Brew started on 15/06, possibly drinkable for this 22/06?

[darkfyre]

Hi all,

I started a Coopers Australian Pale ale kit on 15/06 and was wondering whether it would be possible to finish, clear and carbonate the lot by this Friday (I have a party and was thinking it'd be nice to take some along with me)?

The starting SG was 1.038 and a hydrometer reading taken at 3PM today shows 1.014, if the average gravity unit decrease is anything to go by it should be fermented out to 1.010 (most likely lower) by around 7AM tomorrow. I've tasted the beer each time I've taken a hydrometer reading and I'm happy with the flavour so far!

My ideas are:

1. Stop the fermentation with some crushed campden tablets, use a clearing agent to remove the dead yeast/proteins/enzymes and then find a quick way to force carbonate the beer whilst chilling it in my fridge.
2. Rack the beer from the fermenting vessel into my pressure barrel, maybe add some priming sugar (if necessary), add in a clearing agent at the same time as barrelling and chill after 24 hours or so.
3. Maybe use a mixture of the two above whereby the beer is racked into the pressure barrel and primed to carbonate it, then campden tablets are added to stop the fermentation, finings are added to clear the beer, then it is transferred to a clean pressure barrel and I use CO2 bulbs to keep what remains of the carbonation intact.

The pressure barrel I have is the Young's U Brew one: http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/home-b...jhjYX3SDlEUFWaOdTpLU0xVcTayKYYOc w4t9gBa9qg==

I'm not sure if any of these methods will even work so any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated!

 

[graysalchemy]

Even if you managed to clear the beer and force carbonate it you have missed out one of the important steps of letting the yeast clean up after itself. The fastest I manage to get from start to bottle is 2 weeks then I leave it for 4-5 weeks to mature. I appreciate you want a quick beer but you are not doing it any justicewith what you want to do and you may as well go to the super market and by some tins of John Smiths.

:sick: :sick:

 

[ArmChair]

I appreciate you want a quick beer but you are not doing it any justicewith what you want to do and you may as well go to the super market and by some tins of John Smiths.
:sick: :sick:

I have to agree with graysalchemy on this one, i would not think it would be ready in time.

 

[jonnymorris]

I doubt it'd be worth drinking if you did though admire your optimism.

 

[rich27500]

Seriously...nah mate it will be crap, book another party for 6 weeks time

 

[darkfyre]

I've previously made wine from a Solomon Grundy 7-day kit that turned out ok, they use kieselsol and chitosan as the clearing agents. Would these agents not remove the "mess" left behind by the yeast?

 

[graysalchemy]

Even when you have a stable fg the yeast is still actoive absorbiong and metabolising some of the by products produced ealier on in fermentation. Also even if you manage to clear it and pump co2 into your keg it takes time for the co2 to be absorbed into the beer.

Go ahead and try but I think you will be disappointed.

 

[Moley]

I've previously made wine from a Solomon Grundy 7-day kit that turned out ok

Nuff said, you clearly have no standards and will drink anything. The very word "homebrew" carries some very negative preconceptions, this forum is based on trying to overturn those preconceptions and show that homebrew can be as good as or significantly better than anything you can buy in the pub or supermarket. Drink what you like, but don't inflict it on your friends.

they use kieselsol and chitosan as the clearing agents. Would these agents not remove the "mess" left behind by the yeast?

No. They will clear the brew very effectively, but they won't accelerate the conditioning or maturation processes.

 

[Aleman]

Actually, if you know what you are doing it is possible to brew a beer and go from brewing to drinking in 6 days. . . . It is not really possible with a kit however.

I've done it successfully by brewing a 1.038 bitter, using 30g of Nottingham yeast per 5 gallons, and fermenting at 21C . . . The fermentation was over in a little over 36 hours, although I did give it an additional 36 hours, before crash chilling the beer to 0C for 24 hours, and finings were added. The green beer was then transferred into cornelii and force carbonated. . . I broached one keg on the 6th day (slightly undercarbed) and connected it up to the Beer Engine . . .

 

[Moley]

Actually, if you know what you are doing it is possible to brew a beer and go from brewing to drinking in 6 days. . . . It is not really possible with a kit however.

It's also possible to ferment out, clear and bottle a wine in 1-2 weeks.

But there's a big difference between fit to drink and good to drink.

 

[Baz Chaz]

The only bit I could contribute to this thread is from personal observation, I have tried bottles of my own brews from a couple of weeks after bottling through to 18 months old ...... 3 to 6 month of maturation make a world of difference, you really can't (and shouldn't) rush it :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

Actually, if you know what you are doing it is possible to brew a beer and go from brewing to drinking in 6 days. . . . It is not really possible with a kit however.

It's also possible to ferment out, clear and bottle a wine in 1-2 weeks.

But there's a big difference between fit to drink and good to drink.

Agree with you completely with wine . . . beer is different though . . . most of today's commercial beer is normally brewed and shipped within 10-14 days. . . . That's not to say that there won't be an improvement in quality if left for longer, but young beer does not suffer the problems of young wine

 

[darkfyre]

Actually, if you know what you are doing it is possible to brew a beer and go from brewing to drinking in 6 days. . . . It is not really possible with a kit however.

It's also possible to ferment out, clear and bottle a wine in 1-2 weeks.

But there's a big difference between fit to drink and good to drink.

Agree with you completely with wine . . . beer is different though . . . most of today's commercial beer is normally brewed and shipped within 10-14 days. . . . That's not to say that there won't be an improvement in quality if left for longer, but young beer does not suffer the problems of young wine

A couple of positive replies, thanks Aleman! You're right to say "if you know what you're doing" as I don't really, I've read lots of theory behind brewing and different techniques, and I've only actually brewed a few myself but I am learning and do like to question and try new things (how else is there to learn?).

I want to do the best that I can do with what I have, if that yields a drinkable brew then great. Maybe I'll find a way to make the next one better! I think force carbonation is not going to be possible with what I have (though I could get hold of a conie keg and CO2 cylinder relatively easily...tempting, but not quite in the spirit of the thing). Do you think that allowing the beer to naturally carbonate in a pressure barrel for a while prior to fining and chilling would work at all? If so I could transfer the cleared beer to a second pressure barrel and keep it carbonated with a CO2 bulb or two until the actual event?!

Moley: Thank you for your comments. Perhaps in order to clear the "very negative preconceptions" associated with "the very word 'homebrew'" you should continue providing negative comments to all who ask questions instead of providing positive reasoning to back up your argument

 

[graysalchemy]

To naturally carbonate the beer is going to take more than a couple of days. It takes about a week at 21c to generate the co2 in a bottle or keg and it then takes a number of weeks at a lower temp for the beer to actually absorb the co2.

 

[darkfyre]

To naturally carbonate the beer is going to take more than a couple of days. It takes about a week at 21c to generate the co2 in a bottle or keg and it then takes a number of weeks at a lower temp for the beer to actually absorb the co2.

Out the window flies natural carbonation! I guess I'll have to tap up a friend for a proper keg and a cylinder of CO2 then. What pressures would be recommended for force carbonation and for how long? I'm currently scouring the 'net for the same answer but if any of you have figures close to hand I'll concede defeat!

 

[graysalchemy]

Art you able to crash cool it as you will need to to clear it and force carbonate it?

Here is a recent thread clicky

Force carbonating is basically just forcing in the CO2. Rolling shaking just forces it in better. I normally would set the gauge around 7 psi at 6c for an ale and leave it in the cold for at least 4 weeks, Then dispense around 2/3psi. Normally this gives good carbonation for English type ales.

Clearly Aleman didn't leave it for 4 weeks, I think you need to ask the man him self.

:thumb:

 

[Moley]

Moley: Thank you for your comments. Perhaps in order to clear the "very negative preconceptions" associated with "the very word 'homebrew'" you should continue providing negative comments to all who ask questions instead of providing positive reasoning to back up your argument

:lol: Ok, so you're clearly not stupid, but if you take the time to read around the forum I hope that you will see I do try very hard to be diplomatic, give an answer to questions and try to explain the reasoning behind my answer. Sometimes it's not easy, but I really do try.

I know the big boys and commercial breweries work on very different timescales to the home brewer, but I thought your question, "is it possible to take a kit brew from mixing to drinking in one week?" was pushing things just a little too far.

 

[darkfyre]

Moley: Thank you for your comments. Perhaps in order to clear the "very negative preconceptions" associated with "the very word 'homebrew'" you should continue providing negative comments to all who ask questions instead of providing positive reasoning to back up your argument

:lol: Ok, so you're clearly not stupid, but if you take the time to read around the forum I hope that you will see I do try very hard to be diplomatic, give an answer to questions and try to explain the reasoning behind my answer. Sometimes it's not easy, but I really do try.

I know the big boys and commercial breweries work on very different timescales to the home brewer, but I thought your question, "is it possible to take a kit brew from mixing to drinking in one week?" was pushing things just a little too far.

I understand your point and respect your opinion, it was the wording more than anything. True I am asking quite an outrageous question given that this forum is all about the gentle (yet sometimes paradoxically explosive) art of home brewing, but in all fairness it is only a question. I wouldn't normally think about doing anything like this as I like to take time over my projects, but the fact that there is a party coming up coupled with the inexpensive price of the Cooper's kit allows me to reason that I might as well give it a go as not, and if it turns out under-carbonated (or completely flat as the case may well be) then it doesn't really matter.

My next project is a summer ale that I intend to be drinking when summer arrives and not a moment sooner...so I have a good two months yet for that one lol

 

[rich27500]

This has become so entertaining I now want you try it just to see what happens

 

[Baz Chaz]

... My next project is a summer ale that I intend to be drinking when summer arrives and not a moment sooner...so I have a good two months yet for that one lol

May be another 12 -14 months :?

Mind you it's warm and sunny today, suppose I'd better get the gutters done seeing as I had a brewday on Monday insted of doing them then