Quick Beer

[badnaam]

I have two batches that have been fermenting for 7 and 5 days. These two are big beers (DIPA and Belgian Strong) that need to age for a few weeks (or do they?).

I can't wait that long.

My bottling bucket (6 gal plastic with a spigot) is free, is there anything that I can make..that does not take more than 6 - 7 days till it's ready to be bottled

On this note, typically how long it takes for a standard (Stout, IPA, Pale Ale) to be ready for drinking from the day the wort goes into the fermenter.

Thanks

 

[waskelton4]

I am about to keg a Mild tonight that i pitched last wed.

i probably could have kegged it last night as I think it was ready.. but my keg and my wife were not ready..

Milds and Bitters are both low gravity beers that don't take long at all (hefes too i think) depending on the fermentation temp. colder slows down the yeast.. but higher will produces esters...which you might like.. I don't

Also.. be careful fermenting in your bottling bucket.. you'll need to make extra sure the spiggot and all it's parts are clean and sanatized.

ws

 

[Beerrific]

For most beers 6 weeks is minimum.

You could start a hefeweizen. I would let it go in the primary for at least 10 days then bottle. It will take a week minimum to carb. If you keg I guess it is possible that you could drink it on day 10, however it would be best after a week or two of conditioning.

 

[cubbies]

The only thing you can make ever relatively quickly is a wheat like some have suggested. About 10 days in primary and a week in bottles will be fine...but honestly even those would be better with longer time to condition. I know sometimes it is very hard to wait, but you will be better off if you just pick up some microbrew and wait it out.

 

[homebrewer_99]

...buy more equipment...

 

[RoaringBrewer]

I would suggest just learning a little patience in your brewing and it will go a LONG way. There are very few, I'd almost be inclined to say no, beers that can be ready to drink after just 7 days fermenting and 7 days in the bottle. I mean, it's possible, but you are going to be drinking not so good, reallllly "green" beer. You'll thank yourself if you just go with a 1-2-3 method (minimum) and even then let some of that age til 3-4 or even 6 months...

I'd say the Double IPA and the Belgian Strong Ale are definitely going to peak around 4 (for the IPA maybe?) or 6 months, as opposed to 2-4 weeks. Big difference...

You can drink them before, but you won't be drinking them at their best. Keep brewing a lot of beers and eventually you'll have a stockpile of nicely aged, mature beers. Trying to turbo-brew and get stuff done start to finish in 14 days is not the right path. As someone else suggested, buy some good micros, keep brewing, and wait it out until your beer is good.

I can almost guarantee that any good micro you can buy is going to be better than homebrew brewed and drank within 2-4 weeks... And probably better than your DIPA or strong ale at even 2 months. Bigger beers need longer to mature. Smaller beers still need minimum 6 weeks (1 ferment, 2 clear, 3 in bottle) to be "good". This is based upon my "limited" brewing experience of say a dozen (12) batches. I had some lighter beers (4%-5% ABV) ready to drink in 5-6 weeks and they were very good. Almost all of those got better after another month or two... My bigger beers I've brewed (even 6 months ago) are just now starting to peak...

 

[david_42]

Low gravity (1.035 or less) Milds and Browns can be ready in 4 weeks, but that is the low limit.

Now Federweisser

...a milky-turbid, aerated young wine with a light and sweet taste. After the annual grape harvest, the juices from the grapes are separated and allowed to ferment thus producing the milky still-fermenting grape juice known as "Federweisser" (Feder = feather, Weisser = whiter).

You start drinking it after 5-6 days and about half of the sugar has fermented. It keeps getting stronger & drier until it hits 10% or so.

 

[mew]

There is a byo article about a beer that the author made that was ready in a week (force carbed). It would take two or three weeks if bottle-conditioned.

edit: here's the link http://***********/feature/1476.html

 

[waskelton4]

I kegged my Mild last night.. It had completely fermented out..

If I had used the shake-the-keg quick carb method i could have had a glass last night.

that would be 7 days.. i could have probably had it in 5 or 6 because I think the fermentation was done that soon.

by this "reasoning" you can have a quick beer in about a week..

just know that it will be green and it won't be at it's peak. but..

it's still beer

ws

 

[Cheesefood]

Big beers need about 3-6 months.

Hefe's are great because they go from malt to pee in about 20 days (if you keg). 10 days to ferment, 10 days to force carbonate. That's one of the reason they're my fave.

 

[chthonik]

Just starting off, me and my co-brewers made an IPA (late March). We still haven't cracked any of those bottles.

The next week we made an (overhopped) mild, started drinking about 3 weeks after brewing, although it has gotten much nicer as it has aged (still drinking it, about 3 weeks in bottles and it is much more mellow).

The following week, we brewed a hefeweizen, let it ferment for just over 1 week, carbed it and popped the first bottle 2 days later (bee-yoo-ti-full). Longer is fine, but this beer tasted great right out of the fermenter. It was ready after only 2 days carbing, and was terrific after less than a week in bottles. Of course it has only gotten better, but this is a WAY FAST beer. I definitely recommend brewing up a batch to get something done quickly. (I also heartily recommend White Labs 300 hefewiezen yeast for strong banana/clove flavors).