FAST beer!!

[jaroporter]

hey all,

had a problem with a power cable and could only get weak boil on an ipa i had planned for taking on holiday, now a few weeks later there's this creeping suggestion of DMS all over the beer. that old b*stard chesnut.

so, need a fast turnaround beer. grain to glass in three weeks (not as bad as it could have been but still tight). i've researched a lot on this subject, and hefe/wheat beers come up a lot, but i know a bitter/pale type beer would be more popular. so i'm thinking a bitter/brown/mild, keep the OG fairly low (below 40), bit of pale and crystal malt (basic malts that don't need long maturation times), not to heavily bittered (20-30 IBU), fast-fermenting and flocculating yeast..

basically, i've never done a fast-beer experiment before. does anyone have any tried and tested recipes that are decent to drink in 3 weeks, or advice on things like gravity and IBU limits? would be much appreciated!!

also, i usually bottle, but could shove this in a pressure barrel to speed up the conditioning. can anyone with experience on those comment on whether it'd be better to spend longer in primary or barrel?

thanks!

[weiht]

I find 5% APA can be consumed by the 3rd week. 1 week fermentation n 2 weeks in the keg, by the 3rd week its already tasting pretty good, and will get better as u drink it over 2 weeks. Most important is the fermentation, if the beer has a proper good fermentation with sufficient healthy yeast and is allowed some clean up time, then I find that there is not much off flavours I would hope will get better with more time or a longer aging.

[fatboylard]

Dry stout has a pretty quick turnaround from experience. I was taking some pint samples from Wheeler's Guinness clone (well sometimes you need something bigger than a trail jar... and you need to check twice ) in the second week that were very drinkable. IIRC it was pitched with a rinsed trub that wasn't more than a few days old, certainly gave it a headstart!

Just a shame It became a victim of the heat in the flat, 28ºC does drain fodder make

Cheers,
Sam

[beernsurfing]

Mild!, mine are always done fermenting with 4 or 5 days, then get kegged and "tested" a few days later. yum yum yum!.

[jimp2003]

Yeah I would do a mild with WLP002 as this yeast drops nice and clear and adds flavour to the brew.

[barney]

Gail Porter is a cracker, can be drinking that in ten days and its smooth as silk, will get even better by three weeks when its conditioned a bit.

5kg Maris Otter Pale
500g Chocolate Malt
265g Black Malt

34g Northdown (8.6%) - 90 min
10g Goldings (5.8%) - 15 min
10g Goldings (5.8%) - flameout

[jaroporter]

cheers for the contributions guys!

i haven't really brewed milds before so that would be an interesting foray for me. i don't think i have any really suitable yeast in stock right now, and LHBS only has dried yeast. i'd guess S-04 would be best(?), but i haven't tried the dried english ale yeast..

the thought of having a porter upwards of 5,5% ready in ten days is rather appealing. goes against a few of the things i have read for quick beers, but that's why i love asking you guys!

sorry to hear your stout became drain fodder, sam. horrible thought. i'm actually thinking about jumping this ipa over to the cooking forum to see if i can use that corn-taste in a creamy white sauce.
heat slow, don't boil off the alcohol

[50quidsoundboy]

+1 for WLP002. i did a 1042 bitter with it last month, bottled it at one week and it was perfectly conditioned after another week. and all but gone after another week. from grain to toilet in three weeks.

[Barley Water]

A bitter using WLP02 will work because it will clear quickly but don't pull the beer out of primary too fast or you will end up with a butter bomb. Another alternative would be a wheat beer. The advantages are that you don't need to wait for the beer to clear since it will likely be cloudy anyway and also wheat beers are better young. I did an American wheat a couple of months ago that I turned around in three weeks. I also hop bursted it so I was also looking for really fresh hop flavor and aroma, worked great.

[50quidsoundboy]

A bitter using WLP02 will work because it will clear quickly but don't pull the beer out of primary too fast or you will end up with a butter bomb.

this is true. because i'm a new brewer i took samples of that bitter almost daily - early on it was absolutely loaded with diacetyl, but as it fermented right out in 3 days it presumably had enough time to clean up because the butter was completely gone after one week in primary. i haven't used many yeasts but i really do love WLP002 for both its malty flavour and reliable flocculation. IMHO, WLP002 = crystal clear British style beer in short time with no compromise on flavour (although it does seem to hide some of the more resinous hop aromas).