Fastest Ferment

I brewed a german wheat beer yesterday that is fermenting like crazy. I missed my OG because of bad water management technique on my part so it started at about 1.42. I added a 1L starter (Wyeast 3333) at about 4:00 yesterday and it took off within about five hours. It is sitting in a better bottle in a Rubbermaid cooler with a modified top, surrounded by about 50% water. The wort was at about 60 degrees when I pitched and had warmed up to about 70 degrees by this morning. I am cooling it back down with frozen liter bottles. Just for background it is 5 lbs of German Pilsner, 3 lbs of white wheat, 2 lbs of flaked wheat and 1 lb of torrified wheat. I added just a little bit of bitter orange peel at flameout (don't tell the Germans). I have a carboy cap attached to a 1/2 inch hose sitting in a half gallon milk jug filled with water (and Starsan).

In any case, it is bubbling like I have never seen before. It is almost a constant flow of very large CO2 bubbles too fast to even measure. I could probably fill my tires with this output. Oddly, I am getting very little foam. I am guessing at this rate it is going to finish very quickly.

My question is, is there such a thing as too fast of a ferment? Will it produce any off flavors? Any advise other than making sure it is as close to ideal temps as possible? Should I be calling this a Weizen or a Weisse?

For beer? Probably not. The flavor you want comes from the ingredients, and beer overall isn't exactly for the connisseurs...

For wines? Cooler and slower is generally regarded as better. Hence why french wines are often fermented in cellars

I brewed using molasses a while ago, and it was so active it was almost...explosive. hahah. Just be careful - don't add anything in without stirring and leaving the gas to settle out first (I learned this one the hard way) and you might wanna put something under it in case it foams rapidly, if whatever's currently underneath it doesn't want to be covered in beer.

I personally like to keep my temps on the low side of where the yeast are happy. I seem to get more consistent flavors that way. I would take a steady ferment over a vigorous one any day.

IXVolt said:

I personally like to keep my temps on the low side of where the yeast are happy. I seem to get more consistent flavors that way. I would take a steady ferment over a vigorous one any day.

Click to expand...

Agreed. The funny flavors produced by a fast warm fermentation take a long time to clean up, if they ever clean up. I prefer to ferment at the lower end of the strains temp range. It gives me more control over the flavors the yeast imparts and produces a cleaner ale, IMO.

A fast and vigorous fermentation is a sign of healthy yeast. Don't sweat it.