Fast Turnaround

[BlackRock]

I brewed an IPA up on Sunday. I just took the first SG reading after 48hrs and it's nearly done at 1.019. I'm tempted to see if I can't get it finished up and kegged in 10 days. That would be 12 days from pitching to packaging. My question is how would you best finish off a brew and be drinking it 15 days after pitching?

The goal is a buddies wedding. I've already got 3 batches done and kegged that have spent their sweet time fermenting/conditioning/aging. One spent 12 weeks before I kegged it, the other 8 weeks and the last batch will be done, kegged and freshly dry hopped for drinking at 6 weeks I think.

My plan was to ferment it for say 3 days then rack it to a secondary to clear for 5. After that I was thinking I could cold crash it and keg it at around day 10. Force carb and then let it have about 5 days to level out before drinking.

Thoughts, ideas?

 

[brew_ny]

Thoughts, ideas?

waiting to hear them also

 

[tootal]

Letting it sit for 5 days after forced carbonation doesn't really do much. I would leave it in the secondary longer to make sure you don't have any diacetyl etc. I just force carbed an Imperial Stout and immediately poured one. Nothing wrong with that!

 

[BlackRock]

I should add that the sample I pulled today was delicious. I was thinking that I rack it to a carboy once I hit the FG I want. Then give it as many days to clear as I can but maybe I should just leave it sit in primary for as long as possible then just cold crash and keg?

 

[brew_ny]

maybe I should just leave it sit in primary for as long as possible then just cold crash and keg?

works for me , three days on gas and pour away

 

[IL1kebeer]

I brewed an IPA up on Sunday. I just took the first SG reading after 48hrs and it's nearly done at 1.019. I'm tempted to see if I can't get it finished up and kegged in 10 days. That would be 12 days from pitching to packaging. My question is how would you best finish off a brew and be drinking it 15 days after pitching?

The goal is a buddies wedding. I've already got 3 batches done and kegged that have spent their sweet time fermenting/conditioning/aging. One spent 12 weeks before I kegged it, the other 8 weeks and the last batch will be done, kegged and freshly dry hopped for drinking at 6 weeks I think.

My plan was to ferment it for say 3 days then rack it to a secondary to clear for 5. After that I was thinking I could cold crash it and keg it at around day 10. Force carb and then let it have about 5 days to level out before drinking.

Thoughts, ideas?

Just skip the secondary and let it stay in the primary for 2 more days after fermentation is complete so that the yeast can clean up. You can even raise the temp by 5 degrees at this time to speed up this process. Then rack to a keg and force carb for 2 days.

Racking to a secondary might go against what you are trying to accomplish because there will be less yeast in there to clean up. As a result, it could take longer to get rid of fermentation by products.

 

[marvaden]

I agree with IL1kebeer.

If you want it clear, put in some gel finings into the primary and cold crash for at least 24 hours before kegging. (if you can't cold crash, just put it into a tub with ice for 24 hours refreshing the ice as it melts when you can)

 

[acidrain]

I would warm it up to 68F now, leave it on the yeast until the last minute (no secondary).
Cold crash it for a day, and transfer to the keg with a couple ounces of cascade dry hop.
Leave yourself 24 hrs. to force carb at 30psi at 34F.
Enjoy.

 

[D_Nyholm]

I would let it sit in primary as long as u can then rack to keg and force carb.

Where are the dry hops? I can't have an ipa and not dry hop it!

 

[Homercidal]

Just give 2-3 days after fermentation for D-rest and then rack to keg with dry hops and get it carbing. Find a mesh bag suitable and tie it off with unflavored dental floss. You can tie the bag off on the keg handle and the dental floss will still allow the keg to seal.

The nice thing about turning around an IPA quickly is they still taste good even if they aren't perfectly clear.

 

[IL1kebeer]

I would let it sit in primary as long as u can then rack to keg and force carb.

Where are the dry hops? I can't have an ipa and not dry hop it!

Hard to have a fast turn around if you want to dry hop. You can dry hop in the keg but the lower temps make the process slower. Again, this will work against you if you want that hop burst in the nose AND a fast turn around. Dry hopping in the keg will eventually give you what you want, but IMO with the timeframe that you have you might not get what you expect. Try it anyway and see how it goes, you may like the results. That's the joy of homebrewing.

 

[Yooper]

I do it all the time!

If you pitch enough yeast at the proper temperature and keep the fermentation temperature in the proper range, fermentation should finish up in 3-5 days. I wait at least three more days for the yeast to clean up any diacetyl and then start to clear.

Once it's clear(ing), I'll add the dryhops. I'll wait 5 days (sometimes 7 if I'm busy), and then keg.

So, it's normally in the keg by about day 10-15. Then I put it on the gas in the kegerator. If I'm in a huge hurry to drink it, I"ll set it at 30 psi for 36 hours, then purge and reset at 12 psi.

That means many of my IPAs and APAs I'm drinking at day 15-17 or so.

It seems rushed to many who hear that there are magical things that happen in the fermenter when the beer is finished, but it's really not rushed at all. A well made beer just doesn't need a ton of time in the fermenter sitting on spent yeast and trub.

 

[peterj]

I agree with skipping the secondary. It would be counterproductive. And if you're kegging then you don't need a seperate cold crashing step. You're going to be cold crashing it from the time you put it in the keg until you finish the keg off.

 

[BlackRock]

Just an update. I left the batch in primary then cold crashed it on day 10. I racked it to a keg and got some pressure on it. After settling for a few hours I poured off a glass to find amazingly clear beer so I didn't use finings. I then force carbed it, brought it to the wedding and proceeded to serve the brew. Everyone loved it! I brought almost 17 gallons and came home with less than 2! Success.

 

[brew_ny]

good for you

 

[IL1kebeer]

Just an update. I left the batch in primary then cold crashed it on day 10. I racked it to a keg and got some pressure on it. After settling for a few hours I poured off a glass to find amazingly clear beer so I didn't use finings. I then force carbed it, brought it to the wedding and proceeded to serve the brew. Everyone loved it! I brought almost 17 gallons and came home with less than 2! Success.

Good work. The 3 week primary and 3 week conditioning curse has been lifted!