Fermentation - in fridge and then out

[donald_trub]

Hi guys,

Now that I've bought myself a 3 tap kegerator, I need to get brews happening initially as fast as possible.

When bottling I was usually doing about 3 - 4 weeks in the fermentation fridge before bottling. I want to get beers in kegs quickly, so only initially I was thinking of fermenting my next beer for 1 week in the fridge before moving to keg and leaving at room temp for 'secondary' for another week, which will free up my fridge for another brew, and then cold crash in the keg, gelatin, carbonate etc on the first brew.

My question is, do you think the temperature is very critical during the second week of fermentation, assuming my gravity readings have been steady for a couple of days? I'm thinking ester production will be over and done with and I won't be doing much harm.

Your thoughts?

 

[Diesel80]

I would still go 2 weeks primary before kegging, or 7 days ferm temp, + 3 days @ +3 deg for d-rest and 4 days CC then keg. Assuming of course gravity has been reached by 7 days.

Under gas in the kegmate it will be like a cold crash, if set cold enough whilst under gas, probably wont need gelatine.

Don't rush just to fill up the keg fridge. 1 good keg, sh1ts over 2 average ones!

If you must look at filling it fast, I would expand your fermenter space instead. Brew double batches and ferment 2 at a time, Crash two at a time and then keg two at a time.
That way you can leave them longer and get them just right and still have enough on tap so to speak.

Cheers,
D80

 

[Blind Dog]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Agree that rushing the process is likely to increase the chances of brewing 'meh' beer and I personally like to leave beer in the original fermentor for a week or so post FG being reached (and stable for 3 days or so) to allow the yeast to clean up after itself and for the beer to start clearing That said, if the place outside the fermenting fridge is reasonably stable in temperature and not too warm (low to mid 20s tops), I'd be pretty happy to pull that fermentor out of the fridge to make way for a new brew, swapping them over when it had reached FG. I'd then CC and gelatine in the fermentor (back in the fridge) and rack to the keg once cleared.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Gelatine creates a fluffy residue that sits at the bottom of the vessel you've used, and is fairly easy to disturb if the keg is moved, so gelatine in a keg doesn't work for me. Racking to keg once the beer is clear and as much crap as possible has dropped out of suspension increases the amount of drinkable beer that's in the keg, reduces the chances of blocking the taps with crap and makes cleaning the keg easier (less crap in the keg, pickup tube and beer out post).[/SIZE]

 

[Rocker1986]

Does Isinglass create the same sort of fluffy residue as gelatine does? I've been using isinglass in the FV during CCing to drop out yeast before kegging and it has been working very well for this, I hardly get any sediment at all in the kegs. Up until this current batch, none of them has been large enough in volume to bother bottling the excess, so I guess I'll find out when I bottle these ones in 3 weeks time or so anyway whether the sediment turns into fluff or not. :lol:

 

[donald_trub]

Thanks guys, just to reiterate I'm not looking at doing this permanently, I'm just looking at a temporary way to streamline a couple of brews and get the keg fridge filled as quickly as possible. I don't want to be stuck in an endless loop where I'm drinking kegs faster than I can get them brewed! Getting a bigger fermentation fridge isn't on the cards either. I might try 10 or so days in primary, secondary in keg at room temp to vacate the fridge and proceed with the next beer. I can't see that hurting too much.

 

[Blind Dog]

Of course it also depends on the type of beer you're brewing. English milds and ordinary/best bitters (with flocculant yeasts) , hefeweizens and american wheats can all be turned around in 10 days or less, particularly if you're force carbonating in a keg. Hefes and to some extent american wheats also have the advantage that they dont need to be clear when served. You can sub the English hops in a bitter for New World hops, if that suits your palette better. As gravities and hopping increases, so does the time to brew and condition properly. And some beers just need time no matter what. You could always brew a couple of quick turnaround beers to get you going and then revert to a 'normal' brewing schedule.

 

[manticle]

Your issue is not just temp (yes high temps early will lead to higher levels of less desirable compounds but stable temps preferred). It is also rushing off the cake into the keg which may see elevated levels of acetaldehyde.
You might get away with it if you pitch really high numbers of very healthy yeast.
Personally I'd brew a couple of quick keg fillers that naturally take less time - weizen and dark mild are 2 examples. Fill kegs, drink slow, back to normal regime (as per blind dog)

 

[donald_trub]

An English bitter isn't a bad idea. I've got some fuggles and EKG to use up, so that makes sense.

 

[earle]

Brew a saison or two, then you can ferment out of the fridge

 

[contrarian]

Yeast strain and beer style are important. Danster Nottingham is a really quick ferment and my go to yeast when I need to get a brew through quickly. Have used it for a range of pale ales around the 1.045 OG mark and it has often finished in 3 days and in the keg within 7.

It's not my normal practice but you can go grain to brain in 7 days with no major flaws.

Even without crash chilling or any other clearing agent my beer is normally bright in the keg within 2 weeks.

A hefe is another great option as above. Can easily get one through in a week and best drunk fresh.

In 3 weeks you can have 3 fulling kegs and relax a bit!

 

[wobbly]

Have a read of this article on fast ferments http://sciencebrewer.com/2011/11/09/grain-to-glass-in-twelve-days/
With SO4 your ferment can be finished in just two or three days

wobbly