4 week turnaround - conditioning & priming

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Toxophilly

4 week turnaround - conditioning & priming

Post by Toxophilly » Sat Feb 25, 2017 12:59 pm

Hi all,

This is my first post here :mrgreen:

I've been brewing for about 4 years and am on my ninth or so all-grain brew. I try to learn and do new things each time, so for my next brew I want to try a fast turnaround from brewing to drinking. I've got a book of recipes and each recipe specifies primary fermentation (hopefully a week or less) followed by a certain number of weeks' conditioning, the fewest being 3.

My question is this: should priming with sugar and allowing time to carbonate be added onto the end of conditioning, or can they be done at the same time?

In other words, would the recipe above be
1 week primary + 3 weeks conditioning & carbonating (total 4), or
1 week primary + 3 weeks conditioning + 2 weeks carbonating (total 6)?

An additional question is how long is necessary for carbonation to complete, and at what temperature? Conditioning temperatures are usually low, but I think warmer temperatures will help carbonate more quickly.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

dbambrick996
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Re: 4 week turnaround - conditioning & priming

Post by dbambrick996 » Sat Feb 25, 2017 2:39 pm

Conditioning and carbonation can happen at the same time, so the first option providing primary finishes in a week. Do not attempt bottle conditioning unless primary is complete or u run the risk of bottle bombs.
Try a Blonde ale recipe with a very clean yeast us05 or mangrove jacks m54. M54 is a beast and should finish out in 5 days.

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Jim
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Re: 4 week turnaround - conditioning & priming

Post by Jim » Sat Feb 25, 2017 3:34 pm

It's not impossible to do it, but it would be tight.

You'd need to ensure your temperatures were at the optimum for quick fermentation, but without the off-flavours that you can get if you go too high, in primary and secondary and then nice and cool for conditioning to help it clear quickly. Also, pick a yeast that settles well such as S04 or Nottingham/Gervin.
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Re: 4 week turnaround - conditioning & priming

Post by Piscator » Mon Feb 27, 2017 10:59 pm

That turnaround is quite do-able with a lower gravity beer using a proportion of sugar in the grain bill and a relatively low IBU - say around 20-25IBU and a yeast that drops out quickly like Notty or SO4... providing you have temperature control to put you in the driving seat.

In fact these kinds of beers are best consumed young without lengthy conditioning periods.

There are several recipes which spring to mind such as Grahams version of McMullens AK, or Gales Buster Bitter or any number of AK's brewed to 3.5% ABV or lower. Lower strength dark milds can also be done in this time frame with a similar grist to those above but with the inclusion of some darker grains.

If you want any recipe ideas for quick turnaround ales feel free to PM me.

Cheers
Steve

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Kev888
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Re: 4 week turnaround - conditioning & priming

Post by Kev888 » Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:32 am

Just to agree with the above. Avoid high gravity or heavily hopped/bitter styles, control fermentation temperature well, use yeast that clears quickly (or doesn't need to, e.g in a wheat beer), and prime and mature at room temperature rather than cold. Make sure you get good hot and cold breaks, and use kettle finings.

Also don't over (or badly) sparge, or neglect water treatment (if needed for your water), since any astringency won't have time to mellow, and sub-optimal fermentation conditions can both slow fermentation and produce more by-products which the yeast take time to clear up post-fermentation; lack of calcium can affect the beer clearing too.

EDIT: 'Crash cooling' before kegging can help clear the beer, but cooling also slows maturation so don't do this for too long. With a yeast that settles quickly there may be no need to cool, or if there is then gelatine etc could be used to get it done more quickly, though you need some yeast left to help maturation and priming.
Kev

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Re: 4 week turnaround - conditioning & priming

Post by Fil » Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:38 pm

fwiw One brew i kegged was a delicious sup after only 3 weeks in the keg (conditioned/carbonated with co2 pressure) that was a 5 gallon 4%(ish) SMASH using Crisps MO and East kent goldings
90 min mash and 90 min boil with 65g hops 35g (90mins), 20g(25mins), and 10g @flameout steeped for 30mins pre chill.

However most my brew benefit from at least 4weeks sat at a cool (sub 15c) temp and most sit longer. Though from reading others posts i will admit i tend to prefer my brews aged a tad longer than some, taste is after all a subjective sense.
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

spanspoon

Re: 4 week turnaround - conditioning & priming

Post by spanspoon » Wed Mar 01, 2017 9:07 pm

if you dont have it already then get your hands on this book
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Brew-Beer ... reg+hughes
there's a couple of recipes which can be ready within 3-4 weeks.
my last brew was a witbier, it was ready within about 3 weeks but i do have a brewfridge - delicious

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