All right speed racers… what’s the fastest you’ve ever turned a beer from tun to tap?
I’ve got an experiment going right now:
6 days to turn around a mild? Can it be done? I gave the beer a crap ton of yeast and a bunch of O2. - I think I can I think I can!
I think it was 4 days. I made a second runnings trashcan batch and used dry yeast. Appeared to have fermented out overnight and the hydrometer said it had. Moved to secondary and realized I could have it ready to serve at the club meeting. It was cloudy so I added gelatin to clear and crash cooled. Kegged the next day and carbonated. Served on day 4. Seemed like a roughly hopped wheat beer (much of the runnings making it were wheat). Had I waited another two weeks it would have mellowed, but where’s the fun in that?
I’ve done special bitters around 1.045 in ten days and I wasn’t really rushing anything. A 1.034 beer will get done fermenting really fast, and a nice British yeast should drop out quickly. Low carbonation shouldn’t be hard to achieve in a single day.
My only comment on the recipe is that I’ve never been satisfied with a sub-1.040 brew when I mash for a relatively dry product. I think I’d mash at 156F just to give it more body and sweetness.
What’s your hurry? 
What’s the rush? Southern California Homebrewers Festival!
And I’ve done my milds up at 156. Wasn’t that thrilled. Of course my milds almost always have an addition of oats or oat malt to it.
I did an ESB for a clone competition in 12 days, mostly because of the deadline and not having good weather to brew until the last minute. It was a clone of a local brewpub beer which according to the brewer is crash cooled after 4 days of fermentation. I used Ringwood and open-fermented to match his process, although I waited until day 7 to cool and start carbonating. The result? No diacetyl and a great malty flavor. I let another 5 gallons continue to age at room temperature in a secondary for another week, and it finished lower than I wanted and lacked some of the richness that I got in the first version. I’d generally never ferment a beer in a week, let alone a 1.065 ESB, but this one really turned out nice.
I should try this, I just typically do 2 weeks in the primary then 1 week in the keg.
Well, my first bach I bottled after 4 days… :-\
I’d be worried about serving young (possibly sub par) beer at a beer festival, but hey, maybe it’ll turn out okay. Good luck.
Keep us informed on how this turns out. This would be good to know like when my wife reminds me about a cookout that we’re having in a week and I need to whip up a quick batch.
I just tapped a blonde ale ten days after brewing. I don’t really like to carbonate at high pressure, though, so it was actually in the keg on day 6.
Don’t worry… if it isn’t up to snuff, it isn’t going. I’ve got plenty of other uses for the beer! This is more a test to see what’s possible.
I’ve turned it around in 7-10 days a few times, and need to have beer ready in 12 days that I haven’t brewed yet (and won’t today).
Kegged a Mild in 5 days- force carb and drinking the next. It was clear and tasty.
Amazing…
I wonder if there really are only a few styles that work well doing this. Probably an oatmeal stout wouldn’t be good with a 5-7 day turn around, no? Maybe a pale?
4 weeks is my quickie so far after 9 or so beers made
I have gone from grain to glass in 8 days for a mild. A big dose of flocculant yeast is one thing you want, but Drew knows that. Keg on day 7 and force carbonate.
I’ve made a Pale Ale on Sunday and served it the next Saturday. If you have enough yeast it should be no problem.
Just so everyone doesn’t think I’m completely mad. One of the best beers I’ve had was done by MB Raines (aka the Beer Diva) and was an Irish Dry Stout that was kegged and served on the 4th day.
Just make sure you are not first. After 10 or 12 samples who cares what it taste like 