Quick Turnaround Beer Discussion

[seabrew8]

Hey folks, i done a search a few times for quick turnaround beers but theres not many discussions.

This is one thread, a sticky. But its not that active.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=84005

Anyhow, i noticed a few guys around here making beer relatively quickly so i thought we should share our experiences!

I have always been impatient with beer and have broken every "rule" you see around the internet. Then recently i happen to find http://brulosophy.com/ I'm sure many of you have seen it.

My last batch was probably my quickest - i started drinking a simple recipe in 8 days.

It was 5 gal - 1.050sg

6lbs german pils
3lbs Vienna
2 oz German Hallertau

I fermented with notty at 18C for 3 days and then ramped it up to 21-22C ambient for 2 days. Placed the fermenter in a fridge close to 0C - it freezes my water after a day - for a day before adding gelatin for another day. Then i hit it with 45PSI for a day. I should of waited another day before i started drinking because it was a little cloudy and not 100% carbonated - close. But the beer was very flavourful and smooth!

This was frankly one of the easiest and tastiest beer i ever made!

Your experiences?

 

[Build]

Whoa, I don't think you'll get much quicker than 8 days. Kudos to you. AB inBev might want to buy your secret to crank them out. I generally try for 2 weeks on a simple Notty (very fast yeast) pale ale recipe. I have sampled at a week, then every a day after, and they keep getting better out to a month or so.

Did yours improve much after 8 days?

 

[Yooper]

It depends on the beer, but generally I'm drinking my beers at 10-16 days.

Sometimes sooner, sometimes later. My oatmeal stout has some complexity to it, so it needs a little bit of age to really come together nicely, but even then I'm drinking that one by day 21-28 or thereabouts. It gets better the next week, though.

I generally leave my beers in the fermenter for about 3 days after active fermentation finishes, and then package. A well made beer doesn't need much age to be great, generally speaking. Higher ABV beers, like, say, a Belgian Triple, will need a bit of age to be at its best, or a beer with complex flavors like big stouts or a barleywine may really need some time to meld together. But for the most part, a medium/lower ABV ale, especially those will big hops flavor, aging can be detrimental after a few weeks.

A number of years ago, we did a mild swap where we brewed and packaged a beer, and sent it out for tasting on day 10. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=77758 I am sure I was drinking mine by day 6 or 7, before packaging and sending out.

 

[mattdee1]

Generally I'm a believer that beer "aging" is overly romanticized, but wow, 8 days?

I'm finding the sweet spot for me for most beers is:

7-10 days in primary (wait for the krausen gunk to sink)
2 weeks in bottle @ room temp to carbonate
1 week in fridge

 

[seabrew8]

Whoa, I don't think you'll get much quicker than 8 days. Kudos to you. AB inBev might want to buy your secret to crank them out. I generally try for 2 weeks on a simple Notty (very fast yeast) pale ale recipe. I have sampled at a week, then every a day after, and they keep getting better out to a month or so.

Did yours improve much after 8 days?

Yeah it improved in clarity and carbonabtion. 10 days and it was really good.

 

[kh54s10]

IDK. Maybe with some recipes. I have had many that were still actively fermenting at 5 days. The shortest I have gone is 14 days and 2 days force carbonating. It wasn't properly carbonated for another 2 days. It was pretty good at 16 days, but a lot better at 21 days....

 

[m00ps]

Any beer that is drinkable at 8 days, will still be better at 14 days, and most will be better than that at 21 days.

Maybe the OP just enjoys some of the sweeter green flavors of beer? I've noticed some people enjoy stuff like saisons earlier when they can have a sweeter hefeweizen-like finish that isnt nearly as dry as when they are fully matured

 

[seabrew8]

It depends on the beer, but generally I'm drinking my beers at 10-16 days.

Sometimes sooner, sometimes later. My oatmeal stout has some complexity to it, so it needs a little bit of age to really come together nicely, but even then I'm drinking that one by day 21-28 or thereabouts. It gets better the next week, though.

I generally leave my beers in the fermenter for about 3 days after active fermentation finishes, and then package. A well made beer doesn't need much age to be great, generally speaking. Higher ABV beers, like, say, a Belgian Triple, will need a bit of age to be at its best, or a beer with complex flavors like big stouts or a barleywine may really need some time to meld together. But for the most part, a medium/lower ABV ale, especially those will big hops flavor, aging can be detrimental after a few weeks.

A number of years ago, we did a mild swap where we brewed and packaged a beer, and sent it out for tasting on day 10. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=77758 I am sure I was drinking mine by day 6 or 7, before packaging and sending out.

Thanks Yopper! I guess quick turnarounds are more popular then i thought...

I use a lot of notty slurry so it usually rips through the sugar in 2-3 days no problem. Then i warm it up for a few days.

 

[seabrew8]

Any beer that is drinkable at 8 days, will still be better at 14 days, and most will be better than that at 21 days.

Maybe the OP just enjoys some of the sweeter green flavors of beer? I've noticed some people enjoy stuff like saisons earlier when they can have a sweeter hefeweizen-like finish that isnt nearly as dry as when they are fully matured

Yeah i might. I really do dig the "freshness" of the hops.

 

[douglasbarbin]

I kegged a beer this morning that I brewed on Sunday, which means about 4.5 days. I probably could have kegged it Wednesday night at 3 days, had I not done a half-day cold-crash. This was a hefeweizen and it was fermented warm (~70 degrees), so it did not need any extra time for the yeast to "clean up". Starting gravity was 1.043 and it ended at 1.007.

It really depends on the style of beer and the yeast you are using. High-gravity beers are going to need longer. Anything that needs a clean fermentation profile or a "dry" finish will also need longer.

 

[seabrew8]

Thanks Doug, yeah my recent brew was also sunday it is finished at 1.008 and started at 1.046. I just moved it to cold crash. I taste no off flavours personally

Its was 6lbs of 2-row, 3lbs Veinna, 2oz Williamette. Very simple.

FYI This is basically the method(s) i'm using if anyone is interested. I never made any of this stuff up myself.

http://brulosophy.com/methods/fermentation-schedules/