Rushing a beer

Ok, I needed to brew a beer by Christmas Eve and I brewed a blonde ale that should be drank young and left myself 23 days... so today, after 9 days I racked from fermenter to corny keg and put the gas on. I typically wait 21 days before I open the fermenter and here the S.-05 was not entirely dropped after 9 days and I'm used to seeing pretty clear product down to the yeast cake.
So my question is considering I have until the 24th, is this the right way to rush this beer cause I usually slow carbonate for 2 weeks, or should I let it sit another week and then rush the carbonation for 1 week? Will it mature enough with gas on at 45 after 9 days of fermentation at 65? It is meant to be drank in 21 days easy but I'm just not sure I'm rushing it right. Thanks for help!

Hows it taste? I find that I can go grain to glass in 10 to 14 days if I use a flocculent yeast, I prefer Nottingham in these situations, low sixties, under 1.050 and a simple grain bill. I add gelatin when I keg to help everything drop out.

I would vote to rush the carb over the fermentation - a slightly undercarbonated beer that is clear and delicious is better than a well carbonated beer with floaties and odd flavors, IMHO.

Tastes ok, a bit bready, I used safeale -05 for this batch and it mostly floccualted... I siphoned between any floaties and the yeast cake so now it is at 45 with the gas on it... I could rack it back out into a fermenter and let it sit another week and then just rush the carbonation... hmmm might have a better chance that way... just wasn't sure of the best way to rush it was...oh it it's a really light bill, just 1.045 OG I should also mention here the measured finished gravity after 9 days of ferm. was 1.007 so I'm pretty sure she's done... so perhaps just throw some geletin in the corny. If I do that do I rack it into another corny before serving or will the solid stuff stay out of the dispense tube?

If you feel it tastes OK then its done. I would be concerned about Acetaldehyde and diacetyl. Even when the gravity is down, active yeast are still "cleaning up" some residual products. I would consider leaving the corny unpressurized at room temp for another week then rush the carbonation (you can shake a few times at high PSI then let rest at your equilibrium pressure for a week and should still get a good carb level.

giligson said:

I... I would consider leaving the corny unpressurized at room temp for another week then rush the carbonation (you can shake a few times at high PSI then let rest at your equilibrium pressure for a week and should still get a good carb level.

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Not totally unpressurized in the corny, otherwise you're somewhat exposed to the atmosphere. You could hit it with 12-20 PSI enough to seal the lid and then remove from co2 for the conditioning time. BUT, if you think it tastes good then there's nothing wrong with getting it on gas in the fridge right now. I think it will condition much slower but will still condition over time, and anything that remains after christmas will just be given a chance to become better

If you've already put it in the keg, don't bother transferring it - just adding headache. Let it sit at normal PSI then cold-crash in your fridge before serving - your first pint or two may be a bit gross from the cold break but it should all get out pretty quick.

stpug said:

Not totally unpressurized in the corny, otherwise you're somewhat exposed to the atmosphere.

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Yes, that's what I would do - didn't specify sealing pressure required.

In the future, if you really need to hurry, pitch twice as much yeast. When you reach a reasonable final gravity, get the carboy down to about 33F and let it settle out. I've found that US-04 is about the best flocculator out there. Carbonating can be done in a day so it's better to let it ferment out and settle clear before it gets to the keg. That ship has sailed. Elevate the keg pressure 5 psi over the target pressure on the charts and check it every couple days.

Bobby_M said:

In the future, if you really need to hurry, pitch twice as much yeast. When you reach a reasonable final gravity, get the carboy down to about 33F and let it settle out. I've found that US-04 is about the best flocculator out there. Carbonating can be done in a day so it's better to let it ferment out and settle clear before it gets to the keg. That ship has sailed. Elevate the keg pressure 5 psi over the target pressure on the charts and check it every couple days.

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My preferred method is to pitch the right number of yeast and ferment with pure O2 and extremely tight temp control. That way, my beer is drinkable as soon as it hits FG, with a day or two for most of the yeast to drop out. Then I can rack it into a keg with some gelatin to clear it more completely, let it set for a couple days on gas in the cold, then clean transfer under pressure to an empty keg so I have zero sediment in the serving keg. Then I can force carb as needed. I did ~20 gallons of beer this way 1.5 weeks before our kickstarter launch party. Everything came out exactly as intended, same as any other ferm schedule.

OP- if you have an empty keg, that's what I'd do with the beer you have now. Make up some gelatin and add it to your cold keg now. Let that sit for 2-3 days and then transfer under pressure to the new keg. Then you can force carb to your desired level. That way you can move the serving keg around without worrying about sediment clouding up your beer. Sharing beer at the holidays means a lot of folks not entirely used to craft/homebrewed beer, so any cloudiness is going to raise eyebrows. I like sparkling clear beer myself, and it really helps for the uninitiated.

Can you give me the gelatin formula? That sounds like a plan...I have an about to be empty keg Won't the transfer under pressure pull the sediment into the fresh keg though? You mean transfer under pressure by pouring out of the tap right, won't that pull the bottom stuff first? Will I need to chuck the first liter or so ya think? Not that it matters I have 5.5 in there...

Lots of threads on gelatin -here's one:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/gelatin-finings-question-57634/

I pour a pint or two after the gelatin to make sure the dip tube is free of any sediment before transferring- sorry should have been clearer.

Bobby M., meant to ask you, this rushed brew is Beirmucher Centennial Blonde which I always brew but use US 2 - row and wait my typical 21 days to put the gas on it... so I read somewhere, probably on that thread that the first time you brewed the Centennial Blonde you used Maris cause that's all you had around... well I ran out of US grains and had 50# of Maris laying around so I used it (not all 50 lbs )... How did it come out for you?

Netflyer -- I think the biggest thing here is to relax. If all you tasted after 9 days was 'bready' than 2 week cold crash might clear that up, especially if you add gelatin. Just make sure to dump the first pint or two as it will be filled with crud that dropped out of the beer (you will see it).