Cube to Keg in 4 days?

[weizgei]

As a few of you know, I'm in a bit of a rush to fill my new kegs in time for "draft day" at my place for the fantasy footy comp I run with a bunch of mates.

So after brewing a Kolsch first, as it needs a month to lager, I decided to "cheat" on the 2nd beer and grab a fresh wort kit. So I bought the Bavarian Weizen FWK, and as soon as the Kolsch was out of the fermentation fridge and into the crash chill fridge, I pitched a 3068 starter I'd been preparing ahead of time.

I've done quite a few weizen styles before, and they always ferment actively and quickly, especially with 3068. But this brew had a fantastic krausen within about 8 hours of pitching, and I had to regularly 'burp' the gladwrap every few hours to prevent it exploding off the top of the fermenter. Within 3 days, it was down from 1051 to 1014, and the next morning it was at 1010. That night (last night) it was still 1010, and the krausen has pretty much completely dropped back. I fermented at 17C, under-pitched the 3068 at a rate of about 70% of 'optimal' for an ale, and aerated the wort pretty well when transferring from the cube to the fermenter.

I was confident I could have kegged this beer last night, and only didn't 'coz I got caught up with the pork shoulder I'd been cooking in my smoker all day yesterday (it didn't finish until midnight). Has anyone else had a beer go from kettle (or cube) to keg (or bottle) in 4 days?? Most beers of course I wouldn't dream of transferring straight to the keg from the fermenter, but I like my wheat beers cloudy, so never secondary or crash chill them. And if I was bottling I might give it another day or two just to make sure the gravity didn't drop any further. This beer already smells and tastes great, lots of banana esters, which I've struggled to get out of my own weizens. Interestingly too the beer had a LOT of co2 in it while taking my samples. I normally get a few mm of froth at the top of my hydrometer tube, but this thing was pouring at least 5 or 6cm of head, so much so that my hydro could hardly get off the bottom of the sample tube. Lots of co2 bubbles madly rising to the surface too. It got to the stage where I had to pour the hydro sample from jar to jar to get most of the co2 out of it, before taking the gravity reading. I'm wondering if the gladwrap stopped much of the co2 from getting out? Although I've done quite a few beers with the gladwrap method, and haven't seen a head like that during fermentation.

[Pogierob]

I have never done this but I can't see why you couldn't.
Keg the beer, purge the o2 out with co2 and then let it condition at room temp for another week before carbing up properly, I would be guessing you would need to maintain some form of pressure to keep nasties out over that period.
Or perhaps drop it into the fridge for a sort of crash chill.

4 days is the fastest fermentation I have heard of but it leaves no time for the yeast to do its clean up.

I guess it comes comes down to how much of hurry you are in.

I'd offer a spare fermenter but mine are full right now with a waiting list after Sunday.

[weizgei]

Yeah as I say, I can't think of any other yeasts I'd be comfortable with kegging/bottling so quickly. 3068 is such a low floccer though that a lot of it will still be in suspension, which is just how I like it, and will also allow the beer to condition further in the keg. Not that I think it needs it, it's the best tasting hefe I've fermented to date, got a LOT of schoffer about it. I wonder if G&G give away their FWK recipes?? Would love to know how they mashed it.

I'm guessing they make their FWK's in their whopping great braumeister...

[drsmurto]

A low gravity English mild could be done in 4 days with a high floccing yeast like Ringwood.

[weizgei]

Fully carbed as of tonight, after nearly 2 days at 30psi. Tastes great, so it's gone from cube to glass in 7 days.