Name your shortest fermented beer!

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colhep67

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Ok... So I have seen the thread of the longest fermented beer.

What about your shortest?

Everyone gets inpatient. What's your shortest fermented beer and what did it taste like?

Mine was Mr. beer and it turned out super sweet. I moved the keg around a lot during fermentation and it wasn't terrible but was bad...... My girlfriend liked it lol

Please share your experience
 
I have done plenty of low gravity ales that fermented in a week. They were kegged in week two and gone in week 3. The key is lots of healthy yeast, temperature control, oxygenation, and of course kegging.
 
My english milds fart thru the airlock for about 2-3 days and the airlock goes dead. I would say they are ready to bottle after 7-10 days. I still let them sit for 3 weeks though just cuzzz.
 
3 days from grain to end of airlock activity is my shortest so far. For the life of me I can't remember what beer it was.
 
I brewed an oatmeal stout that finished in 5 days. I bottled on day 6. No bottle bombs, wasn't super sweet. It finished just right. I think it was right around 6.5%, too. It was one of my better beers I've made. But that was a freak thing. I usually don't pull my brews until they've had at least 10-14 days to primary.
 
I make an extract ESB that goes from boil to empty keg in 2 weeks. It's a little cloudy and not as smooth around the edges, but makes a nice fire pit drinker. Brew on a Saturday morning, fermentation done in 2-3 days and keg on day 7-10. It's usually gone by the following weekend and no one complains. I keep it in rotation all the time.
 
Probably about three days.

But who really cares?

It is not done in three days!

I have never done anything with a fermentation in less than 14 days. I usually ferment for 3 weeks to allow plenty of time for it to finish.
 
Pretty much anything brewed with Nottingham can go in a bottle after a week IMO. My favorite extract ale recipe is consistently carbed up and ready to drink 10 days after pitching.
 
6 days for a 1.052 American Wheat. Was in my pint glass by day 7.

I have a 1.072 stout in my chamber right now that hit FG in 4 days. Obviously I'm letting it sit for another few days for the yeast to clean up and then will cold condition for a bit. Took a sample and no off flavors and it's actually quite tastey for a 4 day stout with that high of an OG. A week or two cold will round it out quite nicely.

What a huge difference starters, controlled fermentation temps, and pure oxygen makes.
 
I've gone grain to glass in 10 days a couple of times with BierMunchers Centenial Blonde.
 
VikingChrisColby said:
English session beers, around 3.8–4.0% ABV, will ferment in about 3 days if pitched with an adequate amount of yeast. If you really know what you are doing, you can go "grain-to-glass" in 7 days (assuming you keg, longer if you bottle condition).

http://beerandwinejournal.com/quickly-maturing-ale/

Chris Colby
Editor
beerandwinejournal.com

It doesn't even have to be a weak beer. As others have said it is more about yeast pitch and oxygenation. I have had beers 1.060-1.095 ferment in 3-4 days
 
Vienna/Nelson Sauvin SMaSH at 4% with slurry repitched from an IPA took 3 days to hit FG. Amazing. I leave all my beers on the yeast cake for 2 week though to let things clean up
 
Centennial Blonde, 2 weeks from yeast pitch to nicely drinkable with bottle carbonation (~4 days ferment, ~10 days in the bottle). I just decided to try one young on a lark and, damn me, it was already clear and very nicely carbonated. That batch didn't last long, but it was good, clear, tasty, perfectly carbonated beer. I'm not sure what magic combination of variables caused this but I haven't turned any batches around anywhere nearly that quick since.
 
Been brewing several years and can't even come close to some of these times.
My fastest was a Pale ale. 1.052-1.010. No dry hops. Cold Crashed. Kegged. Grain to glass in 12 days.
 
Billy-Klubb said:
the way I do it is to leave little head space in the carboy & use a blow off manifold system so I don't have to top crop & it will automatically self pitch into 30-40 other carboys of unfermented wort.

That sucks tone done with your 200 gallon yearly limit all in one shot 😉

Cheers!
 
One of my good friends does a Cream Ale regularly. I can verify he goes from grain to glass in 9 days and it tastes really good.

But for my satisfaction, always primary for 2 weeks then 1 week in the keg for secondary while carbonating. It usually sits longer than 1 week in the keg conditioning, but that's the soonest I'll allow myself to drink it.
 
Billy-Klubb said:
I brewed a Mega Imperial Session Red Ale. OG was 1.199 FG was 0.998. it took 9 minutes to ferment out completely.

9 MINUTES...? Lol
 
But for my satisfaction, always primary for 2 weeks then 1 week in the keg for secondary while carbonating. It usually sits longer than 1 week in the keg conditioning, but that's the soonest I'll allow myself to drink it.

I bottle so it obviously takes longer than kegging by like you 2 weeks in primary is about the shortest I trust most of my beers.
 
It doesn't even have to be a weak beer. As others have said it is more about yeast pitch and oxygenation. I have had beers 1.060-1.095 ferment in 3-4 days
A healthy pitch of harvested S-04 ate through one of my batches in 4 days.
 
1.038 OG British Mild racked on top of an S-04 cake from a Rye Porter. Down to 1.011 in 3 days. Straight to the TAD bottles and served on the sixth day.

This is now my go-to beer any time I know I will have an S-04 cake left over. Keeping it cool enough is one of the biggest problem as I am still using my basement ambient or a swamp cooler for fermentation control. Luckily, fruity esters in a Mild are not a bad thing.
 
A healthy pitch of harvested S-04 ate through one of my batches in 4 days.

I pitched S-04 dry on a pale ale and it was done in a few days, too. I find S-04 and S-05 to be some serious stuff :) I keep things between 65 and 70, and they just go to town.
 
I made a white wheat graff. og 1.045. After a wild fermentation with Fermentis wb-06 it was done (fg1.010) in primary 36 hours after pitching dry yeast at 65degF.
 
I made a white wheat graff. og 1.045. After a wild fermentation with Fermentis wb-06 it was done (fg1.010) in primary 36 hours after pitching dry yeast at 65degF.

DAMN!!! now thats a quick turnaround
 
DAMN!!! now thats a quick turnaround

I still let it mellow in secondary for 2 weeks. It tasted pretty hot due to the 3 gal of apple cider in there. Exited to crack open some bottles this weekend!! 4 weeks start to finish isn't too bad for anything involving apples.
 
I still let it mellow in secondary for 2 weeks. It tasted pretty hot due to the 3 gal of apple cider in there. Exited to crack open some bottles this weekend!! 4 weeks start to finish isn't too bad for anything involving apples.

no your right i think 4 weeks is pretty quick
 
I can turn around an APA in 2 weeks 1.50ish. I've done a mild in 10 days and it was good. I just kegged a 1.060 APA after 2 weeks and it was way too green, so I just pulled out of kegerator and put back in the basement. A few things went wrong, I think. 1) I didn't rehydrate yeast, 2) I didn't filter or dechlorinate my water, 3) basement was 57 (during cold spell). I call it the choas pale ale.
 
My fastest was Edwort's Pale Ale. Grain to Belly was about 2 weeks or a hair less.
 
My fastest was a 1.080 American Ale brewed with Nottingham Ale Yeast. From pitch to belly in 9 days.
 
Fastest was a IIPA I mashed super low and pitched a healthy dose of Nottingham. 36 hours from 1.086 to 1.007. I have a temp controlled conical and this was at 66F.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Home Brew mobile app
 

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