Quick turnaround techniques

I've performed a search and haven't come across exactly the discussion/answers I'm looking for. In general I'm interested in any techniques used to turn around brews fairly quickly.

What I've Got: A 1.038 OG wheat beer fermented with WB-06.
What I'm Considering: It took 4 days to complete fermentation (3 really). I want to give it 7 days beyond the 4, making a total of 11 days in primary. I'm on the fence as to wether I should transfer to secondary or not, should I? At Day 15 I plan on cold crashing for 4-5 days, as well as dry hopping, then kegging and drinking.

Thoughts?

depends on yeast........can u filter....I have made great 10 day ales with WL001

ps no need to transfer

Get more kegs and brew more beer, and the problem will resolve itself.

reinstone said:

depends on yeast........can u filter....I have made great 10 day ales with WL001

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Generally I don't secondary, usually primary for 3-6 weeks and keg. Though the general consensus is that transferring a beer to secondary will facilitate quicker clearing. As for the yeast it's the dry hefeweizen WB-06 which I haven't used before. Technically it shouldn't hurt for some of it to be in suspension, being a hefe yeast. I'm guessing the cold crash will take care of most of the yeast in suspension.

Calder said:

Get more kegs and brew more beer, and the problem will resolve itself.

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Patience is one of my stronger points as a homebrewer. I'm just wanting to turn this around to do it.

Do you have a way to control temperatures? Start the ferment at the lower range of the yeast's preferred temperature and keep it there for the 2 to 3 days of fast ferment, then warm it to room temp (72 to 75) to encourage the yeast to finish and clean up. Leave it at this temp for 3 to 5 days and then cold crash it to drop the yeast. Keg it and add your dry hops in a hop bag right in the keg and start drinking at about the 3rd day.

RM-MN said:

Do you have a way to control temperatures? Start the ferment at the lower range of the yeast's preferred temperature and keep it there for the 2 to 3 days of fast ferment, then warm it to room temp (72 to 75) to encourage the yeast to finish and clean up. Leave it at this temp for 3 to 5 days and then cold crash it to drop the yeast. Keg it and add your dry hops in a hop bag right in the keg and start drinking at about the 3rd day.

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I've already done as you state, fermented at fermentation temps and it now sits at around 73 degrees till I decide to do something with it.

For a quick turn around I ferment at low temps until active fermentation slows then a rest at room temp for a few days to let the yeast "clean up" then rack to secondary stir in Super-kleer kc as directed then cold crash. Yeast will drop right out. Then rack to keg and force carb. This worked really well with a cream ale.

If it's done fermenting cold crash it, dry hop it, and keg it.

After about 24-48 hours of being finished, the beer is ready to be packaged. I see no advantage at all for a 1.038 beer, especially a wheat, to sit for any prolonged length of time.

Proper pitching rate and fermentation temperature means a lower OG beer is ready within a very short period of time. I'd keg it by day 7-10 for sure.

Yooper said:

After about 24-48 hours of being finished, the beer is ready to be packaged. I see no advantage at all for a 1.038 beer, especially a wheat, to sit for any prolonged length of time.

Proper pitching rate and fermentation temperature means a lower OG beer is ready within a very short period of time. I'd keg it by day 7-10 for sure.

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Amen!! I can go from grain to glass on a 1.055 or less OG beer in 2 weeks pretty easily: 5 days to ferment out, 2 day cold crash, 5-7 days to carb. With a more flocculant yeast, it'll even be totally bright by that time too. I really don't understand all the "3 week primary" talk. I mean , I'm patient and all, but goodness.

Brulosopher said:

Amen!! I can go from grain to glass on a 1.055 or less OG beer in 2 weeks pretty easily: 5 days to ferment out, 2 day cold crash, 5-7 days to carb. With a more flocculant yeast, it'll even be totally bright by that time too. I really don't understand all the "3 week primary" talk. I mean , I'm patient and all, but goodness.

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I brewed a 1.054 Scottish ale with wlp028 a week ago sunday. I pitched @61F, and held it in the low 60's for about 2 days, then let it rise on its own to 68 F. It was done after three days (1.015). I raised the temp to 71 F for two days, then cooled it to 38 F for two more days and bottled it yesterday. It tasted pretty good. I'd rather do my conditioning/aging/whatever in the bottle while it's carbing up. I don't see much advantage to just leaving it in the fermenter, provided I have time to bottle. I usually find that after 2-3 weeks of carbing, a few weeks of cold conditioning really brings my brews around. But I'll probably start drinking it in 5 days anyway, lol.

Yooper said:

After about 24-48 hours of being finished, the beer is ready to be packaged. I see no advantage at all for a 1.038 beer, especially a wheat, to sit for any prolonged length of time.

Proper pitching rate and fermentation temperature means a lower OG beer is ready within a very short period of time. I'd keg it by day 7-10 for sure.

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Exactly, pitch appropriately (to slightly heavy) o2, give it a few days for cleanup after initial ferment is over and given its a hefe, I'd package it. Secondary is usually pointless, especially in this case.

I pretty much do everything everyone said (low ferm temp, then room temp to finish off). I cold crash as soon as I hit my final gravity. If I dry hop I do it in the keg while it's carbing. If not, I just shake it at 45 psi for two minutes. I almost never wait longer than 10 days to drink my beers, and they are clear and delicious.

It's chilling! Dry-hopping begins tomorrow.

Yooper said:

After about 24-48 hours of being finished, the beer is ready to be packaged. I see no advantage at all for a 1.038 beer, especially a wheat, to sit for any prolonged length of time.

Proper pitching rate and fermentation temperature means a lower OG beer is ready within a very short period of time. I'd keg it by day 7-10 for sure.

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This. It's a wheat beer... you're not waiting for anything to clear. Bag it as soon as it's done fermenting and drink it.