Brewing for a party on a deadline.

Brewing Processes
1

So, we’re having a big party on the 19th of this month. I already have a couple of beers close to being ready to keg, and then bottle, but I need 2 beers for the kegerator and I’m worried I wont have enough time. I decided to brew a 1.038 mild for one tap, which I think I can get into a keg pretty quickly at that gravity and using 002 which clears pretty quick for me. The rub is I have a couple of dear friends coming that LOVE IPA and I don’t have any on hand. I can’t brew until friday afternoon (the 5th) and I need it in the keg and ready to serve on the 19th.

Two questions: a) can it be done, and b) do you have any suggestions as far as process or recipe that can help me get it done in time. The beer I have in mind is a RR Blind Pig clone at 1/057 OG.

Any help MUCH appreciated.

2

The advice I can give is brew a low gravity wheat and go buy some good examples of craft brew IPAs.  I wouldn’t try to get an IPA done in the time frame you have.

Paul

3

Do you care if it’s cloudy?  At 1.057, I’d go for it. I normally have beer done in 2 weeks at the OG. But you’d need a big pitch of yeast, ferment as close to 68 as you can, dry hop on day 9, keg on day 13 and pump up the C02. It won’t be clear and it’ll taste pretty green.

4

I’ve got good temp control and can make a starter tonight, so neither of those are an issue. Cloudy I don’t like, but in that time frame unavoidable I’m sure, esp with a dry hop. Maybe I should switch gears and do something smaller.

5

+1 to gmac with a slight variation.  I’d bring the gravity down a bit and shoot for more of an APA.  Big pitch, ferment 68-70F with 1056, no dry hop but BIG aroma addition, crash cool 2 days before party, keg the day before the party, hook up C02 and rock until carbed, let settle overnight, take the first 2-3 glasses with trub out and you are good to go!

Dave

6

You can always use 002 on your IPA to get it to drop quicker. Maybe bump up your hop additions/IBU’s slightly to account for whatever the 002 may pull out when it drops.

7

[quote] I’d bring the gravity down a bit and shoot for more of an APA.
[/quote]

Awesome idea, and I’d do it but I have a Rye Pale Ale ready to go. I think thats going to have to suffice for the hopheads. Poor planning on my end.

Any suggestions for something quick other than APA or IPA? I’m doing a mild, already have robust porter, rye pale, and esb. No wheat beer fans coming

8

Only other thought would be a Blonde or Cream Ale.  Simple malt profile and minimal IBU’s.  I’d go for the APA personally.

Dave

9

For my tastes, that list is sorely lacking any Belgian-style ales. You could easily do a lower-gravity Tripel on a two-week turnaround.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to do an IPA on that timeframe either, though. At 1.057 OG, it should hit FG after 4-5 days. That leaves 5-7 days for a dry hop and still 2-3 days to crash/fine.

10

[quote]Only other thought would be a Blonde or Cream Ale.  Simple malt profile and minimal IBU’s.  I’d go for the APA personally.
[/quote]

After some thought, the Rye is a pretty balanced beer, so I don’t think it would be to redundant to do the APA with a big late addition and no DH. I’ve got a recipe I like, I’ll scale it down to 1.050 and post it here.

[quote]For my tastes, that list is sorely lacking any Belgian-style ales. You could easily do a lower-gravity Tripel on a two-week turnaround.
[/quote]

I have ZERO experience brewing Belgian styles, or I would Sean. Also, I only have one fridge with temp control and the mild will be in there at 68, don’t the Belgian strains like more heat than that?

11

After some thought, the Rye is a pretty balanced beer, so I don’t think it would be to redundant to do the APA with a big late addition and no DH. I’ve got a recipe I like, I’ll scale it down to 1.050 and post it here.

[quote]For my tastes, that list is sorely lacking any Belgian-style ales. You could easily do a lower-gravity Tripel on a two-week turnaround.
[/quote]

I have ZERO experience brewing Belgian styles, or I would Sean. Also, I only have one fridge with temp control and the mild will be in there at 68, don’t the Belgian strains like more heat than that?

[/quote]

belgian yeast will be fine at 68. do a belgian golden ale. or triple like sean suggests. I was thinking the same thing as him. lots of british styles but something really different would be nice if you are not feeling the malty/roasty/hoppy trio.

12

[quote]I was thinking the same thing as him. lots of british styles but something really different would be nice if you are not feeling the malty/roasty/hoppy trio.
[/quote]

If I were just brewing for me, I’d go that route for sure. Trying to keep the hopheads happy, rest of the crowd are all big fans of the english styles.

I’m thinkin I’ll go with this. Basically McDoles APA scaled to 1.050 with the dry hop added to the original flameout additions:

7 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row 
2 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsen Malt 2-Row
14.0 oz Carapils
8.0 oz Wheat Malt
7.0 oz Caramel Malt - 40L

0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min
0.25 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min
0.25 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min

Mash at 154
WLP001
Should be 35ish IBU’s and about 1.050

Look good?

13

Looks like a winner to me!  Good luck!

14

Thanks for the help guys. I was starting to panic a bit there

15

I have to give all the credit to BierMuncher from HBT on this recipe, as I’ve made it 3 times now.  It’s a very simple, quick, and delicious brew that will satisfy both the craft beer drinkers and also the BMC crowd.  I brewed this too for my brother in law’s wedding and it was a hit at the party!  Just make sure to make a yeast starter so it really goes to work with such a short deadline.  Also, I woulod carbonate rapidly by turning the gas up to 30 PSI, give it a cold shake for about ten minutes and hold at that pressure until turnout which is just a couple days after kegging.  Just burp the keg prior to serving at proper PSI (12 PSI for me) so that you don’t ruin your CO2 regulator.

I’ve been tweaking a house ale recipe for a few months now and this is it. This is the recipe that will be a permanent fixture at my house. I’ve brewed it twice, served the first 10 gallons to friends, families and “curious on-lookers”, and just finished the second 10 gallon batch with identical results.

Light and crisp. The IBU’s are on the low side, but there is a nice sweet/spicy balance to the beer. The great fresh taste of a craft ale with an extremely clean finish. This reminds me of what a local craft brewery might come out of the gates with to win over a new market. Very drinkable with wide appeal. I’ve yet to have anyone, even BMC drinkers not say it’s one of the best beers they’ve tasted….period. The secret lies in the name. I moved through Northern Brewer, Nugget and Pearle hops, all in combination with Cascade. Even went with a strict Cascade hop bill, but was just a bit on the tart side for this lighter grain bill.

Once I matched up Centennial as the bittering hop and Cascade as a flavor/aroma hop…that’s when the magic happened.

This is also a simple, hard to screw up recipe. At just around 4%, this is a quaffer. Due to the lighter grain bill…this is easily a beer that can go from grain to glass in 2 weeks (if you keg).

10-Gallon Batch
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.69 gal
Estimated OG: 1.039 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:

14.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.25 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.50 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.50 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)

5 Gallon Batch

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:

Amount
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)

Mash at 150 degrees for 60 minutes.

16

Bought my grains and yeast last night, the LHBS had WLP090. I’ve never used it but it’s supposed to have a similar profile to 001 and floc better. Figured wth, it’s worth trying it out on this APA

17

Good luck!  Let us know how it turns out.

Dave

18

This looks awesome!  I might brew this real soon.  May I ask why notty tho as opposed to 001/us05? Does it bump up the maltiness or give it a light tart edge?  I just had an awful experience w s-04 is why I ask.

19

Just an update. The APA I pitched with 090, 5 days in looks done and the yeast has dropped like a stone. In spite of all the hops I didn’t end up needing a blow off rig as I surely would have with 001 (at least in my experience with it).

Liking this yeast so far.

20

Never used the 090, may have to try it.  Keep us posted on the results.

Dave