Fastest time from Primary to Keg

[NEMaker]

I'm getting married at the end of May and decided to go full out and make 8 beers for the wedding ((4) 5 gal and (4) 3 gal - I've already completed 7.5 gal of cider, and aging 5 gal of BOMM). Since I do not see myself brewing this quantity constantly, I don't want to purchase more carboys for a one-time use. That said, I have a few questions:

• How long can I typically wait to move from primary to keg?
• Can I condition in the keg at room/fermentation temp and then cold crash?

I'm hoping that once I have a stable final gravity that I can move it over to the kegs to free up the carboys for the next batches. Then I can let the beers condition for another week or two, cold crash to draw off the yeast, and then leave it the fridge until the wedding. Let me know if I'm off on my thinking, or if there is any advice on how to do this. Right now I'm doing okay for timing (Wee heavy is 1 week in primary; Strong Ale & Milk Stout were brewed Sunday night) but wanted to try to complete as many batches as I can early on so I'm not trying to keg 2 weeks before the wedding. Thanks!

 

[BadWolfBrewing]

Really depends on style. 1 week for a wee heavy is probably not enough. You can pitch yeast starter at high krausen and add pure 02 when pitching and again 12 hours later to speed it up as much as possible. Same goes for strong ale. Both of those really improve with age, and may isn't that far away. Maybe try some lighter, faster styles. IPAs are ready to drink quickly, pale and blonde ales, lighter stouts, sttuff like that.

You can ferment in a keg if you want... you'll loose some volume capacity, as you need to rack to a new keg after fermentation. Need to get extra coney lid drilled our for a stopper and airlock.

But yeah, they condition fine in a keg regardless of temp. You can carbonate (naturally) in the keg at room temp as well.

 

[uncleleon]

6 days for low OG ale in commercial (pressurized) setting.

 

[paperairplane]

Buy a few buckets to ferment in - then use them to store grain later. Buckets are cheap and work great. Don't rush your beer.

If you want to cold crash do it before you keg, once you rack to keg you won't need to rack again.

Most beers in the 1050 range I go minimum 2 weeks in primary, keg and at least a week in keg before service.

Do you have a strategy for carbonating all the kegs? I find burst carbing never gives the results that slow CO2 does.

 

[Brettomomyces]

You can ferment in a keg if you want... you'll loose some volume capacity, as you need to rack to a new keg after fermentation. Need to get extra coney lid drilled our for a stopper and airlock.

Why not just use a gas post with a length of tubing going into a bucket of sanitizer? No need to kill a corney lid!

But back on topic...there's a lot of different styles you could make in time, and most of them are crowd pleasers. Pale Ale, dry stout, cream ale, IPA, belgian pale, mild, bitters, etc. I've had a dry stout on tap in 7 days when I REALLY needed beer. Keep the OG at 1.050 or below, pitch proper amounts of yeast (with the dry packets of s-05 and s-04 you're getting plenty of cells to ferment a sub 1.050 beer if rehydrated properly), aerate well and you can finish primary in a week.

Could always grab a brew bucket too if you wanted another fermenter on the cheap to give you more room to brew.

For the keg part, you could cut the dip tube like 1/4" shorter on your "secondary" and then after cold crashing transfer the beer into a serving keg and carbonate in there.

 

[NEMaker]

Really depends on style. 1 week for a wee heavy is probably not enough. You can pitch yeast starter at high krausen and add pure 02 when pitching and again 12 hours later to speed it up as much as possible. Same goes for strong ale. Both of those really improve with age, and may isn't that far away.

I did a starter for the wee heavy, and its a bit lower in the style (6.9%) so i figured 15 weeks should be ok. The Strong Ale is the Pirate Strong in the recipe section - even though that is higher alcohol, its had great reviews in being ready in less time (we'll see though ...)

Same goes for strong ale. Both of those really improve with age, and may isn't that far away. Maybe try some lighter, faster styles. IPAs are ready to drink quickly, pale and blonde ales, lighter stouts, sttuff like that.

Most of the other beers I have on deck will be lower abv - IPA, Best Bitters, Witbier, Brown Ale, Hard Rootbeer - so these should be ready sooner.

You can ferment in a keg if you want... you'll loose some volume capacity, as you need to rack to a new keg after fermentation. Need to get extra coney lid drilled our for a stopper and airlock.

But yeah, they condition fine in a keg regardless of temp. You can carbonate (naturally) in the keg at room temp as well.

Sorry - that was probably some confusion on my part on how I phrased my question. I'm not looking to ferment in a keg, but I was wondering on how soon I could realistically move from primary to keg (after fermentation stabilizes for a few days at expected FG?), and what steps I might need to take to condition it.

Carbonating naturally is an interesting idea though - especially since I'm not planning to drink these sooner. I know I would need to set the seal first and keep checking for leaks, but it might save any hassle of messing up a force carb.

 

[NEMaker]

6 days for low OG ale in commercial (pressurized) setting.

Thanks - I read that elsewhere too (1 week for under 1.060 typically, and 2 weeks for over 1.060). It cant seem to find that post though, but no one seemed to agree or disagree so I wasn't too sure.

 

[NEMaker]

Buy a few buckets to ferment in - then use them to store grain later. Buckets are cheap and work great. Don't rush your beer.

I'm hoping to not rush, just didn't now how long a beer really needs to sit in the primary if the FG was hit.

If you want to cold crash do it before you keg, once you rack to keg you won't need to rack again.

Is there anything to be gained from letting the yeast do any cleanup in the keg while conditioning it at fermentation/room temp vs cold crashing? I figure I can just let it sit for 2 weeks in the keg, cold crash and hit with with co2 to pour off the sediment/yeast and then keep it in the fridge.

Most beers in the 1050 range I go minimum 2 weeks in primary, keg and at least a week in keg before service.

Do you have a strategy for carbonating all the kegs? I find burst carbing never gives the results that slow CO2 does.

I'm okay with 2 weeks in primary, so that's completely reasonable. It's the 3-4 weeks though would put me in a crunch. Since most of the other beers will be around that OG, that should work.

As for carbonating ... I'm leaning towards naturally carbonating. I'm not in a rush and never liked how force carbonating has worked out for me so far. Next thing I need to figure out is how to serve them, but that will be a whole other post ... haha

 

[wilserbrewer]

cold crash to draw off the yeast, and then leave it the fridge until the wedding.

I don't understand "cold crash to draw off the yeast". Be warned, there will still be lots of yeast and sediment in the bottom of the keg, and once the keg is moved it will get very cloudy and murky again..When I need to transport a keg to serve away from home, I have found it best to pressure transfer to a clean keg and leave the yeast and sediment behind.

 

[NEMaker]

I don't understand "cold crash to draw off the yeast". Be warned, there will still be lots of yeast and sediment in the bottom of the keg, and once the keg is moved it will get very cloudy and murky again..When I need to transport a keg to serve away from home, I have found it best to pressure transfer to a clean keg and leave the yeast and sediment behind.

That is what I meant by cold crash to draw off the yeast - there shouldn't be a ton of it in there since I'll be leaving a lot of it behind in the primary. I've naturally carbonated before and the first pint comes out cloudy and yeasty, but after that it was good to go. I'm assuming I might need to do that again the night before the wedding since everything will be settled before I transfer it to the reception site.

 

[BadWolfBrewing]

Why not just use a gas post with a length of tubing going into a bucket of sanitizer? No need to kill a corney lid!

Yeah, good call.

I like the extra buckets idea. I have a few old buckets that I still use in the brewery. Not for fermentation, but for cleaning, holding sanitizer, spent grains when cleaning the MLT, etc... for me, there is no such thing as too many.

Having just one more bucket means you can ferment the beers twice as long. Glass carboys are not necessary (esp for primary), and glass is dangerous.

The absolute earliest I'd move from the fermenter is 7 days. And that is with temp control, pure 02, starter on stir plate pitched at high krausen, etc.

Normally, I just wait 2 weeks for a normal beer (i.e., ale with OG below 1.080). High gravity stuff and lagers are different, of course.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I'm assuming I might need to do that again the night before the wedding since everything will be settled before I transfer it to the reception site.

Ok, just a friendly warning that if you take a nice clear keg and drive it across town it will take a few days to a week to clear IME.

 

[Yooper]

Ok, just a friendly warning that if you take a nice clear keg and drive it across town it will take a few days to a week to clear IME.

Yes, that's been my experience too. all you have to do though is 'jump' the beer to a new keg (what wilser was talking about with the pressurized transfer) and it takes like 10 minutes. Then you can move the keg for transport and not have a cloudy or sediment-ridden beer.

I generally leave most of my ales in primary for 7-10 days. I can't really think of any reason not to- if it's done, and it's been at FG for at least 3 days, it won't get 'doner' and it will age just fine in the keg.

 

[kombat]

That is what I meant by cold crash to draw off the yeast - there shouldn't be a ton of it in there since I'll be leaving a lot of it behind in the primary.

I assure you, there'll still be more than enough to render your beer cloudy.

I've naturally carbonated before and the first pint comes out cloudy and yeasty, but after that it was good to go.

Right. Until you move the keg.

That first pint just sucks up the yeast/trub that's settled right by the dip tube. There's still a cake of sediment surrounding it that simply stays put. But if you agitate the keg by moving it, it'll all go back up into solution, and it'll take a lot more than a day or two to clear back up again.

As was suggested, if you really want clear beer, you're going to need to give it several weeks at cold temperatures, undisturbed in keg, then transfer (via pushing with CO2) into fresh kegs to ensure that your beer will still be clear upon delivery to the wedding.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yea, I would hate to see you set up at your wedding and have 5 kegs of mud beer....even the cider could drop enough lees to cloud up???

 

[NEMaker]

I generally leave most of my ales in primary for 7-10 days. I can't really think of any reason not to- if it's done, and it's been at FG for at least 3 days, it won't get 'doner' and it will age just fine in the keg.

That is basically what I was asking by 'fastest time' - I wasn't sure if there was any reason to wait any longer after it has stabilized at FG for 3 days to keg it. Most of the recipes I have call for 3-4 weeks primary/secondary, but I figured it didn't hurt to keg it if it was done fermenting after 10 days.

 

[wilserbrewer]

The only downside in your situation in going to kegs sooner rather than later, is that there will likely be more yeast and sediment in the kegs, which could likely be roused in transit to the wedding
.

If they were to sit still in a kegerator, it wouldn't matter, but the transport concerns me. Years ago I took a nice bright keg of beer out if my keezer and transported 30 miles, some off road. When I arrived....muddy beer ;(

 

[NEMaker]

Yea, I would hate to see you set up at your wedding and have 5 kegs of mud beer....even the cider could drop enough lees to cloud up???

I have the exact amount of kegs needed, so I'll have to see if I can borrow one or two for the transfers. The ciders are completely fine though - I cold crashed and racked them a few times so they are clear.

 

[NEMaker]

The only downside in your situation in going to kegs sooner rather than later, is that there will likely be more yeast and sediment in the kegs, which could likely be roused in transit to the wedding
.

If they were to sit still in a kegerator, it wouldn't matter, but the transport concerns me. Years ago I took a nice bright keg of beer out if my keezer and transported 30 miles, some off road. When I arrived....muddy beer ;(

No, I definitely appreciate the heads up. I've only brought a keg out with me once before, and it was a stout that I was able to leave in a cold garage the day before at Christmas so I didn't even think of this issue.