Quickerest Brews!

I know lots of folks wait weeks even months to enjoy some of their brews. A few months ago I was excited about my 2 week grain to glass brews. Recently I stepped it up and my last couple of batches have been just fine and enjoyable exactly 7 days from brew day. Anyone else enjoying these quick brews? Cheers!

Pic attached is 8 days old.
Name: Weedwacker
4.8%
35 ibus

Yes, I have a mild that is great by day 10. See this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f38/project-10der-mild-10-milds-10-days-month-10-a-77758/ for specifics.

Otherwise, I drink most APAs and IPAs at about day 10-17, depending on the recipe.

I just want to kneel and say Hello Mrs. Yooper. Im a fan!

grasshopperfirestarter said:

I just want to kneel and say Hello Mrs. Yooper. Im a fan!

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It's the avatar isn't it? She makes me want to kneel too.

Anyway.........................
I was so inspired by your picture of a one week old beer, I took a picture of my beer! The keg is nearly gone, but this is an IPA I made in mid April (about 3 weeks ago):



I KNOW the lamp is ugly- our family actually calls it "the ugly lamp" but my mom made it in the 70s when she was doing ceramics before she died so it's ugly but it's in a place of honor in my cottage, so that's the reference point. :cross:

You said 70s, lamp, ceramics and cottage. Nice. That lamp is awesome. Oh and I want the last pint of that ipa!

grasshopperfirestarter said:

You said 70s, lamp, ceramics and cottage. Nice. That lamp is awesome. Oh and I want the last pint of that ipa!

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Too late. {burp}.

Don't be too excited about the cottage. I mean, yes, it's on a lake and there is a one tap kegerator. But it's flippin' snowing, and I'm sitting in front of a roaring fire. Oh, that sounds romantic. But it's MAY. May, as in spring. And it's snowing. Sitting in front of the fire and killing this keg is my only recourse. And reading my Nook by the light of the Ugly Lamp, of course!

Most of my brewing lately has been quick beers...lighter wheats, hoppy light beers, and milds. I don't keg, but milds and wheats are bottled after 7-10 days, hoppy light beers (you could say session IPAs) are dry hopped after 7. Kegging would probably put me at 10 days grain to glass.

I have trouble calling anything handmade and homemade ugly. Beauty is all in the effort and personal touch put into creation, I'll take 'ugly' handmade over a preform any day if they function the same. Give me something with character.

fnord said:

I have trouble calling anything handmade and homemade ugly. Beauty is all in the effort and personal touch put into creation, I'll take 'ugly' handmade over a preform any day if they function the same. Give me something with character.

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You are right, of course. And I have to say that I make homemade soap- and call it Ugly Soap, so I'm disparaging of things that I make or that my family makes.

But let me put the Ugly Lamp into perspective (and so sorry to steal the grasshopper's thread- let me know if this bothers you!): my mom made that ceramic lamp in the mid 70s. She knew she had terminal cancer, but I was about 10, and my brother was 2. Her outlet was ceramics and sewing. She made TONS of hideous stuff. She couldn't paint to save her life, and she couldn't sew a bit. My brother wore polyester mixmatched clothes, which he loved at that time. We have TONS of family pictures of this stuff.

The Ugly Lamp was during the orange/brown era of the 70s and it was ugly when she made it. But it had the place of honor in front of the window. So it faded on one side. Badly. About 10 years after she died in 1979, my dad moved it to the attic, horrendous shade and all.

We ALWAYS called it the Ugly Lamp, even to her face. When my dad died suddenly in January, I flew to his home. I took very little of the belongings, but my brother agreed that I should have the Ugly Lamp.

That Ugly Lamp is the only thing in my life that I would die for. Besides my kids and grandkids.




Anyway, I took this thread SO far off topic that I should ban myself- but I thank you two for allowing me to share my story of the Ugly Lamp. I hope my grandson has it in his house someday, in its orange, brown and turquoise glory.

What a great thread.

I'm loving WY1968 for this very reason. Drops crystal clear in 3-4 days and tastes great to boot.

Im not bothered one bit. Once I read it has a place of honor there I felt something. Moms are special! And tomorrow is Mother's day. My mom got cancer a few years ago but is still with me!

It would be awesome if you design a beer after the lamp! (Ugly Beer)

And drank it in 7 days!

Ugly Beer!! Gotta have lots of floaters

You guys (not gender specific) are very impatient!

I could probably have a beer ready in 12 to 14 days but that would mean force carbing and I always detect a harshness from a freshly force carbed keg that takes some conditioning to clear up.

meltroha said:

You guys (not gender specific) are very impatient!

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It's not a out impatience - it's about "can it be done"

meltroha said:

You guys (not gender specific) are very impatient!

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Well, it's not like I"m sucking green unfinished beer through a straw out of the fermenter- but now that I think about it.................................

If you make a beer that is not complex, and is good young (say, American wheat, a mild, an IPA without much depth, a hefeweizen), especially if they have a lower OG, and you use a flocculant yeast, there isn't any reason to not enjoy the beer when it's ready.

Think of a good brewpub you know. If you told them you want to keep a beer in the fermenter for 3-4 weeks, they'd look at you like you were crazy. A well made beer without complex flavors and lower ABV is usually ready with a very quick turnaround.

I'm not really impatient. I just don't see an advantage to aging beer that doesn't need to be aged. For my oaked imperial amber, it's best after 6 months in the bottle. I would not enjoy that beer at 3 weeks old. But for many others, sure!

I turned a cream ale in 13 days but I want to do it quicker. The single packet of US-05 was a little slow and doesn't seem to drop as fast as Nottingham. I also have been getting a quicker start by aerating the wort with a plastic "T" on my racking cane. I will also pitch a pint of Nottingham yeast saved from a previous batch and then use Super-Kleer KC finings packet with a cold crash. I want to shoot for 7 days instead of 13 days. Heres the recipe I used. It was delicious.
Any other ways to speed it up?
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cool-water-cream-ale-346428/

bigdaddybrew said:

I turned a cream ale in 13 days but I want to do it quicker. The single packet of US-05 was a little slow and doesn't seem to drop as fast as Nottingham. I also have been getting a quicker start by aerating the wort with a plastic "T" on my racking cane. I will also pitch a pint of Nottingham yeast saved from a previous batch and then use Super-Kleer KC finings packet with a cold crash. I want to shoot for 7 days instead of 13 days. Heres the recipe I used. It was delicious.
Any other ways to speed it up?
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cool-water-cream-ale-346428/

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What about an English strain like WLP002, fermented on the cool side? If it's fermented warm, it can get fruity, but fermented cool I think it would ferment quickly and clean and drop out like a rock. Or Wyeast 1335. I wouldn't over pitch- just consult mrmalty.com for the correct pitching amount, and that should work well. By cool side, I mean 66-68 degrees for that yeast strain, and not really cool like you can push nottingham.

I don't use KC finings, or any post boil finings, since I want vegetarian-friendly beer, but one whirlfloc tablet in the boil works well for clarity for me.

A good hot break, a good cold break, and proper yeast pitching and temperature management, followed by a cold crash, should all give you a very quick turnaround. I think you've got it down.

I used Nottingham for the beer in the picture.

It can be done!

This was a 10 gallon batch. I have the other 5 gallons still in the fermenter. Ill compare notes once I get it kegged and ready in a couple weeks.

But this first 5 gallons are good now!

Yopper - re vegetarian findings - have you tried biofine clear? It's not animal derived. Tried in my last two batches and go brilliantly clear beer where is usually have some haze

FlyDoctor said:

Yopper - re vegetarian findings - have you tried biofine clear? It's not animal derived. Tried in my last two batches and go brilliantly clear beer where is usually have some haze

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No. If I ever have a beer that's not clear, I could try it but I haven't really felt the need. I do occasionally use sparkelloid in wines that don't want to clear, but even that is very rare.