What's been your fastest fermentation time?

[CDS]

I brewed 5 gallons of APA on Friday. Pitched Wyeast 1056 from a 2-litre starter into wort with an OG of 1.050 at about 3:00 pm Friday afternoon - within 3-4 hours the activity was furious. But by Sunday morning there was no visible activity at all, so I took a reading and it was at 1.011 which is the intended FG. So that was about 42 hours (or less) to reach FG, which is a first for me. I've only been brewing for a year, so I wondered if this is a common occurrence.

 

[balrog]

There's still "cleanup" time to figure in, even if the sugars are converted. Keep that in mind. Don't keg or bottle after 42 hrs. You might be disappointed.

Fastest conversion I've ever seen was 95°F Lallemand dried Voss Kveik. Done in about 20 hrs. I still didn't keg until day 5, and condition another week.

 

[Golddiggie]

I often see most of the fermentation done within 2-3 days of going active. If I do my part right, lag time is less than 8 hours on my batches. Often closer to the 4-5 hour mark.

I need to make a starter with some of the yeast harvest (going to use about 2-4oz of slurry in a 1L starter) for what I'm brewing this coming weekend. Even though it will be done with the fermenting aspect, I still give at least 2-3 weeks from pitch to pull/package. That is, if I'm not adding oak (or another wood) to the batch.

I have yet to give even a low ABV batch, done fast, less than two weeks in fermenter.

 

[jdudek]

with no kveik yeast, its typically 3-4 days for me. I've had some done in 2 days, but that's not typical. i usually give it 3 more days after fermentation stops then keg. I will keg condition for 4 weeks minimum.

 

[McMullan]

This is what I’d expect when sufficient healthy yeast cells (at wort temperature) are pitched into aerated fermentable wort up to 1.050 with good temperature control. WY1056 is a solid performer. How fresh was the pack? The time for the lag phase you observed was spot on. It doesn’t take much more than a few hours for healthy, acclimatised yeast to remodel its behaviour (physiology and metabolism) to grow and ferment wort. Several hours at most. Well done! Many home brewers seem to report psuedo ‘lag phases’ of a day or two (sometimes longer with dry yeast), because they under pitch or shock the yeast when pitching. The challenge is to understand what you did right and keep doing it.

My average for standard English ales/yeast is 3 days. Fermentation usually almost complete by the end of day 2, when I seal the FV to naturally carbonate using the last remaining gravity points. With the right yeast strain, a bright and nicely conditioned ale can be in a keg ready to serve as soon as 10 days from brew day. Especially when using a decent Yorkshire top-cropper that ferments almost bright, with dual behaviour, fermenting from the bottom and top but not a lot in between.

 

[CDS]

This is what I’d expect when sufficient healthy yeast cells (at wort temperature) are pitched into aerated fermentable wort up to 1.050 with good temperature control. WY1056 is a solid performer. How fresh was the pack? The time for the lag phase you observed was spot on. It doesn’t take much more than a few hours for healthy, acclimatised yeast to remodel its behaviour (physiology and metabolism) to grow and ferment wort. Several hours at most. Well done! Many home brewers seem to report psuedo ‘lag phases’ of a day or two (sometimes longer with dry yeast), because they under pitch or shock the yeast when pitching. The challenge is to understand what you did right and keep doing it.

My average for standard English ales/yeast is 3 days. Fermentation usually almost complete by the end of day 2, when I seal the FV to naturally carbonate using the last remaining gravity points. With the right yeast strain, a bright and nicely conditioned ale can be in a keg ready to serve as soon as 10 days from brew day. Especially when using a decent Yorkshire top-cropper that ferments almost bright, with dual behaviour, fermenting from the bottom and top but not a lot in between.

It was a reasonably fresh pack - I think I figured it was manufactured in August (the use by date was sometime in February). Admittedly, I've only just started taking aeration more seriously, using an air stone rather than relying on shaking and splashing. I've always prepared a starter to ensure I'm not underpitching, and have a good temperature control setup, so I'm thinking the better aeration has made the difference.

 

[McMullan]

It was a reasonably fresh pack - I think I figured it was manufactured in August (the use by date was sometime in February). Admittedly, I've only just started taking aeration more seriously, using an air stone rather than relying on shaking and splashing. I've always prepared a starter to ensure I'm not underpitching, and have a good temperature control setup, so I'm thinking the better aeration has made the difference.

You can aerate a fermentable wort, even use pure O2, as much as, but if sufficient healthy yeast aren't added into the mix it rarely translates into a spot on fermentation, like you got. Fact is we need to nail at least a few parameters to achieve a flawless fermentation. It's a synergistic marvel. And you nailed it. It took me a few years to achieve it. Aim to 'over' pitch. I'm convinced home brewers are generally under pitching yeast due to bad advice based on flawed models (assumptions) about yeast.

 

[Brewdog80]

Can be pretty dang quick. I did a 1.032 english ale, it was 3 days and was clearing. checked friday and was at 1.006. transferred to keg and in the fridge for a few days

 

[McMullan]

Can be pretty dang quick. I did a 1.032 english ale, it was 3 days and was clearing. checked friday and was at 1.006. transferred to keg and in the fridge for a few days

Most of my English ales (most of my ales, that is ) are between 1.040 and 1.050. Pitching sufficient healthy yeast, in the right metabolic state, ferments them all within a few days. With highly flocculant top-cropping yeast strains, which require rousing during fermentation, the wort ferments almost 'bright'. There's an undeniable relationship between brightness and quality when it comes to beer. Cherry picking a popular hop soup style is just that - cherry picking. Being able to seal up an FV towards the end of fermentation, with several gravity points remaining, to naturally carbonate, certainly helps to quicken the process. I've been stunned by how quickly ales condition in a sealed, pressurisable, FV compared to a bottle. The only explanation I can offer to date is that there are loads of active yeast in an FV compared to a bottle. Although it's not something I aim for, I can go from grain to class within 10-14 days, and can honestly claim there isn't any significant justification for not tapping the beers any later, generally. It really isn't just about 'small' ales having a quick turnaround. Probably more to do with questionable advice promoting a culture and lore associated with, quite ironically, under pitching yeast at home brew level.

 

[mashinary]

When I first started re-pitching I used the whole previous yeast cake. The batch finished in 2 days or so with an OG of 1.075. It also blew the lid off the bucket. Beer turned out great.