tonyolympia
Well-Known Member
I just bottled a Southern English Brown after only eight days in primary. That seemed kind of fast to me, so I thought I'd check to see whether anybody had ever attempted something similar.
I used Wyeast 1187, aerated through a Venturi device plus four minutes of shaking, and pitched a big, active starter. Pitching temp was 66F. I covered my carboy opening with tin foil rather than an airlock, since I'd read that Ringwood likes free gas exchange. Fermentation started quickly, and was complete in 48 hours: 1.040 --> 1.011. During that time, the temp climbed as high as 72F. After the first 48 hours, I roused the yeast a couple of times and raised the temp to the mid-to-high 70s to encourage diacetyl reduction. After eight days total in primary, gravity remained at 1.011.
I bottled because it was my last opportunity for maybe two weeks. However, I also tried to let flavor be my guide. The beer at bottling didn't display any diacetyl flavor that I could perceive. The aromas and flavors *were* very interesting, though. Quite good, really. Lots of fruit on the nose, almost wine-like. Huge malt flavor. It reminded me of chocolate.
This is my first time using Ringwood. Does it sound like my process was sound for a beer with such a quick turnaround?
EDIT: Please disregard. With just a little bit of searching on the Google machine, I could have seen that this is well-traveled ground, and that in fact the whole "eight days grain to glass" thing is a bit of a running joke with Ringwood. Carry on...
I used Wyeast 1187, aerated through a Venturi device plus four minutes of shaking, and pitched a big, active starter. Pitching temp was 66F. I covered my carboy opening with tin foil rather than an airlock, since I'd read that Ringwood likes free gas exchange. Fermentation started quickly, and was complete in 48 hours: 1.040 --> 1.011. During that time, the temp climbed as high as 72F. After the first 48 hours, I roused the yeast a couple of times and raised the temp to the mid-to-high 70s to encourage diacetyl reduction. After eight days total in primary, gravity remained at 1.011.
I bottled because it was my last opportunity for maybe two weeks. However, I also tried to let flavor be my guide. The beer at bottling didn't display any diacetyl flavor that I could perceive. The aromas and flavors *were* very interesting, though. Quite good, really. Lots of fruit on the nose, almost wine-like. Huge malt flavor. It reminded me of chocolate.
This is my first time using Ringwood. Does it sound like my process was sound for a beer with such a quick turnaround?
EDIT: Please disregard. With just a little bit of searching on the Google machine, I could have seen that this is well-traveled ground, and that in fact the whole "eight days grain to glass" thing is a bit of a running joke with Ringwood. Carry on...
