Fast Brew: Grain to Glass

[EvolutionAles]

So I made a pale ale on 10/11 with an OG of 1.052. Pitched Wyeast 1056 and had fermentation started within 6hrs. Dry hopped 2.5oz of Citra on 10/15 right when the fermentation stopped but the beer is still really cloudy. Going to keg on 10/17 and drink on 10/18.

Has anyone tried grain to glass in 1 week? Any thoughts on off-flavors, what could go wrong, or how to correct issues afterwards?

 

[logdrum]

Provided your ferm temps were controlled, the beer will most likely be drinkable. Cloudy & probably a little out of balance, but both of those could improve in another week or two. Note that I'm not of the "leave it for 3 weeks to have the yeast clean up after themselves" camp, but no cold crash & a short dry hop might leave the beer less than optimal.

 

[Teromous]

I've also done a pale ale that was "grain to glass" in a week. The problem is that it really takes some time to condition in the keg. Even if you shake and force carbonate it in a day, I find that it simply doesn't taste as good as the beer tastes after it has been sitting in the keg. Additionally I find that cold crashing out the yeast and hop material in the primary prior to transfer cleans up the flavor a lot more, reduces any vegetal taste you might get from residual hop material, and gives more pint pulls of clearer beer. One other thing to note is that I did some beers with force carbonation and noticed distinct carbonic acid which wasn't present in the beers that I let carbonate over time.

 

[EvolutionAles]

I'll definitely be doing a cold crash, but may need to do so in the keg it will be served out of due to time constraints. Only 48hrs of dry hopping isn't ideal, but it's currently being stored at 72F which is the upper limit of the yeast used. Does it make sense to raise it higher to extract more of the hop oils out? Will this affect the beer even though fermentation is done?

 

[guitarguy6]

I've also done a pale ale that was "grain to glass" in a week. The problem is that it really takes some time to condition in the keg. Even if you shake and force carbonate it in a day, I find that it simply doesn't taste as good as the beer tastes after it has been sitting in the keg.

I also find that while you might be able to force carb it in a day or two the beer tastes better after conditioning in the keg for a week or so. I've been doing a lot of pale ales recently and I'll do primary 5-7 days, cold crash in secondary with gelatin finnings for 3 days and then transfer to keg.

 

[TheCADJockey]

I just made one similar, I had mine in a glass in 3 weeks but I was quite scared since it was my first batch since getting back into the hobby. Was perfect carb after 6 days in a bottle.

 

[Teromous]

I'll definitely be doing a cold crash, but may need to do so in the keg it will be served out of due to time constraints. Only 48hrs of dry hopping isn't ideal, but it's currently being stored at 72F which is the upper limit of the yeast used. Does it make sense to raise it higher to extract more of the hop oils out? Will this affect the beer even though fermentation is done?

I've never done any tests with differing dry hop temperatures. I always dry hop at fermentation temperature which is usually around 65F. I've read of people who like to dry hop in the 70's range and they believe it extracts more hop oil...but just remember that you are only extracting and that AA isomerization is at 175F anyway, so your guess is as good as mine whether 65F or 75F makes much of a difference. I know from basic chemistry that solutions normally dissolve better at higher temperatures, but I'd be hard pressed to believe that if you're dry hopping for a couple of days that a change in 10F makes any discernible difference. At 72F I wouldn't raise it anymore.

If you can't cold crash your primary and are forced to do it in your keg, just make sure you can get a low temp and double check a CO2 PSI/Temp chart to make sure you don't overcarb your beer. Overcarbing a pale ale is a huge pitfall because you're stuck with either a large foamy head that won't go away, or continual purging to reduce the dissolved CO2 pressure. Purging your keg too much will drive off your beautiful dry-hop aromas.

 

[Brettomomyces]

I've been really impatient with my last few beers trying to get my new kegerator up and running, but, sure, you can have good beer on tap in as little as a week, but man, is it so much better by week 2, and then week 3. My plan is just to get some more kegs to curb this kind of behavior.

Big yeast pitch, crash after 4 days, beer around 5% or lower, totally feasible. Simpler the better.

 

[philosofool]

On Your Particular Recipe

I find 1056/001 to be a poor floculator and the beer will have an off taste if you don't let the yeast settle until your at least moderately clear. Cold crash if you can, but I would really be patient with this. It's a waste to rush it and keg tomorrow if 2 more days of letting that yeast settle some will really improve the beer.

Let me know if this big, brief dry hop works.

On One Week Fermentations

I've tried this once and got a diacetyl bomb. Ooops.

I still think it can be done. WLP 013 is fast and makes great porter and stout. Those styles work well with less conditioning and you won't really notice if it's a little cloudy, right?

 

[schokie]

1056/001/us05 is my house yeast. For me it's a great floculator. I routinely am grain to glass within 10 days. I usually ferment for about a week, cold crash for a couple days, keg at 30 psi for one day, then reduce to serving pressure. Usually the first pint or two still has some sediment, but the third pint and on are clear, clean, and no off flavors. To paraphrase Yooper, if brewed correctly, there aren't any off flavors to clean up. So why wait?

To be fair, I only do this with pale ales and other beers that are OG 1.050ish or less, I force carb, and don't dry hop. If I dry hop I add at least 2-3 days for that, plus another day in the cold crash. If I dry hop I do it in the primary.

Sometimes I filter so I don't have to wait a couple days in cold crash or lose those first few pints. Though usually I just wait since I'm lazy.

Also, force carbing at 30 psi can backfire if you're not careful in your timing. Sometimes it hasn't worked out. Most of the time it does, but there has been the occasional batch where by the time I get the carb and pressure sorted, I might has well have 'set it and forget it'. But 60% of the time it works every time.

 

[jfr1111]

To paraphrase Yooper, if brewed correctly, there aren't any off flavors to clean up. So why wait?

This. With an adequate pitch of healthy yeast and proper fermentation control, a lot of beers are ready to be packaged by the 7 to 10 days mark, unless the yeast is a poor floculator or a diacetyl producer.

Heck, I brewed an American Barleywine last Saturday, pitched a crap ton of yeast, by Wednesday it was already winding down and the sample showed no green apple, youngness or diacetyl even at 4 days.

 

[johnmac22]

I've also done a pale ale that was "grain to glass" in a week. The problem is that it really takes some time to condition in the keg. Even if you shake and force carbonate it in a day, I find that it simply doesn't taste as good as the beer tastes after it has been sitting in the keg. Additionally I find that cold crashing out the yeast and hop material in the primary prior to transfer cleans up the flavor a lot more, reduces any vegetal taste you might get from residual hop material, and gives more pint pulls of clearer beer. One other thing to note is that I did some beers with force carbonation and noticed distinct carbonic acid which wasn't present in the beers that I let carbonate over time.

Forgive me for my ignorance but if you were truly grain to glass in a week then that would include conditioning, correct? Going grain to glass includes being conditioned...in my opinion anyway. I dont think you can truly go 'grain to glass' unless the beer is fully carbed and fully conditioned.

 

[Teromous]

Forgive me for my ignorance but if you were truly grain to glass in a week then that would include conditioning, correct? Going grain to glass includes being conditioned...in my opinion anyway. I dont think you can truly go 'grain to glass' unless the beer is fully carbed and fully conditioned.

You could argue the semantics of "grain to glass" in many ways, but I was referring to the literal "from a grain, finished fermenting, carbonated with a head and bubbles in the beer, in my glass." As I said, I prefer a conditioned beer, but to say that a beer doesn't qualify as "grain to glass" simply because it is still green is a lot like saying a barleywine isn't ready to drink because it hasn't been aged.

 

[johnmac22]

You could argue the semantics of "grain to glass" in many ways, but I was referring to the literal "from a grain, finished fermenting, carbonated with a head and bubbles in the beer, in my glass." As I said, I prefer a conditioned beer, but to say that a beer doesn't qualify as "grain to glass" simply because it is still green is a lot like saying a barleywine isn't ready to drink because it hasn't been aged.

Fair enough. I figured I had misinterpreted the point you were trying to make. What you are saying makes sense and is a legit point. I bottle so grain to glass for me is when I can actually drink the beer and enjoy it haha!

 

[EvolutionAles]

RESULTS:
Brewed 10/11/2014 and poured from keg faucet on 10/18.
Huge starter and fermented at 60F for 48hrs (lowest range of yeast temp) and slowly increased to 72F (highest yeast temp), then held it there until transferring to keg. Dry hopped primary on 10/15/2014, cold crashed on 10/17/2014 and force carbed. Very little diacetyl off flavor, covered up by the intense hop aroma. Definitely cloudy but I'm hoping that goes away in a week or so. If I could change anything about the beer it would be an increase in bittering hops. Filtering the beer would have taken care of the yeast cloudiness, but otherwise it's doable in a week!

 

[schokie]

I take tasting notes on my beers and record which ones do better after a week or two in the keg and which ones are good early. I've had a few beers that were good right away, but got even better after a week. I make a note to leave those in primary for a bit longer. The rest? Drink early and drink often!