2 weeks Kettle to Keg to Drinking - Anyone ever try this? I did!

[StewMakesBrew]

Hi All:

So I have read on this place and others that you can theoretically go from Brew Day (kettle) to keg and drinking in just two weeks. Given that a) I was almost out of beer in my kegerator and b) had a simple Pilsner ale planned for my next batch, I gave it a shot. Here's the results:

So, the recipe I made was a simple all-grain pilsner that's loosely a Scrimshaw clone if Scrimshaw were an ale. 9 lbs of german pilsner base malt, 1 lb of munich malt for mouth feel and flavor, 1.5 oz of 4% Hallertau Hersbrucker (60 minutes) and .5 oz 4.5% Tettanang (10 minutes) for aroma. Pitch with either Wyeast 1056 or White Labs WPL001. SG of 1.046, FG under 1.010.

At 11 days in the fermenter, it had hit finishing gravity - it was at 1.006, so actually beat the gravity a touch for a nice 5.4% ABV. I kegged the day after at day 12 after brew day. Into the kegerator it went for an overnight cooling down to 38 degrees (which consumed all of day 13) and yesterday, day 14, I force carbed it to 2.3 vols - so onto the gas at 25 PSI, agitating 2 minutes on, 5 minutes off, for 30 minutes.

And the result: It's good! It's not as good as the last batch of this I made which cold conditioned for 2 weeks prior to slow carbonation at 12 psi for a week, but considering it's the dog days of summer and being out of beer is not my idea of fun, especially when it's hot out, The beer still has a slight yeasty green flavor to it, which, I think will continue to go away over the next several days - after 2 weeks, I'm sure it will be up to the quality of my last batch. It also has plenty of chill haze, which I'm sure will also continue to go away as this settles down.

So, ever try doing this? What were your results?

FYI, there is no way to do this bottling. Sorry bottle guys but unless you're kegging, force carbing and then counter-pressure filling, it won't work. You need a week or two of natural carb time in the bottles.

 

[applescrap]

Sure, there was a thread on "how quick" kettle to keg or something. I have done 7 days plenty for same reasons

 

[BrueDude]

I do it all the time. It depends on the beer, but some are amazing young. I had a Blonde that was grain to glass in 7 days.

 

[Lefou]

I've seen people discussing this before and it tweaked my interest to get in gear to start kegging.
Still in the bottling rut, but sooner or later, I'll convert over because kegging is so much more efficient with work, time, and space.
Turn-around time is a killer for me because it takes almost 3-4 weeks for my beer to condition over the winter. I can just imagine what a high-grav batch would be like .... so I haven't bothered with the robust porter I've been planning. Not yet.

 

[Lefou]

I do it all the time. It depends on the beer, but some are amazing young. I had a Blonde that was grain to glass in 7 days.

Low SRM, low gravity ales done with vigorous attenuative yeasts work wonders with kegging. If you like 'em a bit hoppy, you can get it before the flavors and aroma fades a bit.
I think fresh, young bready ales can be some of the best stuff around if you can tolerate yeast. I started out with wines and cider but didn't want to wait for them to age - so that took me right into brewing ale.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I bottled a blonde yesterday that had only been fermenting for 7 days. I just kept tabs on it while it was fermenting and bumped the temperature up as soon as the krausen fell. Usually my beers are ok to drink after a week of carbonating since I keep them in a rather warm place, but it'll be good for sure after 2 weeks. 3 weeks from grain to glass while bottling isn't bad I'd say.

I also brewed a batch yesterday that I inoculated with the yeast from that batch. It must have been pretty lively because I've never seen a shorter lag. By last night there was already a decent krausen forming.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I had an IPA that went grain to glass in 12 days. And I'll have another IPA fermenting that will do nearly the same thing, except it'll end up being 15-16 days. Generally if you're dry-hopping, you have to add a few days, but I could turn around a non-dry-hopped beer in probably 7-9 days without issue.

The key is healthy yeast and healthy fermentation. If you have an adequate starter (or sufficient quantity dry yeast), and you control fermentation temps so you don't generate off flavors the yeast need to "clean up", you're good to go.

I generally start fermentation on the mid 60's (for most yeast, depending on strain, of course), and hold it there until the activity starts to slow. I then let it ramp up to 70-72 to finish it off for a day or two (add dry hops now if necessary). Crash cool for 1-2 days right before kegging (for clarity, and because the beer will take CO2 better when cold).

I keg it and push 40-50 psi overnight before venting and then putting it on serving pressure. I know some people do the "shake" method to force carb, but I prefer to let it go at high pressure without shaking. If you're willing to shell out for a diffusion stone solution, you can carbonate at lower pressure more quickly and with zero danger of overcarbonating.

But that's it. Easy to do, and you can turn around beer in around a week or two depending on the recipe and whether you're doing any dry-hopping.

 

[StewMakesBrew]

I do it all the time. It depends on the beer, but some are amazing young. I had a Blonde that was grain to glass in 7 days.

Nice job, but how was the beer?

 

[StewMakesBrew]

I had an IPA that went grain to glass in 12 days. And I'll have another IPA fermenting that will do nearly the same thing, except it'll end up being 15-16 days. Generally if you're dry-hopping, you have to add a few days, but I could turn around a non-dry-hopped beer in probably 7-9 days without issue.

The key is healthy yeast and healthy fermentation. If you have an adequate starter (or sufficient quantity dry yeast), and you control fermentation temps so you don't generate off flavors the yeast need to "clean up", you're good to go.

I generally start fermentation on the mid 60's (for most yeast, depending on strain, of course), and hold it there until the activity starts to slow. I then let it ramp up to 70-72 to finish it off for a day or two (add dry hops now if necessary). Crash cool for 1-2 days right before kegging (for clarity, and because the beer will take CO2 better when cold).

I keg it and push 40-50 psi overnight before venting and then putting it on serving pressure. I know some people do the "shake" method to force carb, but I prefer to let it go at high pressure without shaking. If you're willing to shell out for a diffusion stone solution, you can carbonate at lower pressure more quickly and with zero danger of overcarbonating.

But that's it. Easy to do, and you can turn around beer in around a week or two depending on the recipe and whether you're doing any dry-hopping.

Appreciate the extra tips - so my normal groove is 3 weeks in the fermenter - allows nice clear beers, and then at least 2 weeks or more cold conditioning in the keg for aging before carbonating. Then earlier in the summer, I ran out of the wheat ale that I started making last year that's a fave of all my friends, and went 3 weeks kettle to keg to glass with that one, and this one, I accelerated another week in front of that.

I'm interested in hearing from more folks on this one.

 

[brewcat]

This is my normal process for most beers. Fermentation done in around 10 days. Into a keg it goes. Then 3 days at serving pressure gives me adequate carbonation.

 

[Weezy]

The last mild that I did, we were drinking it at day 5. Ferment in keg, sounding valve to keep pressure at 10 psi, chill slightly to 50F while I'm at work. Tap it when I vey home and drink at basement temp. We could have done it on day 4 tbh. it's done cooking at day 3.

 

[oceanic_brew]

The last mild that I did, we were drinking it at day 5. Ferment in keg, sounding valve to keep pressure at 10 psi, chill slightly to 50F while I'm at work. Tap it when I vey home and drink at basement temp. We could have done it on day 4 tbh. it's done cooking at day 3.

I did a dark mild that was grain to glass in 6 days. It scored a 39 across the board at a comp.

Weird thing was that I did pretty much opposite of what's recommended when trying to finish a beer, when the gravity reach about 1/3rd mark I chilled the beer a few degrees to retain a lot of the flavors. Nailed the style.

Any of the batches I made with this recipe that I let condition cleaned up to quickly.

Dark mild with 1968 esb yeast, slow fermentation near the end, the quickest beer I've made and it does not taste rushed and is at its best at about a week.

 

[woo_pig]

I did a hefe grain to glass 10 day.

 

[BrueDude]

Nice job, but how was the beer?

Spectacular. Seriously. If I could repeat that brew I would be a millionaire. It was with 3rd generation s-04 yeast that tore through the wort like it was nothing. I haven't been able to replicate it.

 

[applescrap]

The last mild that I did, we were drinking it at day 5. Ferment in keg, sounding valve to keep pressure at 10 psi, chill slightly to 50F while I'm at work. Tap it when I vey home and drink at basement temp. We could have done it on day 4 tbh. it's done cooking at day 3.

Fist bump here, how do you do it, do you cut dip tube? This has crossed my mind.

 

[Weezy]

Fist bump here, how do you do it, do you cut dip tube? This has crossed my mind.

just bend the bottom end of the tube up an inch, that way you can always bend it back if you want. That's my everyday fermenter. I do 3 gallon batches and use a 5 gallon corney. zero regrets.

This is pool season too. Dump hot to keg, put keg on pool steps, come back in an hour and its at pool temp, throw in ferm fridge to chill it to pitch temp after that.

I've even got pretty good at harvesting yeast cake. I swirl and pour into a big beer pitcher.

Until someone makes a small (~5g) true conical, this is what I'll be using.

 

[applescrap]

just bend the bottom end of the tube up an inch, that way you can always bend it back if you want. That's my everyday fermenter. I do 3 gallon batches and use a 5 gallon corney. zero regrets.

This is pool season too. Dump hot to keg, put keg on pool steps, come back in an hour and its at pool temp, throw in ferm fridge to chill it to pitch temp after that.

I've even got pretty good at harvesting yeast cake. I swirl and pour into a big beer pitcher.

Until someone makes a small (~5g) true conical, this is what I'll be using.

And then you serve it from the keg right?! oh man, with the pool too, brilliant. Wish i knew that about the bending of the dip tube, I spent a couple hours trying to cut mine with half-ass tools and feeling like I ruined it, but it works.

 

[jwalk4]

https://byo.com/aging/item/1397-speed-brewing

Great article here about how to get the job done quick, if you're in a pinch for beer.

 

[casualbrewer]

I often am drinking clear lagers at 2 weeks. Not too hard at all, just have to mind the little things. Good hot/cold break, wirlfloc, plenty of viable yeast, slightly elevated fermentation temperature, good D Rest, hard cold crash, keg, gelatin, and shortened dip tubes help alot. It's not perfect at 2 weeks but very good and clear mind you.

 

[Weezy]

And then you serve it from the keg right?! oh man, with the pool too, brilliant. Wish i knew that about the bending of the dip tube, I spent a couple hours trying to cut mine with half-ass tools and feeling like I ruined it, but it works.

Yep. Serve from the keg. We drank it all Friday and Saturday so I didn't even have to add much co2.

 

[StewMakesBrew]

Great thread everyone - thanks for the ideas. I've been doing this so long and so ingrained in my habits and beliefs, that trying something new like this speed brewing is not something I've really trusted.

 

[Sailingeric]

This is my normal process for most beers. Fermentation done in around 10 days. Into a keg it goes. Then 3 days at serving pressure gives me adequate carbonation.

Same here on most beers. A have a porter on tap that has been in the keg a month and the extra aging has helped but it depends on the beer.

 

[seatazzz]

Unless I'm out of empty kegs or it's something I want to dry hop/age longer, all of my beers are grain to glass in 10 days or less (including about 2.5 days for force carbing). The longest I've let a beer go is a few months ago with a wee heavy, that sat in primary for 3 weeks before I kegged it. Did the same recipe about a month later, 12 days grain to glass, and there wasn't much difference.

 

[jekeane]

I just did a ESB this morning that should be kegged, carbonated and clear for competition in 11 days.

 

[ed007]

Hefeweizen grain to glass in 6 days: 3 days fermenting, 2 days cold crash under 30 psi CO2, vent pressure and set to 12 psi on day 6. One of the best hefes I ever made too.

 

[chezhed]

so if you use a quick carb (Blichmann or homemade) you could get beer done in even less time I'm guessing.....got some people that just don't want to wait so I'm looking for all these suggestions.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

so if you use a quick carb (Blichmann or homemade) you could get beer done in even less time I'm guessing.....got some people that just don't want to wait so I'm looking for all these suggestions.

That's a waste of money IMO.
Keg today at 40PSI
Drink tomorrow.
I'm as impatient as it gets but one day I can handle

 

[SlitheryDee]

So I just started kegging and I don't see why 2 weeks would even be considered that fast. I kegged my first beer a couple of weeks ago, so of course I wanted to check out the "rock and roll" method just to see how effective it was. I set the regulator at 30psi, rolled the keg on the floor for about 5 minutes, and I damn near overcarbed the thing.

A lot of beers could definitely go one week fermenting, one day chilling, and then be carbed using the agitation method to be ready to drink right then. Of course I'd rarely be in that big of a hurry to drink a beer, but it's certainly nice to know it's possible.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I have very few beers that AREN'T grain to glass in less than 2 weeks.

Hell if you either spund or rack early you can push FAST without even needing to force carb. I've racked to keg or cask tail end of fermentation and been serving in less than 7 days, naturally carbonated.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Also a Quick Carb makes it super easy for sure.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Aint it funny how not that long ago all beers were green and practically undrinkable under 6 weeks. That includes IPA's that have now be proven best fresh...crazy how things that were "the only way" have been proven false...looking forward to what the future of homebrew brings

"green" is a term that never even gets mentioned anymore when it used to be the term most used for off flavors...the reason being...most beers are better fresh

 

[BBQB]

I still find that my beers seem to be better after 2-3 weeks in the keg . Not sure why.