Pushing grain to glass limits-Weiss and Cali Common

[slarkin712]

I've rushed to get beers ready before and had success, but I wanted to see how much I could push the time to get a beer from grain to glass. This post is just to document my experience for anyone trying to rush brewing beers.
I brewed a German Weiss with OG 1.050 and California Common(CC) with OG 1.054 on 11-17-13 with an eye on serving them at a pre-Thanksgiving party on 11-27-13.
The weiss reached terminal gravity of 1.011 on 11-23-13, so in 6 days. I transferred it to a 5 gal ball lock keg the next day and began carbing in my kegerator. I set the pressure a little higher than my target pressure and did a little shaking to speed up the process. I tasted this last night (11-25-13) and it was almost carbed, really cloudy, but tasted perfect. A light clove, with medium banana notes and a slight tartness. So 8 days for a German Weiss.
The CC reached terminal gravity of 1.015 on 11-25-13, so in 8 days. I transferred it to a 5 gal ball lock keg and began carbing in my kegerator. I set the pressure a little higher than my target pressure and did a little shaking to speed up the process. I haven't tasted the cooled, carbed beer yet, but the hydro sample was excellent - fresh hop flavor and aroma, nice toasty and caramel notes, and not much noticeable yeasty flavors. The beer was actually pretty clear when I transferred it to the keg. If I assume that it is ready for serving tomorrow that will be 10 days. I'll report back with tasting notes from my sample tomorrow.

Here's some more details about the fermentation schedule if anyone is interested. I ramped both of these beers' temperature up the last few days of the ferment to speed things up and remove any possible diacetyl.
Weiss: Pitched yeast(~90 billion cells from a very fresh Wyeast 3068 pack) at 62F without any aeration into 5.25 gal of wort. At day 4, I measured the gravity to be 1.020, so I allowed the temp to rise to ambient(65-67F) and held it there until transfer to keg at day 6(gravity 1.011). There was still a ~1/2" layer of krausen, that I racked from underneath.

California Common: Pitched yeast (~265 billion cells built up from a fresh Wyeast 2112 pack that was cold crashed and decanted) at 59F with 75 seconds of pure oxygen aeration into 5.25 gal of wort. Fermented at ~60F. At day 6, I measured the gravity to be 1.020, so I allowed the temp to rise to ambient(65-67F). On day 7 I ramped the temp to 70F. On day 8 there was no krausen (gravity 1.015), but a very thin spotty layer of trub/yeast rafts. I racked to keg.

So, no black magic or special tricks. I'm not preaching people rush their beers, or that aging doesn't have its benefits. This is just proof to me that good beers can be brewed and served in a short time frame.

 

[Seven]

Congrats on your successful brewing experiment! I sometimes brew beers from grain to glass much more rapidly that what is typically advised... I agree that it is possible if you choose the beer style and other variables such as OG, yeast type, pitch rate, etc., wisely.

 

[tennesseean_87]

I just tried a beer in 15 days from brew day including bottle conditioning. I think it's pretty good, and will be taking a few to a Thanksgiving get together. It's the Holiday wheat in my signature. I did the same thing with ferm temp--pitch cool for a few then ramp up. I bottle conditioned warm to help that go faster, too.

 

[Zamial]

I am planning to to do a Completly Closed Pressurized Fermentation this summer at a week long festival. I am going to try to get it from Grain to glass in 3 days... In the long CCPF thread this has already been done but I am not doing this in the comfort of my home.

Yes it was a wheat beer and mine will be as well.

 

[Nightshade]

I have done grain to glass with 1968 London Ale Yeast in right around 7 days with more than acceptable results. I don't like to but once in a while it has to happen.

 

[eluterio]

They say Weiss is good young and 6 days or in the plan 12 days is young should be no issues. From what I read wheat beers you can push out in a week the only thing that takes time is carbonation. As for your CC Ive also hears the younger the better!

 

[Titan88]

Bump...any update?

 

[slarkin712]

The wiess came out great. It was probably my best to date. I had a lot of compliments on it during the party. I submitted it to a competition a couple of weeks later and received a 35, but no medal. Interesting comment from one of the three judges:"a little stale". This beer was about 4 weeks old when judged. I did get some comments about it having a little too much tartness/sourness. This may have had a very low level lacto infection that came from my racking tubing.

The common was just OK, but it had nothing to do with the time frame. It seemed to have been infected by a bug, maybe lacto. It had a bit of sour/sharpness in the finish, lacked a bit in body, and also had some diacetyl and mustiness. I noticed some of this in another beer I made previously in the same bucket. That bucket has been retired, and all my tubing has been changed. Nonetheless, the common was still very drinkable and just a tad cloudy.

Off topic: Are diacetyl, musty aroma, thin body, and sharpness in the finish the signs of a lacto infection?