When (sufficient) patience is not an option

[flipper51]

I realize this question is going to sound like the frequently asked "can I bottle this imperial stout now and serve it for my party in two weeks" (and I have read those threads), but I promise it's not that bad.

The facts, quick and dirty: Brewed a medium-big IPA (OG 1.067, ~65 IBU) on Aug 7 that needs* to be served on Oct 1. Nottingham yeast, fast start but temps all over the place (started at 74, dropped to 65-67 for peak of primary, climbed to high 70s in falling stage), visible activity done in four days. At two weeks (1.012, that crazy Notty), dry hopped with 1.67 oz cascade pellets right into the primary. Taste is/was surprisingly decent, considering the short time and bad temp control.

So, I can bottle this weekend, giving 3 weeks in primary and 5 in bottle, or wait a week for 4 and 4. Which would you do? Some considerations:

Sediment: pretty important, because I probably won't be pouring (caterer bartender maybe, or self-service)
Chill-haze: don't care much, and it will probably be cloudy from all the hops anyway
Flavor/aroma: Hop harshness not a big worry, it's supposed to be a kick in the pants. What I am worried about is yeasty or other aromas covering up the hop aroma, which I found to be a problem in the previous batch until it had more time to age than I have.
Carbonation: Essential -- a lot of the people are enthusiastic about trying homebrew (Ooh! That's so interesting!), and always positive about the quality of my stuff, but flat beer might be asking too much. Temperature for conditioning will be around 72-74.

*Yup, pretty much "needs" to be done -- my offer for friends' wedding was to make a new batch of a beer they already liked, so there are specific expectations at play. "Buy a good case of microbrew" won't really work because they probably wouldn't accept it. I mis-remembered the wedding date, and recently found out I have 2 weeks less than I thought I would have. Original plan was 5 in primary and 5 in bottle.

 

[terrapinj]

when did you add the dry hops? i would bottle after about 7 days or so on dry hops

3-4 weeks at room temp to carb/condition and then a week in the fridge should work well IMO

i don't think thats a rushed schedule, esp with an IPA where hop flavor/aroma will fade with time

 

[iheartcraftbeer]

Given that the carbonation is your most important factor, I'd go 3 in primary and 5 in bottles. Just tell the caterer to pour slowly and leave the last sip in the bottle!

 

[flipper51]

when did you add the dry hops?

Sorry, that was a little unclear: after two weeks, so one week on the dry hops would be the 3 week primary, 5 week bottle plan.

 

[Lucky137]

Given that the carbonation is your most important factor, I'd go 3 in primary and 5 in bottles. Just tell the caterer to pour slowly and leave the last sip in the bottle!

+1. I think carbonation can be one of the most unpredictable parts of the process, and more time in bottles is certainly better than less (to a point, of course).

+1 to cold crashing in the fridge, too. This will help clarify A LOT, and as long as they don't get too jostled, and you show the caterer how to pour, should turn out quite good!

 

[Navy_Chief]

I would go 4 and 4 with the last week of the bottle conditioning being under refrigeration to force everything in the bottle to settle and to get the co2 into solution so it is nicely carbed for serving.

 

[Fletch78]

That extra week in the bottle will make a big difference on that "green" flavor you'll get when the yeast restart on the priming sugar. I voted for 5 in the bottle. I do agree, however, with Yooper about having the last week in the fridge. 4 weeks warm, 5th week cold.

 

[flipper51]

Thanks for all the useful comments. The most interesting and surprising to me are the two suggesting spending one of my weeks on cold crashing. With time being short I wouldn't have thought it to be worth it since I'm not too concerned with (visual) clarity, i.e. chill haze. But I do care about yeast taste and aroma, and I take it you're saying that more of that will drop out with the last week in the fridge than with another week to work at active temps? Also, as to carbonation, I had thought that at two days cold C02 was pretty much fully dissolved -- not so?

I'm wondering if, in general, my beer would be noticeably better if I kept everything in the fridge a week before drinking. I've just never had much fridge space, so tend to cycle through beers quickly.

 

[HomebrewMTB]

Don't worry, 3 weeks is plenty for primary. A couple days cold crash is enough for a majority of the "stuff" to settle out, it doesn't need a week. The colder the better but above freezing of course. If you do this, you'll end up with less junk in the bottle. Priming will add some more activity so you'll want some time for that to settle as well. So the longer the conditioned bottles sit in the fridge, the more it will settle out again and compact at the bottom. Overall, I'd try to get as much fridge time as possible with any "extra" time you have.

 

[Homercidal]

Either would be ok. I'd probably go longer in the bottle just to be sure you get all the carb you can. 3 weeks primary is fine for that style of beer.

Frankly, I fail to see a problem here. I think you have just enough to do a decent job.

 

[flipper51]

Don't worry, 3 weeks is plenty for primary. A couple days cold crash is enough for a majority of the "stuff" to settle out, it doesn't need a week. The colder the better but above freezing of course. If you do this, you'll end up with less junk in the bottle.

Good idea to cold crash the primary before bottling (assuming I'm reading you right). I can't get it in the fridge, but I can put it in a cooler with water and ice packs. No lid on top, just towels, which I think would get the temp down to the high 50s (from my pseudo-lager experiences). Would this achieve any cold crash benefits, or is there no point? If that's not cold enough, how low would I have to get for any benefit? It's also possible that if I got a bunch of ice ready all at once I could drop the temp lower, but for a short period of time.