From kettle to bottle to lips by X-mas?

[Tall_Yotie]

Howdy all.

I am a firm holder of the 1-2-3 rule as far as brewing timing goes. Sometimes it is 3-3 if no secondary, but you get the idea. However, I was struck with inspiration, and I want an experimental brew to be somewhat drinkable by Christmas. Yes, that is 3 1/2 weeks away, or 24-25 days.

I am making a 1G batch of a spiced witbier. I am going to use half a vial of liquid yeast (as that is supposed to be good for 2.5 gallons), put yeast nutrient in the wort, and all that.

The brew is going to be:
0.64# light DME
0.56# wheat DME
0.2oz Goldings 60min
??oz Wasabi powder
WLP400 yeast. Willing to go to WLP300 for faster ferment and call it a hefe.

OG: 1.047-ish

Yes, wasabi. I am treating it like ginger, and just want to see what will happen, thus the 1G batch.

If I let the whole thing ferment out, and I assumed that was 7 days (hydrometer checking of course), cold crashed it to clarify for a day in the fridge, and then primed and bottled, that would give me 2 weeks to carb up and bottle condition. Sounds reasonable, insane, or "just so insane it just might work"?

I am not aiming for an amazing beer, so I am not as concerned about batch aging or bottle conditioning. I want to see if it has promise. I have seen the guys from Basic Brewing not even carb their experiments (like from the bread-yeast episode), so that could cut down time, but I like the idea of carbonation.

Any ideas or changes I should make? Is that yeast in no way going to finish that fast, and there is another yeast you all would recommend? Thank you for any thoughts, additions, concerns, or rants!

 

[Hammy71]

It should work...not saying it will be awesome...but you can make a beer (and bottle condition) that fast if your expectations aren't much. Wasabi? OMG YUCK!!

 

[Tall_Yotie]

It should work...not saying it will be awesome...but you can make a beer (and bottle condition) that fast if your expectations aren't much. Wasabi? OMG YUCK!!

Well, I AM doing an extract brew, so I am not really expecting much to begin with. But the idea of doing an all grain with 2lb of grain in my 10G cooler doesn't seem like it would work out so well.

And I think you had a typo. I am certain you meant to type "Wasabi? OMG YUM!!"

All I am really going for is "Will it taste like wasabi, or taste like crud?" I just want to make it a bit interesting as otherwise I will get bored with the brew day of I just used one type of DME and, say, WLP001.

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

If you want something done fast, I personally would not 'spice' it up. Those spices are usually very strong and take time to mellow.

But having a Wit ready in four weeks should not be any problem at all. Sounds like you bottle, which will be a little bit tougher... But it should be ready to bottle after 10-14 days fermenting. Again since you're bottling, taking consecutive hydro reading before bottling would be a nice safety measure.

Sounds like you have beer already and are just experimenting with a tiny batch... What's the rush for? Just impatient for holiday crazy beer fun? Good luck

 

[ksbrain]

Should work fine. I might rather make a 2 gallon batch and use a whole vial of yeast... I mean how are you going to really get half the vial in there. It's one thing to use half a packet of dry yeast, but I'm not so sure with the liquid.

Oh and is there some subtle difference between wasabi and crud? You must have a very refined palate!

 

[Tall_Yotie]

/ cut Sounds like you have beer already and are just experimenting with a tiny batch... What's the rush for? Just impatient for holiday crazy beer fun? Good luck

I have 3 batches that will be ready for X-mas tasting (yay for getting a friend and a father-in-law hooked on the hobby!), so yup, just experimenting for fun! Thus the tiny batch Willing to chance the spices not mellowing out as you had mentioned, as the spicing is what this is all about.

And yes, rushing for X-mas, as I figure it is a good excuse to do a weird batch, and if the 135-IBU IPA doesn't kill my family's pallets, then perhaps this will!


@ksbrain

If I had 2 gallons worth of jug, I would, but I have a 1G jug and a 6.5G bucket, so figured would go with that. I shook up the vial real good so all was mixed, marked half way down the vial with a sharpy, and poured just a bit past that level. Going to have my lovely wife make me bread with the remainder! And yes, I can tell the difference between wasabi and crud, but that is because I am an expert at crud.


And I decided on the WLP300 hefeweizen yeast, as it will ferment faster according to reviews and I think the flavors it gives with go well with the wasabi. The hops I went with have a citrus note, so should all balance out. Or, it will be repulsive. I will know in 24 days!

 

[brianroberts]

I really want to hear what you have to say about this beer once you sample it,Wasabi is great on sushi,never even crossed my mind to brew it into a batch of beer.
So have you decided how much Wasabi to use?
Are you using paste or powder?.....B......

 

[RM-MN]

Is it critical that the beer be clear? I would think that putting it into the refrigerator to cold crash would really screw up the yeast and slow down the maturation of the beer which will have a very short time to mature anyway. I would use gelatin if I need to clear it up. That would take more time but the yeast will still be working the whole time.

 

[Tall_Yotie]

Brian- I was going to go with the powder, but it has a woody, stale plant flavor to it, and I am afraid that would shine through. Also, the paste is what us Yanks tend to think of the flavor, so I unfortunately went with the paste. Hopefully the acidity won't kill the yeast. Also, I got called away when working on this, so I messed up on my tare level for the scale when doing the wasabi, so I put in a bit too much. I have around 1 ounce. If it actually works, I will report. I will be trying it again if it dies.

RM- not critical, but I would like to clear it a bit. I don't think cold crashing will be an issue, as gelatin will clear out the same things, and using gelatin is best when the beer has been chilled as well. I am not planning on doing a long conditioning period, so shouldn't hurt it too badly.

 

[pwkblue]

I realize it has been two years...but how did the Wasabi Beer taste?

 

[Tall_Yotie]

Horrifying.

It came out very woody, but not in a pleasant way. Also, I did a 1g batch, the airlock got clogged, and I woke up the next morning with my bathroom ceiling covered with dried beer juice. It splattered EVERYWHERE, and I had to spend a couple hours scrubbing every surface there was. Thankfully the wife was not home that day.

 

[pwkblue]

I love Wasabi...just couldn't imagine it in a beer. Based on your response....it won't be on my experiment list.

 

[Tall_Yotie]

I love it too. Thought it would be an interesting experiment, and as with all experiments, negative data is still data. Now, molasses in a stout, THAT was a successful experiment.