I just kegged an IPA for a contest with entries due friday. Not a huge problem, I forced carbed most of the way right away and then will let it sit at ~20psi for a couple days before bottling. But of course that means I am tasting it now and it tastes yeast and gross and I just can’t imagine it getting good. I know it likely will (it’s a new recipe so, maybe not) but the waiting oh the waiting.
I have similar problems. Every time I keg I have to sample every day even though I know it is not carbonated and ready for drinking yet, but I just have to try it.
I also think “Hey, I should really make a starter for the batch I am brewing Saturday”. Then Friday comes along and I still have not even gotten my ingredients until 6:00 pm. I always end up telling myself “I will do it different next time”, but it never seems to happen.
The only problem with trying to quickly clear a beer in a keg is that you draw from the bottom ordinarily. Bet this case would be appropriate for one of those keg-widget thingies.
My experience is that every time I brew for a comp, the beer sucks. The times I do well are when I have a beer and think “wow, that’s damn good” and THEN enter.
I bet even when your beer “sucks” that it is pretty good. I agree, though, that timing is everything with competitions - it is something that can be planned for, but if the beer doesn’t totally round out for some reason, it is hard to justify sending it in…one of life’s dilemmas with such advance pre-registration being the way it is in some competitions. Being able to bottle and send on the basis of what you have on hand at the time is sometimes just a matter of all the planets being aligned in your favor. I just brewed a Flanders Red that I am hoping will be ready for blending for entry in next year’s NHC. Here’s hoping it works!
I know what you mean. I’m scrambling to get a beer ready for Club Night and a beer for an outdoor festival the week before. I going to brew both this Saturday.
I use Google Calendar as a way to plan and keep track of when I need to create a starter or etc. I usually work backwards form when I want it done to when I will start, setting reminders for things I need to do.
My real problem is that I keep deciding to enter contests that are two months away and I’m lucky to get to brew every other weekend. One year I made a calendar and brewed to the schedule the whole time and like Denny said, non of those beers turned out great. As much as I like to win contests I don’t seem to be able to brew a beer that’s totally to style and also really lights my fuse.
If that’s the case, stick with big beers that age well. If you have a stash of good barleywines and sours laying around, then you don’t need to worry so much about brewing to schedule.
Oh me too! most of the time that’s just what I do. And in fact the beers that have done best in contests are those that I brewed just for me or other loved ones.