Comrades, it's on!

[Whorst]

I went nuts today and built an upgrade to my wort chiller and then I went and bought some Maris Otter and a pack of Safale-04. I'm brewing this tomorrow. Starting gravity 1.035'ish. I plan on drinking it in a week. IBU's are at 30.

Whorst's Tribute to English Brewing Arts

3.6kg Maris Otter
.056kg Chocolate Malt(added to mash at time of sparge for colour)
21.25g EKG(45 minutes) AA%=4.8
14.18g Fuggles(30 minutes)AA%=4.9
21.25g Styrians(15 minutes) AA%=3.5
28.35g Styrians at flame out. AA%=1.9

I plan to mash around 65.5C. I'm hoping a get a fairly hoppy English beer with not a ton of residual sugar.

[macleanb]

Sounds nice & light & hoppy, but how does one drink a beer in a week?

[Dennis King]

Sounds nice & light & hoppy, but how does one drink a beer in a week?

I thought the same can`t imagine drinking any of my beers in a week.

[brewzone]

I must admit I'll drink beer I've made after 7 days.

There is at least one article somewhere on the internet about brewing beer for consumption in around a week or so.

I know most beers improve with aging but it's never stopped Me!

[Whorst]

When I lived in London, about 12 years ago, I spent quite a a bit of time at Young's and Fuller's. Both Chiswick Bitter and Young's Ordinary are fermented for about 3 days. Then, they're racked into casks and sent to pubs. This particular beer will be racked on Wednesday, fined and lightly primed. I don't see any reason to excessively age a Bitter with a starting gravity of 1.035.

[SiHoltye]

I thought brewerys like fullers hold beer in conditioning tanks for a period, then in casks while waiting to be sent out, and then cask wait in pub cellars for a while before being supped. Maybe at least 3 weeks in total? Why not phone them to ask advice? I personally agree with a maturation/waiting period - as much as I hate it.

[brewzone]

Heres the article from BYO magazine for a quick turnaround beer

clicky

[Whorst]

Other good choices for quick turnaround beers are the so-called session beers, such as British bitters and milds. For these, you can allow three to four days of fermentation and another three days for conditioning. Producing ales in such a short time does require the use of a flocculent yeast strain. For quick turnaround ales, Wyeast and White Labs recommend Wyeast 1968, Wyeast 1187, Wyeast 1099, Wyeast 1332, White Labs WLP002 or White Labs WLP007. These session beers have relatively low original gravities — from 1.030 to 1.040 — so the yeast can finish their job quickly. The acceptability of fruity esters in these styles also means that it is possible to ferment at the high end of the yeast’s temperature range.

[Whorst]

Just finished. Starting gravity 1.036. I had some problems with a stuck run off. Way too much flour in the grist. I got most of it out with a fine sieve. The small amount of chocolate malt in the grist at sparge time was basically like it mashed, because it took so long to get the mash to run off. Wort is a tad darker than I wanted, but I can't complain. Once I cooled the wort, I hit it with pure oxygen for about a minute. Within a half hour there's already activity. I see yeast clumping to the top. The stuff is fast. I will let the board know how this turns out. I plan on racking it possibly Tuesday, probably Wednesday.

Thank you for all the assistance regarding the English Brewing Arts.

Whorst

[Stonechat]

When I lived in London, about 12 years ago, I spent quite a a bit of time at Young's and Fuller's. Both Chiswick Bitter and Young's Ordinary are fermented for about 3 days. Then, they're racked into casks and sent to pubs. This particular beer will be racked on Wednesday, fined and lightly primed. I don't see any reason to excessively age a Bitter with a starting gravity of 1.035.

Totally agree with this. A commercial live brewery yeast is capable of doing the ferment and dropping to leave nearly clear beer, which finings will finish off.

Good luck with your beer Whorst! I await with interest how it turns out

[Barley Water]

You should have no trouble at all getting a low gravity bitter done in a week with healthy, floculent yeast. I made a low gravity mild last month that fermented so quickly I actually thought that the yeast was dead. I brewed the beer then put it into my fermenting refigerator. I forgot to check on it for couple of days and was wondering why there appreared to be no action. The beer was actually almost clear when I got around to checking on it and the only evidence of fermentation was a ring of gunk about an inch above the liquid level in my fermentor. Anyway, the beer came out pretty well and I could have easily kegged it and force carbonated it inside of a week if I had wanted to.

The only thing you need to watch out for when doing a quick turn around like that is you can have diacetyl problems depending on which yeast you use. I use the Fuller's strain often and it is well know for throwing off a lot of diacetyl (but it also floculates really well which leads to very clear beers). You need to make sure that you leave the beer on the yeast long enough to clean up after itself.

[Whorst]

Yeah, I don't want loads of diacetyl. I was amazed how fast the 04 took off. There was activity, although minor in half an hour. It's fermenting well now at
20C. I'm hoping it turns out well. I'd really like to use this yeast more often.

[Hoppopotamus]

I still don't understand this whole thing about aging bitter.

I have made 5 all-grain bitters so far and they have all followed the same pattern:

After a week in primary fermentation - taste pretty good
After a week in the keg - taste a little better
After 2-3 weeks in the keg - taste excellent - at their peak
After 4-5 weeks in the keg - hop flavour starts to subdue and beer tastes a bit 'thin'.

I thought I might have a problem with oxidation, but I've adjusted my technique to keep oxidation risk to a minumum, even on the controversial hot side. So I'm starting to conclude that I might just prefer the taste of the beer when it is younger. I have tended to brew fairly weak beers (usually 4 or 4.5%) and it is probably the case that these types of beer don't suit aging. Maybe they would last a bit longer if I used bottles rather than a keg.

[Gurgeh]

Maybe they would last a bit longer if I used bottles rather than a keg.

no doubt about it IMO