Next beer - Looking to make some (minor) changes

mjn12 · 12-05-2008, 01:22 AM

Alright, I know many of you are against new guys changing recipes but these mods are fairly minor and I'll probably go ahead with them unless someone has a compelling reason not to.

So heres the challenge. I have to move on the 19th. If I don't brew before then I'll have to wait quite a while to brew again. I like to brew so I want to find something fast.

Papazians books has a recipe for pale ale thats supposed to be done in the primary in 10 days - perfect if I start it on saturday and bottle a few days before moving. Here is the recipe (Righteous American Real Ale):
4.5 lbs Amber DME
1.5 oz Cascade (60min boil)
.5 oz Goldings or Willamette pellets (1min)
2tsp Gypsum
English-style aley yeast
OG: 1.04 FG: 1.007-1.01 10SRM 30IBU

My proposed modifications:
1) Fining material - 10 days won't allow for much settling of the yeast. Gelatin should help this process. I'm not using a lot of adjuncts so protien shouldn't be much of an issue and therefore irish moss wouldn't help with clarity. Gelatin as I understand it does help with clearing yeast.

2) "Hop Tea" Dry hopping - I have a french press and I happen to love beer with a good hop aroma. I was thinking of making some hop tea with an ounce of cascade or chinook and adding it at bottling.

So they are very minor changes. If I'm misguided please give me a little guidance here. I figure since I have to cram this one into a very small timeline I might as well have a little fun with some minor changes.

WBC · 12-05-2008, 05:16 AM

Go buy some Sierra Nevada as your brew would not be finished before you have to move and if you tasted both at that point it would be no contest.

**Grinder12000** · 12-05-2008, 11:11 AM

Well - done in the primary but I would not trust anything with less then 21 days. It MIGHT be done in perfect conditions . . .. or might not.

The GREAT thing about making beer is the longer you take the better it will taste. Your trying to rush one which might have the opposite effect.

Unless you want to risk bottle bombs LOL

NOT trying to be mr. negative but . . . .

mjn12 · 12-05-2008, 02:37 PM

My second batch had a much higher OG than this one and ended up well below its recommended FG in 14 days - I don't think 10 days is much of a stretch. Papazian seems to know his stuff so if he says 10 days I'd believe I'd get drinkable beer in 10 days.

Given more time I'd keep it in there for 21 days but given the choice between brew or no brew I'll take brew. Ingredients for this batch are much cheaper than my previous batches so I figured I'd try a couple new things and make the best beer with the time I've got.

yeoldebrewer · 12-05-2008, 02:57 PM

If there is one thing I'm learning on the noobie curve it's that beer just can't be rushed. The yeasties have their own timetable. Bottle conditioning cures a plethora of ills, so maybe the beer will be good regardless.

**david_42** · 12-05-2008, 03:11 PM

The changes, as you say, are minor. And a small beer can certainly be bottled at 10 days. I wouldn't be surprised if you hit FG in 3-5 days, that's about what I see for 1.040's. If you used a dry yeast, for a faster start, it's almost guaranteed.

I'd use Chinook for the tea, bit of a waste of the AA, but it has a nice aroma.

lmg95 · 12-05-2008, 03:13 PM

this was my very first brew about a month ago and it wasn't anywhere near ready after only 10 days... i waited 15 and i still probably should have waited longer, however it's been bottled about 2 weeks now and it is drinkable (a little bitter and some hot alcohol taste)