6 Day Beer Attempt!!!

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Chemkrafty

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I decided to have all the guys over while the gals hold my wife's baby shower. It was at this point that I realized I would not have enough beer to handle everyone. What's a brewer to do??

I took my newly developed Nut Brown recipe that I brewed as a 2.5 gal AG (tried it once and it tastes good to me) and modified the recipe for a Partial. Last night I brewed it and its bubbling strong. It needs to be ready for Sunday...I hope it tastes good young.

Here it is...let me know what you think!

Mash (2 gal BIAB cooler):
3 lb 2 row pale
1 lb special roast
0.5 lb chocolate

Mashed at 153F (or so) and did 2 batch sparges to get 3.5 gal at 1.036 (eff = 79%)

Boiled for 30 min (testing short boils) with a 30 min addition of 2.5 oz cascade. Added 2.75 lbs extra pale DME at 15 min (late addition method).

I topped off to 5 gallons and hit an OG of 1.049 (targeting 1.050).

I had wanted a fast fermentation and didn't have time for a starter so I had stopped at the LHBS for some ingredients and yeast. They were out of S-05, so I picked up a pack of Nottingham. I ended up using both my existing S-05 and the nottingham, so we'll see what that does!!

Anyway...its bubbling away like mad today and I hope its done fermenting by Friday so I have Saturday and Sunday to force carb it in the keg!!! Wish me luck!
 
Assuming you are force carbing and the yeast play along you should be able to approach the speed record. I've had my Milk Oatmeal Stout ready in under two weeks, and I bottle condition. So anything is possible.
 
Six days is tough schedule, if possible crash chill the fermenter and get some gelatin workin for the last two days of clearing in the keg. You have set the bar pretty high, I have pushed some lighter ales and wheats through the brewery to glass in 10 to 12 days, six is very aggressive...good luck!
 
My record is like 10 days grain to glass, rushed to have it ready for a party, I recently brewed my chocolate mint milk stout, it was 1.070 sg and fermented out to 1.020 fg in three days at 62°, it will sit in the primary for another month. I suppose I could crash cool, force carb and be drinking it in 6 days were I so inclined. your recipe looks good and simple, and as long as you have good temp control it is possible to get it ready by then... Best of luck!
 
That's a high OG for so quick a turn around IMO. I would have made a 1.04 beer. Maybe even slightly lower...But I think it's still possible for you. Assuming the yeast get moving quick.

Your style choice is good. I find Nut Brown, Brown ale, and Mild's are not bad when extremely young. My quickest was a ten day mild. It was actually one of my favorite beers for a while. Let us know, I'm interested.
 
Nice call on both packs of yeast, should be near optimum pitching levels for a fast and complete fermentation. I've had good luck mixing Chico and Notty in the past so I wouldn't worry about mixing the two yeasts.

-Scott
 
azscoob said:
unless you dont have 2 months like the OP
Click to expand...

I just can't imagine a 10 day old beer to be drinkable. Hell I give 2 weeks minimum just to "set and forget carbonate" my beers. It's one hell of an attempt I will give you props for trying. Good luck, I look forward to hearing how it comes out.
 
I think if a simple grain bill, fairly low gravity beer has some off flavors or other issues that need to age out, there is room to improve the brewing process used. I personally let my beers sit a while, like you do, but it is quite possible to brew a fantastic beer in a short time frame. Having correct pitching rates, fresh ingredients, good water chemistry, and having exacting temp control throughout the process, there is little reason to let it age unless it is a complex beer or a style that dictates long aging.

As described here...
 
steinsato said:
I just can't imagine a 10 day old beer to be drinkable. Hell I give 2 weeks minimum just to "set and forget carbonate" my beers. It's one hell of an attempt I will give you props for trying. Good luck, I look forward to hearing how it comes out.
Click to expand...

I've had a beer out (and delicious) in 8 days. Here's what I did:

- 5 days primary (OG 1.040, slightly over optimum pitching volume), rack to corny
- 0.5 day in corny at room temp, 0.5 day at 40*F
- Shake-force-carb until close to desired carb levels
- 2 days at slightly higher PSI that needed
- Serve, enjoy
- Float keg after 3 hours :D:D:D

To the OP: that's kind of a high OG to get out in 6 days but it's doable. Try fermenting for 3-4 days, then put in kegerator for a day and then shake-force-carb
 
That's definitely do-able. Notty is a beast. A few days with a high psi (30 w/ a shake) force carb, and you should be good to go. I also second the gelatin comment unless you don't care a whole lot about clarity.
 
Agreed, one of the first AG beers I did was a mild that I had kegged and carbonated at 12 or 13 days.

TheMan said:
That's a high OG for so quick a turn around IMO. I would have made a 1.04 beer. Maybe even slightly lower...But I think it's still possible for you. Assuming the yeast get moving quick.

Your style choice is good. I find Nut Brown, Brown ale, and Mild's are not bad when extremely young. My quickest was a ten day mild. It was actually one of my favorite beers for a while. Let us know, I'm interested.
Click to expand...
 
steinsato said:
I just can't imagine a 10 day old beer to be drinkable. Hell I give 2 weeks minimum just to "set and forget carbonate" my beers. It's one hell of an attempt I will give you props for trying. Good luck, I look forward to hearing how it comes out.
Click to expand...

2 months is already too old for hefeweizen, some IPAs, and a few other things.
 
munklunk said:
I also second the gelatin comment unless you don't care a whole lot about clarity.
Click to expand...

Gelatin will make the beer clearer, but it will also improve the flavor and reduce yeast bite. W/out the gelatin, the beer may be good, but yeasty and fresh. O5 can be a bit stubborn to drop, I like O4 for this reason, much better flocker. W/ the gelatin, IMO you have a better chance of getting "real" bear flavor and noticing more of the malts etc. Again....good luck.
 
I was thinking this would be a record in two ways.

  1. Fastest brewed & drank!
  2. Most farts per beer!

I drank a young stout for my birthday at a local microbrewery. OMG - I had the worst gas. I'm talking farts that made my a$$ whistle. Long drawn out gaseous flatulation. :D

Call it: Shart Brown Ale
 
The 30% (or so) of Special Roast sticks out to me.
Seems like it would need more conditioning time than 6 days.

Good luck and come back to post up!
 
I'd wish luck to those that are going to drink your speed record. I've read posts on professional brewer forums where the guys were complaining that the owners were pushing them to get commercial brewpub beer out in 10 days, think I've tasted some of them -awful.

Earliest I've ever served a beer was about 20 days and it was very good, however after another 10 days it was much better.

If the gals are over for the baby shower, seems like it's a perfect time to hang out at a local bar. I remember being anxious to get as far away as possible at that time.
 
Thanks for all the input folks! I will definitely look into the gelatin as an option. I am also looking into the differences between gelatin, isinglass, and biofine. One of those may do the trick to help drop the yeast fast after the ferm is done. I will also check into the cold crashing to aid in coagulation. Makes me wish I could use some of the wastewater treatment chemical coagulants. Those things work like a charm in minutes, but would likely not be safe for consumption.

The girls are at another couples house, so the guys are all coming over to ours.

I hear all your concerns on conditioning!!!!! I'm just as concerned...HOWEVER...I have the privilege of being able to taste the beer and if I don't think its ready, I can just save it for next time and I've learned something new!

The special roast may be 30% of the partial mash, but is only 11% of the fermentables if you count the DME.

PROCESS UPDATE: It was in the fermenter at 9 pm (8/16)...the yeast is chewing this stuff up and the blowoff tube was a good choice. Even in my basement which typically ferments at about 60-65 in the summer the yeast has got this baby up to 69F! (I guess pitching rates really do make a difference in yeast activity!) I will take a SG tonight to check on the ferm progress and let you all know where it stands.
 
Last night, 8/18 at 5 pm, the SG was down to 1.016 and the bubbling rate was slowing. My original recipe was 1.013 so I'm thinking this should be able to finish off fermentation today. My plan at this point is to get to target SG today and cold crash the fermentation in my kegerator through Friday afternoon and evaluate the yeast coagulation. That gives me saturday and sunday to do any corrections and get some carbonation to it. So far, so good...

(Sample tasted a bit yeasty but otherwise not too bad...time will tell.)
 
This morning (8/19) the SG was down to 1.013 which was the target from the previous recipe. The yeast activity had died down and cleared slightly. I moved the fermenter to the kegerator to chill it and facilitate the flocculation. So far so good...
 
I recently attempted a 7 day blonde. It was just not ready, but it was great at 10 days. I did run it through a filterto remove most of the yeast, but gelatin might only add another day to the proccess. My mistake was only pitching one packet of notty (1.042 OG) instead of a starter. My lag time was almost 24 hours! :p
I believe it can be done!
 
I'm really curios to see if this turns out OK.

I'm in the "let it sit" camp and currently have an IPA in the primary for 6 weeks, but if I could make a great beer in 7-10 days, that woud be great!

I'm thinking the 2 most important issues would be controlling the temps and the proper pitching rate.

2 days of cold crashing with a high flocking yeast and gelatin would definatly drop the yeast if it was finished.

I can get pretty close to the proper volumes of co2 in 2 days force carbing.

So the real question is, can you ferment out completely without producing off flavors in 3 days? What yeast and amount? What temp?

I think I have a new experiment to try out!:D

Bull
 
Even after this, I'm still going to go with letting the beer sit on the yeast cake for a few weeks to clean things up as suggested in other threads. I've had good success with the 3 week brewing process (all primary).

This was more needs based and a fun little experiment to try. I pitched two rehydrated packets of yeast (no time for a starter). One S05 and one Nottingham (LHBS was out of S05). It dropped to the targeted SG in 2.5 days (Mon pm to Thurs am) with that pitching rate. The taste appears to be on target, just yeasty. Its been in the fridge cold crashing w/o gelatin for 24 hours and I'll check it after lunch when I head home. I went without because everything I was reading said it would take 2-3 days to clear and I didn't know if I'd have time so I'm just going with cold.

I sure hope we can avoid a sharting problem!
 
Gelatin will help w/ the sharting...add it now. Sure 2-3 days is best for gelatin, but this whole saga is not a "best practice" scenario. Good luck!

ps...I simplified my gelatin process last night by using the microwave, simply m'wave a coffee cup of water on high for 3 minutes to achieve near boiling/boiling. Remove and add a spoon to the very hot cup of water and let sit for ten minutes or so to cool (to around 170-180 +-) Mix in a packet of gelatin and add to the fermenter. very easy!
 
I would serve some beans, maybe Chili to go along with this beer. Also print up some "Fart Passes" to hand out to your buddies.

"How was the baby shower?

"It was a gas!"

m.
 
Chemkrafty said:
Anyway...its bubbling away like mad today and I hope its done fermenting by Friday so I have Saturday and Sunday to force carb it in the keg!!! Wish me luck!
Click to expand...

In theory you can get a great beer in 6 days as long as the gravity isn't
too high, even without force carbing. But you have to pitch enough yeast
so that the primary fermentation is done in 3 days. I make my beers
roughly that way, but I don't usually make a large starter so the initial
fermentation takes longer, so it's more like 8-10 days before I can drink
it out of cask. I don't use any kind of finings so my beer is yeasty when
I drink it but I like it that way. I'll be interested to hear how this one
comes out with the dry yeast. Your problem may be that your crew
may not like a yeasty beer.

Ray
 
THE RESULTS HAVE BEEN TABULATED!!!!

I was worried Saturday night. The beer still had a heavy yeast aroma and flavor. It had carbonated nicely though. However, on Sunday morning, I pulled a draft at 8 am and the aroma/flavor had died off to barely noticeable!! By noon you could hardly tell there were any yeast notes. Everyone enjoyed it and the other homebrewers couldn't believe it was so young. No one mentioned any odd flavors. I consumed 8-9 throughout the course of the day to make sure I gave the "sharting" crowd a viable test. I've had no gaseous issues this morning whatsoever!!

I did not use any fining agents. My method was simply refrigerating the fermentor and keg at 39F for 3 days total. I'm sure the brew will continue to taste better with age, but was VERY drinkable at 6 days. (over half the keg gone proves it was well received)

While not something I will do if I have the option to age longer, I would say this is a potentially viable method/recipe to turn an enjoyable beer out in 6 days. Any other testers please post back here so we can see if this is repeatable or just a fluke!!!
 
thanks for the update. I'll have to change my tune and possibly even brew a beer like this soon. I see an "air bubble" coming down my pipeline after this current keg. Maybe I could make a beer like this to fill the gap til my Golden Strong conditions a bit longer.
 

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