Advice on IPA grain to glass timing

[Jtvann]

Going to lay out the schedule of my last IPA

Brewed and pitched OG of 1.064 with safale-05 into oxygenated wort. Held fermentation at 64 degrees. After 4 days gravity was within 5 points of FG. I decided to raise temp naturally to 70 degrees. On day 5 once at 70, I dry hopped for 3 days. I typically dry hop for 3-4 days. This puts me at day 8 where I moved to cold crash. I’ve cold crashed for 3 days now, so about a total of 11 days.

I’m ready to keg and move on to the next batch to free up fermenter space. Given healthy yeast, proper brewing techniques, pitch rate and oxygenation ... is there any reason to prolong any of the above mentioned time frames. I hear so many people giving a set time frame of 2-3 weeks and am wondering if that’s arbitrary, or for a specific reason.


The main confusion point I have is that I don’t see how to go slower without violating certain principles. I want to dry hop at the tail end of fermentation so that the last few bubbles of introduced air will be pushed out by the last bit of CO2. I don’t want to dry hop more than 7 days and prefer 4 days.

If fermentation has been at FG for 3 solid days, is there any reason for a typical IPA not to cold crash and keg?

 

[johnstod]

I'm still new to this myself but from what I can gather the yeast goes into cleanup mode after it has finished fermenting. By leaving it a little longer it will take away the 'green' taste.

 

[chickypad]

Given healthy yeast, proper brewing techniques, pitch rate and oxygenation ... is there any reason to prolong any of the above mentioned time frames.

This is the key. Under those conditions there is no reason to prolong, I'm drinking my IPA's by day 14 and they are great fresh. My NEIPA's sometimes a few days less than that.

 

[RM-MN]

It's an IPA. The bitterness will cover up any "green" flavor unless it is exceptional. With that said, given your conditions I think you are fine on the timing. I've bottled a couple batchs of pale ales that were borderline on being IPA's on day 10 and enjoyed them as soon as they were carbed. A porter or stout is totally different.

 

[Beer-lord]

I recently brewed a 1.065 IPA and it took off fast. I added hops on day 7 and cold crashed on day 13, kegged on day 14 and am carbing it the 'set it and forget it' method. It carbs fast since it's cold crashed but I was drinking it on day 17 and it's fine. I know it will be best at about 3 weeks in the keg and stay that way for 2 weeks then wane (if any is left) a bit. I always find it a bit green the first week in the keg though the aroma the first week is outstanding.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Yup your fine. That's almost my timeline to a tee.
If you burst carb that tacks on a few days also. Plus don't forget your keg will take time to drink. I'd rather have it get a little better as I drink it than wait 3 or 4 weeks to keg and maybe have it get worse(past its prime) as I drink it.

My only holdup with kegging to early is yeast that doesn't want to drop out and yeast in suspension is a killer of beer to me, nasty nasty tasting.
I started filtering from the primary to the keg and it solves that issue completely

 

[Jtvann]

Thanks for the reassurance. I feel like every time I brew a beer and it’s kegged by the 10 day mark that I’ve rushed it and should be more patient.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Thanks for the reassurance. I feel like every time I brew a beer and it’s kegged by the 10 day mark that I’ve rushed it and should be more patient.

Do you feel that based on the way it tastes, or by your own bias?

Per your point, with good yeast health, oxygenation, temp control, etc, you're not creating a bunch of off flavors that you're trying to mature out of the beer. So yeah, you can ABSOLUTELY brew great beer on this timetable.

I usually don't turn things around this fast (mainly due to schedule and laziness), but I've turned a 1.071 IPA from grain to glass in 12 days and it came out superbly.

 

[Jtvann]

based on bias. I like my beer and friends like my beer.

Just see so many people say that they “always” primary for two weeks, then secondary another week.

I don’t secondary at all. Don’t see the need for it. For IPAs that is

 

[brewcat]

No reason not to keg. I was drinking a bitter in something like 10 days. I just kegged a stout around day 12. Any extra conditioning is done in the keg.

 

[GPP33]

I recently brewed a 1.065 IPA and it took off fast. I added hops on day 7 and cold crashed on day 13, kegged on day 14 and am carbing it the 'set it and forget it' method. It carbs fast since it's cold crashed but I was drinking it on day 17 and it's fine. I know it will be best at about 3 weeks in the keg and stay that way for 2 weeks then wane (if any is left) a bit. I always find it a bit green the first week in the keg though the aroma the first week is outstanding.

This what I have found. Pretty much all my beers are in a keg by day 12-14 and fully carbed within 24-48 hours. APAs/IPAs have an amazing aroma right off the bat but the best balance of aroma/flavor is somewhere around week 2-3 in the keg, haven't had one long enough for it to fade as the 2-3 week mark is about a few pints from the bottom, I really need to practice patience. Most other beers don't change too much unless it's something dark and mysterious, could be that they just don't last long enough for me to experience changes though.

 

[Upthewazzu]

There is, IMO, no reason to rush an IPA. I've heard it a million times over, "I can go grain to glass in 7 hours! HUZZAH!" Um yeah, no. What's the point? Whether you want to admit it or not, the beer is going to be green. The best IPA's I've had have sat in the fermenter for 10-14 days and then another 1-2 weeks in the keg. I've made a hundred different IPA's, and it's always the same....3-4 weeks before it's peaked.

 

[Jtvann]

Ok ... so you’re the type person I was wondering if would chime in or not. I’m not rushing the beer. What I am asking is why wait longer. Is 10-14 days an arbitrary number that you just stick to or are you judging based off some other measurement. If it’s done at 5 days is it rushing or is it wasting 9 days just to get to the magic 14 day mark?

End of day 5 for me I was at final gravity. End of day 8 confirmed final gravity, by 3 days of no change.

If you do wait 10-14 days, or even longer, when do you dry hop? After fermentation is over? How long do you dry hop? 7+ days?

Hope I’m not asking questions in an argumentative way ... I really want a reason why I should wait longer. I will if I can be given a quantifiable reason.

I’m on board with the conditioning in the keg. Flavors combine and mature in there after about a week and are better. I’m not drinking the beer at day 8. Kegging at day 10 though ... why not?

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Today young grasshopper you have learned the first lesson

Everything in homebrew is up for debate

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

For my NEIPAs, I used to go two weeks in the fermenter. I realized active fermentation was done in less than two days with 1318 and a 1.5 L starter. I decided to cut my timeline in half. Huge improvement in flavor.

I now keg them on day 8

 

[Buell]

Not sure what the correct answer is but it does seem to be the shorter time the better. To a point of course..but that was your question.

I have an IPA going now and I'm doing two things differently. Kegging on day 16 and transferring from fermenter to keg with CO2 to keep it away from oxygen.

Hopefully that will help with the hop fade that always seem to happen so fast.

 

[madscientist451]

The correct answer is.....
If it works for you and you and others like the beer, keep doing it, don't worry about what anyone says.

 

[Dcpcooks]

The correct answer is there isn’t one definitive answer. Each beer and each batch is different than the last one. ( unless you make the same beer every time you brew)

I went to culinary school years ago. The best lesson I got was while discussing how to cook something in a demo class. I had a grizzled old master chef with decades of professional culinary experience as an instructor. The most common question new students would ask is “ how long do I cook this for?” Chefs reply was always the same. “Until it’s done, that’s your job!” His point was simple, you needed to learn what that was and be able to adjust on the fly to produce a consistent product.

Brewing is the same type of endeavor. It’s the brewers job to learn what’s needed for each brew.

In a commercial brewery they pull samples daily and rely on gravity stability, attenuation, experience and taste to guide the process. Hitting your number and allowing enough time for the yeast to clean up is all that’s needed. The 3day rule for final gravity is a good safe option.

If you can pull a sample without allowing oxygen into the system then that process of daily samples will work well for you. If you need to open a bucket and dunk a wine thief in to pull a sample your being counter productive by exposing your beer to oxidation. So in that case your far better off waiting a longer period of time to allow your beer to finish up, and limit the o2 exposure to dry hops and a bottling bucket, or just what really needs to happen.

I have several IPA’s and a few neipa’s that I brew at home. On average I push the neipa’s out quickly in the 10-14 day grain to glass window. That’s due to the early nature of the dry hop schedule and the fact that we want some yeast in suspension for the style. If I’m brewing a west coast ipa I want a crystal clear beer and that will require a bit more time to settle plus the dry hop schedule is different as are the ibu’s and timing of the hop schedule. So a 100 ibu west coast ipa will take more time to finish than a 50 ibu neipa with tons of whirlpool hops and a massive fast dry hop.

So my best advise is to learn what works best for you and your set up. I would always choose to limit o2 exposure above all things post primary stage.

 

[DevilsCups]

If I'm being honest I often keg my hoppy beers at the 7-10 day mark. Borderline, but they taste fine.

 

[Steveg229]

As some have already stated, with proper conditions, you can keg a beer as early as 7-14 days without a problem. This does not necessarily mean though that the beer will be at its peak flavor. This will depend on the specific beer as they are all different. I keg most of my beers between 10 and 14 days. Some need a few days once carbed and some need 1-3 weeks before they hit the peak flavor. Tasting along the way is part of the fun.

 

[Yalc]

I am usually drinking my IPA's at about 15 days like others have posted.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

crazy how not that long ago 6 weeks was the norm...now many are pushing 6 days with good results

 

[eric19312]

I’m a weekend brewer with one fermentation chamber and one big fermentor. I’ve got other fermenters but no longer use them much. I normally keg on my brew day during the mash. So I plan current fermentation schedule based on my assumption of when my next brew day will be. If it’s gonna be 2 weeks I push a quick ferment, dry hop, cold crash schedule..works fine. If it’s gonna be 3 or 4 weeks I’ll take a more relaxed schedule.

 

[GPP33]

I’m a weekend brewer......

I would always choose to limit o2 exposure above all things post primary stage.

These two statements basically sum up why my primary time is about 14 days. I usually save my brew activities for weekends, mid week I just don't have the energy to transfer and clean a carboy after getting the kids to bed. 7 days is too short, 14 is more than sufficient. I also don't like opening the carboy and dunking something in to take a gravity. I pull a sample at the beginning of my transfer, verify the gravity is where I targeted and proceed. If I can see fermentation taking place at the beginning of primary, it runs for 2-4 days and then clears up there's absolutely no reason to believe it's not done. Taking multiple gravity readings is silly. There's a few exceptions where you're using a finicky yeast (thinking Saisons) but an appropriate yeast for an IPA is going to be pretty reliable. kegging obviously takes some risk out should the beer be a couple points shy of actually being done.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

One thing my Tilt has shown me is just how quickly yeast can ferment out. A starter of Trappist high gravity blew through a 1.080 tripel in less than six days, and my 1.045 faux-pilsner when to 1.001 in less than five with a rehydrated pack of US-05 - using 12+ hours of stable gravity as a benchmark - and with zero risk of oxidation or contamination.

 

[marjen]

Very reasonable timeline for an IPA. I found some of my best beers were in the glass on day 10-12. This year I am going to try and get into a rigid schedule to try and hone my process a bit. Prep Friday Night. Brew Saturday. Cold crash Tuesday(day 11). Carb Wednesday (day 12). Transfer to Keg Thursday(day 13). Then start the process again that Friday. Will allow me to brew every other week and also give me a chance to sample the previous beer to see if I want or need to make changes. I can make 5-1o gallon batches so also will always have plenty of supply. I use 1318 which is fast, so this could change if other yeast were used.

 

[Azura]

Primary 7-10 days. Transfer to keg. Dry hop for 4 days. Slow carb for 10-14 days. That's 21-28 days before tapping. The beer tastes, smells and feels the best to me 1-2 weeks after tapping. I've tried faster schedules, but prefer this one.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

There is, IMO, no reason to rush an IPA. I've heard it a million times over, "I can go grain to glass in 7 hours! HUZZAH!" Um yeah, no. What's the point? Whether you want to admit it or not, the beer is going to be green. The best IPA's I've had have sat in the fermenter for 10-14 days and then another 1-2 weeks in the keg. I've made a hundred different IPA's, and it's always the same....3-4 weeks before it's peaked.

Ok ... so you’re the type person I was wondering if would chime in or not. I’m not rushing the beer. What I am asking is why wait longer. Is 10-14 days an arbitrary number that you just stick to or are you judging based off some other measurement. If it’s done at 5 days is it rushing or is it wasting 9 days just to get to the magic 14 day mark?

End of day 5 for me I was at final gravity. End of day 8 confirmed final gravity, by 3 days of no change.

If you do wait 10-14 days, or even longer, when do you dry hop? After fermentation is over? How long do you dry hop? 7+ days?

Hope I’m not asking questions in an argumentative way ... I really want a reason why I should wait longer. I will if I can be given a quantifiable reason.

I’m on board with the conditioning in the keg. Flavors combine and mature in there after about a week and are better. I’m not drinking the beer at day 8. Kegging at day 10 though ... why not?

Note something. Wazzu is saying 10-14 days and into the keg. You're saying 10-14 days and into the keg. No difference.

The key is that the beer will continue to mature. Depending on what you think of the flavor profile, you may think it's perfect at day 14 or that it's peaked at day 28.

One key difference is that kegging it and burst carbonating it in ~24 hours--especially for a very hoppy [dry-hopped] beer that you don't use any fining agents like gelatin--is that the beer will still be clearing. While I don't believe there's a taste difference between hazy beer and clear beer, there *IS* a difference between a beer with suspended grain/hops and those who have dropped clear. The beer will continue to drop clear after day 14, so it will be changing.

Then there's also a balance. The hop flavors will be freshest at day 10-14. They will fade ever so slightly by day 21-28. However, if the beer has naturally cleared more, you may prefer the clearer beer with slightly less hop presence compared to the beer which has lingering sediment.

But note the key between what you suggest and what Wazzu suggests. Unless you're drinking the bulk of that entire keg between days 14-21, most of your beer will still be aging to days 21-28 [and beyond].

So there's no reason, if you have good process, to wait any longer than you need to to get the beer into the keg. Per what you've described, kegging within 14 days works perfectly fine.

Then it's up to you what optimal "taste" time is. But that doesn't mean you need to delay kegging.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

.

One key difference is that kegging it and burst carbonating it in ~24 hours--especially for a very hoppy [dry-hopped] beer that you don't use any fining agents like gelatin--is that the beer will still be clearing. While I don't believe there's a taste difference between hazy beer and clear beer, there *IS* a difference between a beer with suspended grain/hops and those who have dropped clear. The beer will continue to drop clear after day 14, so it will be changing.



Unless you're drinking the bulk of that entire keg between days 14-21, most of your beer will still be aging to days 21-28 [and beyond].

.

I mentioned earlier I've been filtering my beer lately with a 1 micron filter. So if the beer hasn't dropped clear in a quick turnaround beer, say 10 days, its carbed and clear in 24 hours and ready to drink..its changed my beer for the better. Not to mention its saved me a ton of beer pulling pints of sludge after its settled in the keg...I have no clue why the forum doesn't support filtering (and it doesn't) yet support gelatin...makes zero sense

Who doesn't drink the bulk of a keg in 14-21 days
That's like 2 beers a day...not exactly killin it

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I mentioned earlier I've been filtering my beer lately with a 1 micron filter. So if the beer hasn't dropped clear in a quick turnaround beer, say 10 days, its carbed and clear in 24 hours and ready to drink..its changed my beer for the better. Not to mention its saved me a ton of beer pulling pints of sludge after its settled in the keg...I have no clue why the forum doesn't support filtering (and it doesn't) yet support gelatin...makes zero sense

Who doesn't drink the bulk of a keg in 14-21 days
That's like 2 beers a day...not exactly killin it

Agreed on filtering. I haven't picked this up, but I've contemplated... But that seemed like a step beyond what OP is doing.

And I meant between days 14-21 after pitching yeast, so a 7-day window. I go through IPA pretty quickly, but not *that* quickly.