2 beers are close... Which to keg?

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fragged

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Homebrew problems...

So all I've had for a couple weeks is a mexican lager I made for Cinco de Mayo. It's really good, but I need something different, soon. I've supplemented with store bought as much as I care to at this point.

I have two beers that are done(ish)...

First is a Pliny the Elder Clone. 11 days old, 3 days since dry hopping. I could transfer to the keg and dryhop the second dose there(my normal routine). Cold crash and carb over the next couple days. That said, IME that much hopping is going to want a week or so to relax a little.



Second is Cottage House Saison. It's at 1.004 after 12 days, but I know it can go at least a couple more points(dropping a point per day now). That said, it would be about 7% ABV right now, which is totally fine by me. I'm leaning toward this one... it's good already from the hydro sample - I strongly considered drinking a warm, uncarbed glass yesterday.

Thoughts? Feel free to say "suck it up and wait" too, just do so after you pick one lol.
 
I personally wouldn’t stop a beer from finishing fermenting out. Interested to hear other opinions on this. That said, I would keg the first one and be patient.
 
As I keg and not bottle my general concern about possibly cutting a fermentation short is not grenades but the risk of diacetyl production, especially with heavily dry hopped brews (the dreaded "hop creep"). The fear of butter - and admittedly, having six beers on tap :D - inspires patience waiting for a stable FG...

Cheers!
 
To my knowledge, hop creep is really only a concern for continued fermentation after dry-hopping due to amylase in the hops, and therefore the risk of bottle/can bombs, not really diacetyl.

Diacetyl, however, is a concern of cutting fermentation short, whether bottling or kegging. I second @Ridenour64's suggestion of not cutting fermentation short. Lots of VDKs will get cleaned up towards the end of fermentation--even after terminal gravity is reached--so I would strongly advise against cutting fermentation short, no matter the serving vessel.
 
I personally wouldn’t stop a beer from finishing fermenting out.

Me either, but I've also not had a beer hit 1.004 in 10 days. It's done with wine, so I figured maybe?
The fear of butter - and admittedly, having six beers on tap :D

Ya, I took a couple years off brewing. Made 5 gallons of Centennial Blonde to start the brewery back up. Then 10 gallons of the lager, but that wasn't ready in time to share the load with the blonde. A couple neighbors that found out I'd been brewing again made sure of that.


Lots of VDKs will get cleaned up towards the end of fermentation--even after terminal gravity is reached--so I would strongly advise against cutting fermentation short, no matter the serving vessel.

VDKs... that's something I forgot about. Not tasting any diacetyl I was thinking I'm good, but not necessarily I suppose. Though in this saison the threshold would be pretty high to taste. Still, I've never had any huge off flavors and I don't intend to start.

Doing a test now on the saison. Glad I did, I moved it upstairs earlier where it is a little warmer, and it's at 79 degrees. I guess it's a bit hot upstairs lol.

Both will make it another day at least. I remembered I still had some Forester 1920, that'll do.
 
To my knowledge, hop creep is really only a concern for continued fermentation after dry-hopping due to amylase in the hops, and therefore the risk of bottle/can bombs, not really diacetyl.

Diacetyl, however, is a concern of cutting fermentation short, whether bottling or kegging. I second @Ridenour64's suggestion of not cutting fermentation short. Lots of VDKs will get cleaned up towards the end of fermentation--even after terminal gravity is reached--so I would strongly advise against cutting fermentation short, no matter the serving vessel.

Read that again....

Cheers!
 
Why on earth would you let an IPA sit? Especially if the alternative isn't done yet?
That's fair, and compelling. Main reason is that pliny gets 2 dry hops. Normally I wouldn't have, split the payload,, but I bought the PTE hop pack from farmhouse, so figured I would do it properly(well, mostly). Rather than do a dryhop, then another 9 days later, I was planning to do dryhop #2 in the keg for 2 days, crash and serve. I REALLY wish I'd just dropped all the dry hops in at once, as I normally would on an IPA. Then again, it's fun to hear people's take on this, so...
 
I vote Pliny....for no specific reason other than that sounds better at this particular moment lol...:drunk:
 
Thoughts? Feel free to say "suck it up and wait" too, just do so after you pick one lol.



damn, i'd never say that! i want a clip of stargazer, or whatever that show was..."never give up, never surrenender!"....if the saison is 7% and is ok out of a pitcher i'd keg the one that needs age, and drink it out of a pitcher!.... :mug:



i'm the little boy... ;)
 
Transfer the Pliny one, if it's sitting on hops, then you shouldn't wait any longer as your usual routine. The saison can wait.
 
I'm with you on letting the hops relax, I would crash the Saison causing the diacetyl rest and Keg the Saison. Still have to wait a few days for things to settle out but that would be my choice.
I am actually doing the same thing right now, my Saison was at 1.002 in 7 days, should lend a good dryness in the Saison. (may have over built the yeast? first time getting that low in that short of time.) Cheers.
 
I'm with you on letting the hops relax, I would crash the Saison causing the diacetyl rest and Keg the Saison. Still have to wait a few days for things to settle out but that would be my choice.
I am actually doing the same thing right now, my Saison was at 1.002 in 7 days, should lend a good dryness in the Saison. (may have over built the yeast? first time getting that low in that short of time.) Cheers.


3711? That's what I used, it's nuts. I'm thinking of trying it on an IPA. Took this one from 1.057 to 1.004 in 10 days.
 
Pliny was put into the dryhop keg this morning, where dry hop #2 was ready and waiting. I'll let it sit 24 hours(pain...) at 68 degrees, then crash, transfer to serving keg(maybe) and carb.

As for the saison, I pulled a few ounces last night into a mason jar, sealed it and put it in a sous vide bath at 170 for 30 minutes. Then chilled to room temp. No diacetyl in that sample either. First time I used a sous vide bath for this purpose and I have to say it was way easier than trying to keep it 170 other ways I've tried. If you can't tell, it's not my first time trying to rush some beer, though it's not normally as hard a choice.

I'm leaning toward doing my best to let the saison ride, but still back and forth on it lol.

Now that the pliny has left the fermzilla, I might go get a bag of grain today to brew something tomorrow. Have some Kveik Lutra sitting here waiting to be used...

My LHBS closed, the next closest one also happens to have the best beer selection around, so I suspect I'll be coming home with grain and beer, buying a couple more days for both beers.
 
3711? That's what I used, it's nuts. I'm thinking of trying it on an IPA. Took this one from 1.057 to 1.004 in 10 days.
Yes, 3711. I think mine started at 1.070 - 1.071 very active yeast for sure. The IPA idea sounds interesting.
 
As for the saison, I pulled a few ounces last night into a mason jar, sealed it and put it in a sous vide bath at 170 for 30 minutes. Then chilled to room temp. No diacetyl in that sample either. First time I used a sous vide bath for this purpose and I have to say it was way easier than trying to keep it 170 other ways I've tried. If you can't tell, it's not my first time trying to rush some beer, though it's not normally as hard a choice.

BINGO! Why haven't I ever thought of that?

I'm a big fanboy of sous vide, but never thought about using it for a d-rest test. What a perfect idea. Sadly (fortunately?) I must have a high threshold tolerance for diacetyl because I don't readily pick up on the flaw in my beers but realize it must sometimes be there. At least that's what some judges tell me (what do they know?).
:bott:

Consequently I usually don't go to the bother of doing a rapid D-test, and simply do a pre-emptive post fermentation pause in the mid- to high 60s F to clean up whatever may or may not be there in my otherwise prize-worthy beers. At least it lets me know whether the judges are competent in there evaluating skills. Now I have a quick way to evaluate their skills.
 
BINGO! Why haven't I ever thought of that?

I'm a big fanboy of sous vide, but never thought about using it for a d-rest test. What a perfect idea. Sadly (fortunately?) I must have a high threshold tolerance for diacetyl because I don't readily pick up on the flaw in my beers but realize it must sometimes be there. At least that's what some judges tell me (what do they know?).

This is one of those times where a little bit of laziness bred some ingenuity. After a couple posters mentioned worrying about it, I remembered as a good idea to check. In the past I'd always be stuck waiting by something, the stove, microwave, whatever. I loathe waiting(obviously per OP). I'd made some burgers sous vide earlier, and it all clicked for me. Worked out soooo easy.

My threshold is pretty high too I think, I'm convinced Judges don't drink enough.
 
Quick update.... the pliny crowd has it I think. There was exactly 1 pint that didn't fit in the keg this morning. I just threw that in a PET bottle with a carb cap, carbed and crashed in an ice bath. By the time the keg crashes and I carb it, this is going to be perfect. It just might save the saison, I'd really like to see what FG the saison can get to.
 
The pliny won, Imma make myself wait on the saison 2 more weeks. This is the part of homebrewimg I'm terrible at, I hate the wait.
 
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