Need Beer --- QUICK!

[GHBWNY]

Asking the improbable, if not impossible. We're hosting a big gathering here on Sat. the 23rd, with many beer lovers in attendance. Presuming I brew a 5 gal. batch this weekend, what are my chances of having a good-tasting beer in three weeks? Because I normally tend to let my ferm's go 3 weeks, and I bottle condition, I'm usually not even tasting a beer until week 6.

So, I'll ask anyway --- is there a style that will present itself well in such a relatively short time? Or should I start putting together an assortment from my LHBS?

 

[Newsman]

IPA??? Seems to me almost any "session" beer would work.... it'd definitely be close, though.

 

[Demus]

Good reason to start kegging! I doubt you have time if bottle conditioning...


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[Howhownow]

Try a hefe or some other comparatively low ABV beer that is yeast-forward.

Alternatively, there is this timeline:
8/1: Brew any beer you feel like
8/2: go on CL and find a cheap fridge. Order kegging parts.
8/10: build that puppy (If using regular fridge, and especially if you went internal picnic-style taps, would take about 20 minutes and $200 all in)
Wait 3 weeks for your normal ferment.
8/20: keg, chill, force carb.
8/23: Showcase your awesome brew AND snazzy new kegerator.

I'm clearly being facetious here, but I used to run into this problem all the time myself when I bottled- wanting beer by XX date and not having time. Kegging takes that minimum 2 weeks bottle condition time and cuts it to a couple of days.

 

[J187]

You might make it.. but it depends on how much you care about what people think of your beer. You could brew today and ferment for 10 days. You'd have another 11 or 12 days to carb. Choose a style that you could carb to 2 vols or so. It might be a little green, but most palates probably won't be better. You could probably give them the fermenting wort and have them chase it with seltzer water for carbonation and it would be better than Bud Light.

Alternatively, find another homebrewer in your area that would be willing to keg it for you. Even if you can't borrow a corny keg, you could find one on CL cheap enough if you don't need to buy all the other equipment.


Check out this thread, it's a little old, but I'm sure many of the guys are still around. It's a group buy thread from Buffalo NY, most of the guys are from there. I bet someone kegs that might be willing to help you out.

You could rig a simple trash can, lined with foam insulation and filled with ice to serve from.


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f174/buffalo-ny-group-buy-256416/

 

[Microscopist]

I've just brewed a saison, OG 1035 that's been remarkably fast. Fermentation around the 30C mark and down to 1002 in seven days. After ten days in the bottle ( no priming ) it's carbonated and good.

It was about 60% lager malt, 40% wheat malt.

 

[giant]

When I'm brewing ales, I generally ferment for a week, secondary for a week, cold crash for a week, and then carb (inside keg) for a week. If I had more kegs, I could easily combine steps 3 and 4 and have beer ready in 3 weeks.

 

[Owly055]

I don't see a big problem here...........Choosing the right beer, and pitching heavy with a yeast that likes warmer temps, the fermentation can go pretty fast. My beers are typically at FG in a week or less. If you're cutting the time down that short, make a beer you know with a yeast you know, so you know what to expect for FG. When you hit FG, transfer into another container, and add your bottling sugar, cold crash it for 3 days with the bottling sugar and finings in it, then bottle condition. You should have it in the bottle in around 10 days.... possibly less. That leaves plenty of time for bottle conditioning if it's in a warm place.

https://byo.com/stories/item/1397-speed-brewing
http://sciencebrewer.com/2011/11/09/grain-to-glass-in-twelve-days/
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-10/beersci-want-brew-beer-election-day-its-possible
http://www.lootcorp.com/2011/06/21/beer-in-a-hurry-a-treatise-on-fast-brewing/

 

[Newsman]

Kegging is about your only option to have it ready in time.

 

[J187]

I'd use a recipe with either a lot of late addition hops or flavor malts to mask anything that's subtly off.

 

[jpcoote]

I've definitely gotten Papazian's Monkey's Paw Brown Ale out and delicious in three weeks multiple times. It can be done! Keep 'em low gravity and I think you'll be fine.

It shouldn't take more than a week and a half to ferment out, then bottle and let it carb up for another week to week and a half. And voila! delicious beer in three weeks!

 

[shtoive87]

Do an esb with wlp002. Fermentation will be done in 7 days and bottles will be ready 2 weeks after.


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[J187]

I've definitely gotten Papazian's Monkey's Paw Brown Ale out and delicious in three weeks multiple times. It can be done! Keep 'em low gravity and I think you'll be fine.

I like this suggestion here... crystals, blacks, chocolates, a relatively low attenuating yeast. Simple brew, flavorful, low SG and some good IBUs.

I'd try this one!

 

[GHBWNY]

Great replies! Several options. Tomorrow I'll be brewing something, and in 3 weeks I'll be drinking something... Thanks, everyone! I'll keep you posted.

 

[Rivenin]

keep us posted.
i keg, but most beer i'm drinking within 3 weeks

 

[jfk69]

I've done the Centennial Blonde ale recipe from the recipe section in that period of time. Ten days in fermenter, 10 days or so in the bottle and it will be ready enough.

 

[Derrminator]

I'd also say to make sure you ramp the temp up after the first 48hrs or so of fermentation no matter what you make, to help it finish quicker.

 

[mmb]

If you keg, this is no problem. The bottle conditioning is the big time sink here. Brew an ale in the 5-6% range, pitch heavy, and ferment in the mid 60s. Fermentation should be done around 3 days. Give it a few to start to clear, cold crash for a few hours, then bottle and stack somewhere in the 70s to bottle condition for a week. Then get them in the fridge to chill down. CO2 enters solution easier at cold temps.

It won't be the best beer you've made, but it should be good if you take care of the fermentation. You could do Orfy's Mild. There was a swap a few years back where the goal was to go grain to glass in under 15 days.

EDIT: Correction, 10 days was the goal.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f38/project-10der-mild-10-milds-10-days-month-10-a-77758/

 

[GHBWNY]

UPDATE:

I did a lower-ABV APA extract kit. Not that I didn't consider all the great suggestions here, but I haven't done an AG yet, and didn't want this "quick" beer to be my first attempt. On top of that, my inexperience and impetuousness led me to believe that a "kit" would surely somehow finish sooner than an all-grain recipe. Duh. In the end, I had "late" beer... and some valuable experience.

I brewed, reached FG in 4 days, but let it go 7 (I wasn't going to risk incomplete attentuation, funky taste, bottle bombs, etc. for the sake of trying to impress some people with the latest homebrew). But, that didn't stop me from thinking I wasn't still going to impress people. Cleared and cold-crashed for 2 days and bottled. 10 days later, according to the instructions, it "should be" ready. Man, this is going great! Yeah.

So, the night before the big get-together I was brewing this for, filled with hope and anticipation and a premature sense of accomplishment and self-gratification, I cracked one and poured it. Hey, nice carbonation! And zero head. And skunky aroma. And a taste as green as grass. Remember when you were a little kid and you fell off your bike and you looked around to see who was watching because you felt more embarrassed than hurt? That's kinda the way I felt, esp. after making the BIG announcement to my wife that, "Here we go! The NEXT GREAT homebrew we'll be offering to our guests tomorrow!" The next day, I didn't even mention the new brew.

UPDATE UPDATE: It's two weeks later and I pop another one. Totally different beer. Wonderful in all respects. Great carb. Great head. Subtle but deep aroma. And the taste? Wow.

Lesson reconfirmed... you can't rush what time alone needs to do.

 

[rodwha]

I'm curious just how low an ABV the kit was or made it.

 

[Owly055]

I'd keep the OG below 1.060, make a really good starter, use a yeast that likes warmer temps, pitch heavy... .WLP 078 or Coopers, probably Coopers because it has high flocculation, and ferment around 80. Crash and bottle as soon as fermentation is stopped, use Gelatin or some other fining in your crash. Whatever aging it gets a chance to do can happen in the bottle.

I'm sampling my "speed brew" done on the 24th of August as I write. It's been in the bottle for 5 days, and has good carbonation. It could use another week or two in the bottle to mellow, but flavor is good. That's 15 days from brew day to cracking the first bottle. It's a little heavy and sweet but not excessively so, due to low attenuation as a result of my 10 minute mash.

H.W.

 

[GHBWNY]

i'm curious just how low an abv the kit was or made it.

4.2

 

[rodwha]

I'm surprised it wasn't good by then. Your thread had me wondering, and I think it's a good idea to have a recipe or two that can be made on short notice, and so I started a thread asking, and it seems 31 days is doable with a lower ABV beer, mine being 4.8%.

I guess it'll be time to try a few small test batches to see what can be done in 31 days (2 weeks ferm/2 weeks cond/3 days fridge).

 

[rodwha]

That brew took about 6 weeks to be good?

 

[GHBWNY]

That brew took about 6 weeks to be good?

In theory, it was probably [a week or so] less. I probably could have bottled immediately upon reaching FG, but instead added the safety margin of 3 more days in ferm, and then my usual 3 days CC and clearing. Probably a simple lack-of-confidence issue. Maybe next time, I'll skip certain (unnecessary?) steps in the process and see what comes of it.

Fortunately, for the get-together I had 4 other homebrew styles on hand, so nobody really missed 'the beer that wasn't there'. In retrospect, I'm glad time DIDN'T make an exception with this APA. It's great just the way it is.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Or, go to the liquor store, purchase a case of your favorite craft brew and soak the labels off. That will certaibnly be ready in the alotted time frame, and so long as you don't claim to have brewed it, your guests can conclude whatever they wish Seriously, while its not beer, the caramel apple cider ferments out quite quickly and is good still, so it will definitely be ready in your time frame.

 

[GHBWNY]

"...go to the liquor store, purchase a case of your favorite craft brew and soak the labels off. That will certainly be ready in the alotted time frame, and so long as you don't claim to have brewed it, your guests can conclude whatever they wish "

Tempting, but in my case, doing this would definitely get me in some hot water. First, prior to the finish of every craft brew, we have a family "Name The Beer" contest. Gets pretty creative, funny and competitive and people look forward to it and ask well in advance when the next one will be.

Second, for a beer to suddenly show up at a gathering unannounced with no label or one I made up, would raise the suspicions, if not the ire, of the entire clan.

Third, my favorite store-bought craft brew has labels that are welded on with some space-age isomeric polyphenolic hyperbolic supersonic adhesive that will outlast the end of the world! I purposely tell people to NOT bring me the empty bottles from that company. The beer, however, is killer!

 

[slarkin712]

Pete,
Next time you need a quick beer try a German hefe. Ferments fast, usually 5-7 days. There is no need for cold crashing/clearing as the beer is typically served cloudy. The yeast for this does not floculate well, so it also bottle carbs very fast. I keg, and have had this style ready and excellent in 10 days from brew day. For bottle carbing, you could definitely speed up the process by storing the bottles in a warm place, probably as high as 90F. I think this style could definitely be ready in 3 weeks in a bottle.

 

[GHBWNY]

Pete,
Next time you need a quick beer try a German hefe. Ferments fast, usually 5-7 days. There is no need for cold crashing/clearing as the beer is typically served cloudy. The yeast for this does not floculate well, so it also bottle carbs very fast. I keg, and have had this style ready and excellent in 10 days from brew day. For bottle carbing, you could definitely speed up the process by storing the bottles in a warm place, probably as high as 90F. I think this style could definitely be ready in 3 weeks in a bottle.

A definite consideration. Thanks!

 

[rodwha]

Thanks to you I have created 4 quick recipes that I intend to try (2.5 gal test batches) to see if I can have them ready in 31 days.

I don't care for too low of an ABV so I've made these all in the low 5%.

I also designed them to be extract with steeping grains to help get it underway a little faster, and with ingredients I can get at my somewhat LHBS (45 mins away w/o traffic) so as to get it into my kitchen faster.

I made a blonde, a hoppy pale, an amber, and a brown all using US-05. Maybe I'll create a wheat beer using 05 or WB-06 if they have it listed, though I do intend to restock liquid strains again.

I think it a great idea to have a recipe ready for those possible times in which you need a little beer for a get together. Without a month I'll be buying some though...