Beer in a hurry

[austinb]

A friend of mine is getting married on July 2nd and would like to have some home brewed beer ready for the wedding if possible. The problem is he is also in college right now and won't be able to brew until probably June 12th which is cutting it a little close. Neither of us have a kegging system so it will need time in the bottle to carbonate also. Its not the end of the world if it isn't done in time but we would like to try and are looking for advice on how to make it happen if possible.

I was thinking a wheat beer would be a good choice because in my experience they ferment pretty quickly. Wheat beers also aren't generally very bitter so it would be a good all around choice with lots of flavor but not too bitter for the light beer drinkers. The last wheat beer I did was done fermenting in about 5 days (I let it sit a couple weeks before bottling though). After bottling it only took about a week for it to carbonate. I was thinking if it ferments after about 5 days again and we get 2 of the same hydrometer readings we could just bottle it and since its a wheat beer it would be ok if it was cloudy because we bottled it so soon. That would give us about 2 weeks for it to carbonate. Any other suggestions on what to brew? Also any other suggestions on getting a brew done in a hurry would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[beerthirty]

Beirmunchers SWMBO Slayer. great beer, ready fast, not too hoppy, loved by most.

 

[alcibiades]

you could make a light pale ale, keep it around 4 percent alcohol and pitch plenty of yeast... I've had one ferment in a week like that.

 

[pernox]

My new guy advice, FWIW is to keep the process as "clean" as possible. Pitch the right amount of healthy yeast, make sure everything is extra carefully sanitized, observe and control fermentation temps as well as possible, be extra careful to keep your hot/cold break snot out of the fermenter... The less goobers of off-taste the yeast has to clean up, the better.

 

[big supper]

Lots of oxygen(proper amount) would also help.

 

[halite]

You could go for a Weissbier, this is meant to be drunk young and so could be ideal.

 

[Yooper]

I think a mild, hefeweizen, or a lighter ABV APA would work. Make sure you pitch enough yeast (consult mrmalty.com's pitching calculator), and keep the temperatures in the proper range for the yeast strain since you don't have time for any off-flavors to mellow out. With the proper amount of yeast, it should be finished in five days or so and can be bottled as soon as it's clearing up a bit. It won't be ideal, but it will work.

If you use a highly flocculant yeast (like nottingham), you should get fairly bright beer even in just a week.

I don't like wheat beers, but that's what I'd probably make since they aren't supposed to be clear anyway- particularly hefeweizens. A mild is dark, so if it's not clear, that also doesn't matter.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

Yeah, I would go with a light Hefe. Keep it simple, just white wheat and 2-row pale, about 60-40. About an ounce of Hallertau, then use Wyeast 3068 or 3638.

Ferment at about 65*F, it will work FAST. Bottle in 10 days, let the bottle sit at about 65-70*F.

 

[austinb]

Ok so it sounds like my original idea of some sort of wheat beer was a good idea for this purpose. It sounds like it can be done if I do a weak hefeweizen and if we can bottle it within 7-10 days which is plausible it should have a couple weeks to fully carb in the bottle. Here is a simple recipe I threw together real quick, let me know if this sounds ok or if there are any modifications I should consider.

4.5 lbs German Wheat Malt
4 lbs Two-row Pale Malt
1 oz Hallertauer (in boil for 45 mins)
1 vial Hefeweizen Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP300) with a 1.5 quart starter started 48 hours before brew day.
1 tsp gypsum (in mash water)
1/4 tsp Irish moss (last 5 mins of boil)

Mash at 153F
Boil for 1 hour

QBrew calculates this at 1.048 OG, 1.012 FG and about 12 IBU.

any suggestions would be appreciated as this will only be my 5th or 6th all grain brew.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

Ok so it sounds like my original idea of some sort of wheat beer was a good idea for this purpose. It sounds like it can be done if I do a weak hefeweizen and if we can bottle it within 7-10 days which is plausible it should have a couple weeks to fully carb in the bottle. Here is a simple recipe I threw together real quick, let me know if this sounds ok or if there are any modifications I should consider.

4.5 lbs German Wheat Malt
4 lbs Two-row Pale Malt
1 oz Hallertauer (in boil for 45 mins)
1 vial Hefeweizen Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP300) with a 1.5 quart starter started 48 hours before brew day.
1 tsp gypsum (in mash water)
1/4 tsp Irish moss (last 5 mins of boil)

Mash at 153F
Boil for 1 hour

QBrew calculates this at 1.048 OG, 1.012 FG and about 12 IBU.

any suggestions would be appreciated as this will only be my 5th or 6th all grain brew.

Looks good to me. WLP300 is the same strain as Wy3068.

"Weak" is a relative term. You will be just shy of 5%, pretty much the same ABV as Bud.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I vote BM' Black Pepper Wit Bier! Crowd pleaser and fast.
I love it. We went through 15G in 3 months last summer and I've got 5 fermenting right now.

 

[Nirham]

I would go for the hefeweizen as well. You should skip the irish moss though, its not suposed to be clear.