StrongBad42
Well-Known Member
I've decided much too late that I want to brew something for deer camp. Is there anything out there that can be ready to drink by Nov 15?
Is there anything (beer, mead, wine, etc) thank be ready to drink in three weeks?
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Waynep005
Well-Known Member
You could brew a wheat beer. They are drinkable quickly. Easier if you are kegging of course.
CastleHollow
Well-Known Member
Nothing in the wine or mead arenas, but a lot of ales can be ready in 3 weeks, as long as you keg.
Id say the yeast you use is almost more important than the style. I'd go with something fast like Chico for any session beer ie cream ale, pale ale, blonde. Another option would be a hef since they are meant to be yeasty and fresh.
Something lowish-alcohol like a bitter, mild, or session pale should work if you can force-carb. That would give you two or more weeks of fermentation. My last bitter (4% ABV) was tasting so good at two weeks, I pulled off a couple pints for myself as I was transferring to the keg.
Black Island Brewer
An Ode to Beer
I have found WLP 090 San Diego Super to both ferment fast (65F) and bottle condition fast (75F), and could be ready in 3 weeks depending on the style. I had a drinkable American Amber with 1 week at 65, two days at 68, 5 days at 40, and a week in the bottle.
IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
Pale ales, IPAs, and wheat beers can all be grain to glass in 10-12 days if you keg. Of course this depends on your process and how healthy your fermentations are. Pitching the correct amount of yeast and controlling fermentation temps are key, along with proper oxygenation/aeration.
BrewinHooligan
Well-Known Member
+1, this is most important to have a good beer turned around quickly. Lower gravity and lighter colored beers are easier to produce a decent beer quickly than high gravity or beers with lots of highly kilned malts.
roastquake
Well-Known Member
I would shy away from hoppy beers, they are better after a month or so. They can be good in three weeks, but I feel my PAs ans IPAs are at their best after several more weeks in the bottle
My Blonde ale was formulated to go from grain to glass in 14 days. Simple, fast and delicious "if I do say so myself"
I'll find it for you if you like. I use WLP-051 and loads of it!!
Cheers
Jay
I'll find it for you if you like. I use WLP-051 and loads of it!!
Cheers
Jay
Not in my experience!
I am routinely drinking IPAs on day 20.
Hoppy beers are best fresh, so I drink my APAs, IPAs, and American ambers when they are finished, and clear. Sometimes I keg them on day 10 or so, if I"m not dryhopping. Otherwise, they tend to get kegged around day 15, depending on what I'm doing.
Other quick beers would be a mild, ordinary bitter, English brown ale, hefeweizen, American wheat, blonde ale, and other lower OG and non-complex flavored ales.
Saisons ferment hot and quickly. They can be ready in 2 weeks. If you want suds you got to keg em.
roastquake
Well-Known Member
I wonder if it has something to do with my well water... anyway +1 to milds and brown. I've been able to drink them very quickly
reverendj1
Well-Known Member
If you aren't used to turning beers around quickly, I'd say your best bet is to do a still, backsweetened cider. I really like Upstate Mike's Caramel Apple Hard Cider and it goes over well with everyone. The only difference is I let it ferment the whole way out, then just add 1 lb of sugar at bottling along with the caramel. Then dose it with campden/sorbate or batch/stovetop pasteurize. When we first did it, we did half carbed and half still, and we really liked the still better, and it is much easier to do.
I'm just getting ready to bottle my latest batch of it, and I'll be bringing it to deer camp too.
I'm just getting ready to bottle my latest batch of it, and I'll be bringing it to deer camp too.
IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
roastquake said:
Hoppy beers go south really quickly especially pale ones. . They should be drank as fresh as possible. 12-14 days in the primary is plenty for a dryhopped IPA. Even shorter if you don't dryhop. Letting them sit for 1-2 months is kind of a waste of hops.
Black Island Brewer
An Ode to Beer
+1
I'm often disappointed by how much my highly hopped beers drop off after the 30-45 day mark. Best fresh!
OP
OP
StrongBad42
Well-Known Member
If you aren't used to turning beers around quickly, I'd say your best bet is to do a still, backsweetened cider. I really like Upstate Mike's Caramel Apple Hard Cider and it goes over well with everyone. The only difference is I let it ferment the whole way out, then just add 1 lb of sugar at bottling along with the caramel. Then dose it with campden/sorbate or batch/stovetop pasteurize. When we first did it, we did half carbed and half still, and we really liked the still better, and it is much easier to do.
I'm just getting ready to bottle my latest batch of it, and I'll be bringing it to deer camp too.
This sounds like a great idea. Question: do you not use the apple juice concentrate at the end? If you could pm me with your process I'd be really grateful.
reverendj1
Well-Known Member
No, I added the concentrate too. Here's a link to my brew notes. I think I batch pasteurized it. To do that you just siphon it from your fermenter into your kettle and heat it up to ~150* for 10-15 minutes. You do risk oxidizing it and alcohol boils at ~160* (I think) when batch pasteurizing. I haven't ever had issues with it though. You can also dose it with campden tablets/potassium sorbate (1 crushed campden tablet and .5 tsp potassium sorbate per gallon), or stovetop pasteurize it in the bottle. Lately I've been leaning more towards dosing with campden/sorbate as my main method for backsweetening.
OP
OP
StrongBad42
Well-Known Member
Does the campden stop any further fermentation? Once you add the concentrate, the yeast is gonna want to have a field day.
BM's Centennial Blonde. I'm usually racking to the keg in 10 days r less...
campden does not kill yeast. It only stops it from multiplying. I would pasturize over campdening it. Campden is used in beer/winemaking to help neutralize chlorimines and stunt wild nasties so the yeast we pitch can crowd them out.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/purpose-of-campden-tablets.html
reverendj1
Well-Known Member
My understanding is Campden and sorbate essentially stop fermentation from restarting. They won't stop a fermentation mid process. The sorbate keeps yeast from reproducing and stuns them, so the yeast that are alive will just die off naturally. For this reason, it is best to get as much yeast out of suspension as possible first by either cold crashing, filtering, etc. Sorbate works better when combined with campden, which is why they are used together, but either one alone will not have the same effect. The campden/sorbate combo (I believe) is the most common method for backsweetening wines.
reverendj1
Well-Known Member
Also, like I said, you can always batch or stovetop pasteurize if you don't feel comfortable with it. If you are keeping it still, stovetop pasteurizing is fine. I've never had good luck with stovetop pasteurizing any carbonated drinks with more than a slight fizz. Too often the bottles would blow up in the kettle with all the pressure and heat, even when I'd use a much lower temp than suggested.
TheSmithsEra
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I also do this now due to the posts i've read from Yooper. Even though I bottle, I can be drinking a pale two weeks in primary and two weeks in the bottle depending on how nice and warm it is in SoCal in those two weeks
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