“If you see a beer, do it a favor, and drink it. Beer was not meant to age.” — Michael Jackson
Fact: Budweiser goes from grain to bottle in 28 days.
Source: Modern Marvels, History Channel; USA Today
Fact: Many microbreweries and pubs serve beer brewed less than a month ago.
Source: Mount Shasta Brewing; Various personal visits to small breweries
Myth: Homebrewers cannot achieve the same short turnaround as larger scale operations without complex equipment and filters.
Many of the more experienced homebrewers who frequent HBT constantly repeat the “age it longer” mantra. Am I suggesting that they’re wrong? Am I telling you not to condition your beer? Not at all. However, I find that I can consistently produce not just a drinkable product, but a very good beer in well under the oft quoted 6 week (1-2-3) timetable. Lately, I’ve even been able to get great results without resorting to all the crazy gadgetry that you see posted all over the DIY forum and plastered across my gallery. I’ve been brewing 6 gallon batches of all grain, single infusion mashed, batch sparged beer. I’ve never filtered my beer, I’m not doing anything complex, and I’m convinced that anyone can replicate the process. From my experience, here are the keys:
Keep the recipe simple. Heaps of spices, large amounts of strong flavored malts, hefty hops schedules, and non-traditional ingredients can force you to condition the beer for an extended period. There’s nothing wrong with big, complex recipes, but don’t expect a quick turnaround when brewing them.
Use good water. I noticed a HUGE improvement in the quality of my wort when I moved from New Mexico to Texas. In New Mexico, I was constantly futzing with water chemistry, and it was very difficult to get it exactly right since I was starting with very hard water (or very pure water, when I elected to use RO). The tap water here is slightly hard, a little high in carbonates, but generally very good for brewing. I get a REALLY good break, and every beer I’ve brewed here has become brilliantly clear in a short period of time (except the hefeweizen).
Mash by the numbers. Hit your temps, hit your volumes, and don’t try anything crazy. A solid single infusion mash with complete conversion is all you need for most recipes…so long as those recipes are fairly simple (see tip #1).
Use Irish moss or Whirlfloc. The beer will clear faster and better. It’s that simple.
Pitch a lot of yeast, and pitch it right. As long as you’re brewing a style that doesn’t call for esters, fusels, or other yeast-produced flavors, give the yeast a little help. With liquid yeast, make a big starter. Step it up to nearly one gallon (for a five gallon batch), decant the starter beer, and pitch the slurry. Always rehydrate dry yeast in clean water, and pitch a little extra if you have it (I’ve been using 15g of S-04 or US-05 per six gallon batch). Pitch the yeast into wort that is within 5°F of the intended fermentation temperature. Note that I’ve mentioned nothing about aeration. That’s because I don’t worry about it. I just pitch lots of healthy yeast so they won’t have to reproduce much. It works…I promise.
Keep the fermentation temperature in check. Mid 60’s to low 70’s (F) works for nearly every ale. The hotter you ferment, the more you risk an estery flavor profile, and that might mean a longer conditioning period.
Secondary? Maybe. I haven’t been using one lately. I’ve been fermenting in a 6 gallon Better Bottle and kegging straight from it without racking at all. Just be careful not to disturb the yeast cake when kegging.
Cold crash. When the yeast have completed their tasks (including “cleaning up” the twangy taste of “green beer”), bulk chill the beer to below 40°F. Assuming you’ve done everything correctly to this point, the beer should drop clear very quickly.
Sample. The beer is ready when it tastes good. If it’s bready, yeasty, cloudy, chunky, twangy, too bitter, unrefined, etc, it’s not ready. If it’s clear and tastes good, keg it.
Force carbonate. Chill the beer to less than 40°F (it’s already there if you cold crashed), set the CO2 at 30 psi, and start shaking the keg. Every 2-3 minutes, carefully bleed the pressure and pour a sample. It should only take two or three iterations before you have perfectly carbonated beer.
Know when aging is appropriate. Big flavors, big beers, lagers, etc need time. Let them have it. Brew a quick ale in the meantime.
Practice makes perfect. Brew more. Do I have to twist your arm?
But, I bottle condition my beer! Well, my friend, you have to wait an extra 2-3 weeks. There’s no getting around that. Yeast work slowly when under pressure in an alcoholic environment. Patience is still a virtue.
Proof (you’ll have to take me at my word for now): I’ve got a STOUT on tap that was brewed exactly two weeks ago. It’s clear, clean, and tasty. Friends came over yesterday and claimed that it’s one of the best stouts they’ve ever had. My buddy’s wife said, “I usually dislike dark beer like this, but yours is fantastic!”
Discuss.
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Hope you haven’t given up on us.
