Quick Grain-to-Glass

[Pehlman17]

So, I don't typically like to rush my brews, but I was recently asked if it would be possible to have a beer ready by Thanksgiving. And I think I wanna go for it. The challenge sounds fun. So here is what I am thinking, and if anyone has any other tips or pointers feel free to chime in.

The request was for an IPA (more West Coast/"Classic American" style). I'm thinking of shooting for an OG of 1.060 with a batch size of 4 gallons. In terms of increasing turnaround speed here's what I was considering/wondering:
1. I currently have two packets each of BRY-97 and WLP-001(Dry form) in my fridge. Is either one more likely to work quickly in a clean manner than the other? And for whichever yeast I choose, would it be worth tossing in two packets and overpitching for the sake of speed?
2. I will likely dry hop very early, either at yeast pitch or at first signs of activity. Especially because I'm not shooting for a hazy, and my prior experience seems to corroborate the suggestion (and research from Omega) that dry hopping early appears to be inversely correlated with haze. Plus I would love to not have to open the fermenter much, if at all.
3. I have the ability to ferment under pressure and/or spund. I figured getting at least half of the carbonation taken care of in primary would be very helpful. If I was to ferment under pressure with either of the yeast mentioned above, does anyone have advice regarding temperature and PSI? Or perhaps would it be better to go no pressure through high krausen and then cap/spund? I do have a Blowtie spunding valve.
4. When I transfer (closed of course) to the keg, would it be worth racking onto a gelatin solution? I like to set up my serving keg as sort of a blowoff vessel during primary in order to allow the fermentation CO2 to completely purge the keg. If I were to prepare the gelatin solution a few days before I transfer and it sat in the keg as it was purging, would the gelatin still work or does it start to degrade once its been heated and cooled?

Here's my rough timeline so far: Brew this Saturday, 11/16. Primary for one week. Transfer partially-carbonated beer to serving keg the following Saturday, 11/23. Finish carbonating at 38*F through Tuesday, 11/26. Bottle 3 or 4 six-packs with my Beergun on Wednesday, 11/27. Bring to Thanksgiving the following day.

 

[wepeeler]

You could ferment with Kveik HOT (90-100F), and it'll be "done" fermenting in less than 48 hours. Personally, I'm not a fan of anything Kveik, but it'll make beer!

 

[Pehlman17]

Im trying to work with what I already have. I unfortunately don't have time for another run to the LHBS, so WLP001 or BRY-97 it is.

 

[wepeeler]

The dry 001 is Chico and will definitely ferment out in a week. Just not sure about cleanup. The only time I kegged after 7 days of pitching 2 packs of dry US05, it wasn't clean. I went back to my 14-21 days of fermentation. YMMV. Maybe shoot for a 1.050 OG?

 

[hotbeer]

Since getting my raptPill, I've found that just about all my ales are at FG within 3 days maybe 4 of fermenting. And many of those are with US-05 which isn't a great yeast for flocculation or going to the bottom fast. So out of those two yeasts, I'd pick the BRY-97. Though I haven't used either, the spec's say it's high flocculation versus the medium for WLP001.

Still, your biggest issue will be stuff suspended in the beer after the fermentation is over, which is why most instructions say 2 to 3 weeks in the FV. Gelatin and other stuff might help you get rid of all that. And although recent views and maybe studies say that it doesn't affect how fast stuff drops out, I've been finding that when I boil violently as opposed to softly, my beer seems to clear faster.

But admittedly, I haven't done anything controlled well enough to say that as a fact. But just that it seems to.

I'd also consider doing a big over-pitch of the BR-97 if you have sufficient on hand. If not, consider reducing the batch size to allow for that.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

The dry 001 is Chico and will definitely ferment out in a week. Just not sure about cleanup.

When I brew with WLP-001 (dry), I include a diacetyl rest. Sometimes it needs it, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Pehlman17]

I'd also consider doing a big over-pitch of the BR-97 if you have sufficient on hand. If not, consider reducing the batch size to allow for that.

That’s sort of what I was thinking. A massive overpitch might help in this scenario.

 

[Pehlman17]

When I brew with WLP-001 (dry), I include a diacetyl rest. Sometimes it needs it, sometimes it doesn't.

Good to know!

 

[corncob]

I haven't used 05 in years, but I just did several with BRY-97. It is not a very fast worker or enthusiastic clearer, compared to the English yeast I'm used to. I found it took 8-10 days in primary for the last bit of acetaldehyde to fade. Every time. If I were trying to go as fast as possible with this yeast, I would:

-massive dry overpitch at 75-80deg, chilling to 70 over the first 6 hours (I firmly believe pitching too cold is responsible for 75% of the "long lag" stories--Bry-97 is not a cool temperature yeast)
-top crop like crazy. Get as much resting yeast out completely or back into the pool immediately
-ferment about 70. It doesn't throw any fusils at that temp and slows way down below 67
-cool and rack to keg based on taste
-chill to almost freezing in primary and rack onto twice as much gelatine as you would normally use. Then shake it to really disperse. It always has the slightest haze even when ready to drink (it drops after a few weeks)
Force carb at 30deg and only warm it up when serving
-Floating dip tube

If everything goes right, you will have a tasty beer, and it might even be clear. Nottingham or S04 would be much easier.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I brewed a batch of 1.075 OG IPA using BRY-97 on November 4 and it hit terminal gravity at 1.013 on November 12. Pitched at 65°F and five days later let it warm up to 67°F. Just started the two day soft-crash to 50°F before dry hopping for two days, then hard crash and keg...

Cheers!

 

[Pehlman17]

To be clear, I’m not trying to make an award winning beer here. Just something drinkable that a bunch of non beer geeks who like IPA might enjoy. But I’d still like to go for it in the best manner possible.

 

[Tony B]

If you’re going for it, I’d say pitch the 001 at around 66-68F and let it work up to max temp, 73F per White labs. Either dry hop at pitch or within the first couple days. Let it work for 5-7 days total. Rack to keg and chill overnight. Then burst carb at 45-50psi for 18-24 hours. Depressurize and return to serving pressure until you’re ready to serve. May not be the best you’ve made, but should certainly be decent.

 

[SFC Rudy]

Something to consider, what’s your plan if the beer is not good?

 

[Pehlman17]

Something to consider, what’s your plan if the beer is not good?

Then we burn it down. All of it.

 

[hotbeer]

Then we burn it down. All of it.
View attachment 862459

Or maybe first get wasted on what ever good stuff is around and then burn drink it down. All of it!

At least that's what we'd do back in my teen-age, almost juvenile delinquent days.

 

[Pehlman17]

Or maybe first get wasted on what ever good stuff is around and then burn drink it down. All of it!

At least that's what we'd do back in my teen-age, almost juvenile delinquent days.

I’ll probably just go to the grocery store and buy beer made by professionals. I have no expectation of this being good haha. Also, I’m just using a bunch of ingredients that I already have so it’s helping me clean house a bit.

 

[rburrelli]

I’ll probably just go to the grocery store and buy beer made by professionals. I have no expectation of this being good haha. Also, I’m just using a bunch of ingredients that I already have so it’s helping me clean house a bit.

Good choice. The timeline is really not conducive to making a good IPA for those who don’t really know what it takes to homebrew.

 

[Pehlman17]

Ok, so just a quick update. I went against what I said regarding only using what I had on hand. I decided last Friday to run to the LHBS and picked up a can of Propper Starter wort and a pack of WLP007. I mixed the can with equal parts distilled water in an almost empty 1-gallon distilled water bottle, shook the ever living daylights out of it until the entire bottle was filled with foam, added the WLP007, shook it again, and then dumped the mixture into my sanitized fermenter. I then proceeded with the brew day the following morning (Saturday), and racked the chilled wort directly onto the fermenting starter. I proceeded to ferment at room temp (about 68F ambient) letting pressure build up naturally to ~10psi. Fermentation went gangbusters for about the first 48-60 hours, had slowed down dramatically by Tuesday, and then was all but done by Wednesday. Since I had dry hopped at yeast pitch I decided to go ahead and rack the beer off the yeast and hops into a sanitized and purged keg. I let that keg stay at room temp the rest of the day just in case there was any remaining fermentation to clean up. I took a sample Thursday morning and it tasted really good! I threw a few ounces of the sample into the microwave for a quick forced diacetyl test and it came back clean. Popped the keg into the keezer, put gas on at 12psi and crashed to 38F. Just took a sample again today and I must say I am extremely pleased (and suprised) by just how good this beer is tasting at 6 days old. I hadn't brewed with liquid yeast in a bit, especially with a starter, and now its got me wondering if I should just go back to using mostly liquid again. It's weird how sometimes the beers I expected to be so good often let me down, but then the one that I just sort of throw together in a bit of desperation seems to be turning out to be possibly my best batch in a while.

 

[Pehlman17]

Not fully carbonated yet. The color is lighter in person than in the picture. Wasn’t intending to make a hazy but it’s only 6 days old, so we’ll see if it starts to drop clear eventually. Major stone fruit and tropical flavors happening. Definitely cannot complain.

 

[hotbeer]

Nice. If the keg lasts long enough for it to clear up, then let us know what that is like.

 

[Pehlman17]

Nice. If the keg lasts long enough for it to clear up, then let us know what that is like.

And that’s a big “IF”. Haha!

 

[CodyRonan]

That looks ******* delicious.