Think its too late?

[brewskisteve]

Ordered an AHS Holiday Stout kit on Monday, still waiting on delivery. Want to brew/bottle in time for Christmas. Have not been able to brew earlier due to my knee, blew it out Labor Day and now really catching up and able to do this.

I know the time frame for it to be ready for Xmas, but wanted a second opinion. Was planning to brew as soon as the box shows up. should I brew up a yeast starter or just pitch the White Labs European Ale yeast?Its estimated SG is at 1.052. My usual MO is to brew a starter and step up, pitch, then sit in primary for a month and then bottle. Its only about six weeks away, so its short time. Any vote of confidence and process shortening would be appreciated.

I guess I just need a vote of confidence and a pat on the butt to say its okay.

 

[unionrdr]

I got my Whiskely stout in bottles 11/6. Even then,I think I may be pushing it as to whether it'll be ready. the Black Sabath song Too Late from Forbidden came to mind in my/this situation.
It's too late,
Too late for tears.
Too late,
'Cause no one hear's you.
It's too late,
& this time you're the fool!
Dio did that one too the point. It's pushing it,but you could still make it with maybe a week fridge time.

 

[Pie_Man]

I would make a starter using yeastcalc.com or mrmalty.com to determine the correct starter size.

Making a starter will delay the start date of your brew day, but will give you a better beer. When you pitch the correct amount of yeast and take care of the other fermentation variables, like aeration and temperature, your beer will not require a month in the primary. It should be ready for bottling in about two, maybe three weeks.

 

[Hang Glider]

a Stout?
IMHO, not enought time to mature properly.
brew it early for next year (they age so well!) and get some commercial craft stout you like. (You can even soak off the labels, apply your own, and lie to your friends.)

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,my traditional stout I made the Whiskely with was done in two weeks. Then another week on the oak & bourbon. It also settled out more. So it is possible with a healthy yeast pitch,aeration,etc like you said. As for flavor,well...that's another volume. It might be ok,but not as good as another few months.

 

[brewskisteve]

Thanks Pie-Man. I usually brew 10 weeks before being ready for most batches I've done, 1 month primary then bottle for 6 weeks is my usual practice so I lost my time guess. I get good results with that, so thats what I keep doing for my practice.

Going to do the starter anyway and brew in 3 days. I'm looking at hoping to have it bottled by the 12th as I'm going in for surgery the next day and have a low carb stout for Christmas. If its good, then thats great, but its still mine.

 

[unionrdr]

Yup. It's yours ultimately. And dry stouts are 2.0 volumes of co2 max anyway.
It's the flavors of those roasty malts that are of concern here.