often get better the longer you can leave them alone.

there are as many exceptions as rules though so... let taste be your guide. get a cobra tap that you keep sanitized so you can pop it on a keg, pull a taste and pop it off again. that's what the pro's do because that's the only sure way to know if a beer is ready.

What are your thoughts on an Amber Ale using WLP002?  I am always amazed how fast it drops.  Ferment was at FG in less than 2 days.  It tastes pretty good at 2 weeks

KernelCrush said:

What are your thoughts on an Amber Ale using WLP002?  I am always amazed how fast it drops.  Ferment was at FG in less than 2 days.  It tastes pretty good at 2 weeks

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if it tastes good drink it! I don't think a beer like that needs the longer rest unless there is a flaw that will age out. It's just not as important to get it fresh as it is with a wheat or a hoppy AIPA

I only figured out when my beers are ready by brewing them on my system using my processes.  After repeating the brew, I figure out what works best for each one.    I used to same a pint a day until I reached what I though was a sweet spot.  Sadly, I often found that I was just about out when I found it.

Thanks for the guidelines. I appreciate the information and will try to be patient long enough for my bigger beers, like my dunkelwiezen and esb's. I am hoping that by kegging my beers, they can cellar longer. I have found that standard bottling for me the beers cellar only for a few months before they are oxidized and really don't taste great.
As far as testing with a pint a day, I often found that I was out just when I thought it had matured too. Which is why I raised the question so that I can pretty much gauge how long I should wait before trying.

All beers are a bit different.  My Christmas Ales, some Belgiums take 1.5 to 2 years to bottle condition.  Wheats as soon as they are carbed.