Why does homebrew take so long?

Beerthoven · 11-09-2007, 05:48 PM

A few weeks ago I went with some fellow HBTers on a tour of the Carolina Brewing Company in Holly Springs, NC.

They brew a fantastic Winter Porter there. It's ready to drink and delicious in 4 weeks.

I brewed a porter on Aug. 18 and it still needs time to improve.

So my question is, how come homebrew takes so long? Or put another way, how do some craft brewers get good beer so fast?

Do they boil hotter, aerate more, pitch huge yeast counts? Is it better cooling, fermentation, filtration? What is it?

Any ideas?

Cheesefood · 11-09-2007, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beerthoven

A few weeks ago I went with some fellow HBTers on a tour of the Carolina Brewing Company in Holly Springs, NC.

They brew a fantastic Winter Porter there. It's ready to drink and delicious in 4 weeks.

I brewed a porter on Aug. 18 and it still needs time to improve.

So my question is, how come homebrew takes so long? Or put another way, how do some craft brewers get good beer so fast?

Do they boil hotter, aerate more, pitch huge yeast counts? Is it better cooling, fermentation, filtration? What is it?

Any ideas?

The average homebrewer adds 2-3 weeks for clearing. If you have filtering available, you can subtract this additional time.

ohiobrewtus · 11-09-2007, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beerthoven

A few weeks ago I went with some fellow HBTers on a tour of the Carolina Brewing Company in Holly Springs, NC.

They brew a fantastic Winter Porter there. It's ready to drink and delicious in 4 weeks.

I brewed a porter on Aug. 18 and it still needs time to improve.

So my question is, how come homebrew takes so long? Or put another way, how do some craft brewers get good beer so fast?

Do they boil hotter, aerate more, pitch huge yeast counts? Is it better cooling, fermentation, filtration? What is it?

Any ideas?

It takes so long because it's worth it.

Craft breweries are bound by the same restrictions that we are with the exception of one - capital. Even with all that shiny equipment, it still takes just as long to do 100bbl as it does to do 5 gallons.

Most, if not all, force carb so that will speed things up a bit, but other than that they need to take very similar steps that we do - just on a much larger scale.

ohiobrewtus · 11-09-2007, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheesefood

The average homebrewer adds 2-3 weeks for clearing. If you have filtering available, you can subtract this additional time.

Ahhhhhhhhh ya... forgot about filtering. Guess that would speed things up considerably.

Cheesefood · 11-09-2007, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohiobrewtus

Most, if not all, force carb so that will speed things up a bit, but other than that they need to take very similar steps that we do - just on a much larger scale.

I force carb and it still takes about 2-3 weeks for the CO2 to "take". I can get a big frothy head within a week, but it disappears quickly. 2-3 weeks before I see bubbles on the bottom of the glass.

rdwj · 11-09-2007, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheesefood

I force carb and it still takes about 2-3 weeks for the CO2 to "take". I can get a big frothy head within a week, but it disappears quickly. 2-3 weeks before I see bubbles on the bottom of the glass.

That's because you keep it fairly warm. Mine is usually fully carbed in a week

Beerthoven · 11-09-2007, 06:13 PM

I think commercial brewers get good beer fast because they max-out every step of the process.

Highly efficient mash
Hot boil
Super fast cooling
Lots of aeration
High pitching rates
Tightly controlled fermentation temp
Crash cooling
Filtering
Force carbonation

As homebrewers, most of us are pretty slack in one or more of these areas, and that comes through in the beer.

**Orfy** · 11-09-2007, 06:19 PM

You can have beer to drink in 2-4 weeks easy.
I've done mild in 12 days.

Philip1993 · 11-09-2007, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheesefood

I force carb and it still takes about 2-3 weeks for the CO2 to "take". I can get a big frothy head within a week, but it disappears quickly. 2-3 weeks before I see bubbles on the bottom of the glass.

Ditto.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdwj

That's because you keep it fairly warm. Mine is usually fully carbed in a week

Not mine. And I carb at serving temperature. Perhaps it's the 'degree' of forcefulness. I carb just a little above serving pressure and very rarely is that at, or above, 15psi. I also never shake the beer to dissolve the CO2 more quickly. Perhaps it's mental, but IMHO the carbonation is much finer and lacier with a slow, steady carb.

srm775 · 11-10-2007, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beerthoven

I think commercial brewers get good beer fast because they max-out every step of the process.

Highly efficient mash
Hot boil
Super fast cooling
Lots of aeration
High pitching rates
Tightly controlled fermentation temp
Crash cooling
Filtering
Force carbonation

As homebrewers, most of us are pretty slack in one or more of these areas, and that comes through in the beer.

Hot boil? Last time I checked water (wort) boils at the same temperature (212 F)for me as it does for craft brewers and large commercial breweries.

I don't know about you, but as I sit here and gulp down my Pacific Pale Ale (Sierra Nevada-ish) I'd put it up against any craft or large scale brewery. Besides, I do everything on that list except for filtering but that's what crash cooling is.

Also, my Pacific Pale Ale I'm drinking right now was fully carbed and ready to serve 12 hours after carbing it. This is the first time I've carbed by vigorously shaking it and it turned out great.