Beer ready in 2 wks! WTF?

[phildo79]

So here is a breakdown of what happened:

15/11/18 - Brewed a 7.5% Citra IPA
16/11/18 - Pitched yeast
24/11/18 - Kegged 19 litres and had enough left over for 3 x Grolsch bottles
01/12/18 - Stuck one of the bottles in the fridge for a taste test

O.M.F**K! This tastes great. I mean, seriously, I'd be well happy if I got served this in a pub.
It smells amazing. The mouthfeel is amazing (it's like drinking a bottle of Morgan Freeman's voice). Carbonation seems good. I am struggling to find fault with it. Whilst I do believe it will be even better in another week, I still can't quite believe how good it is after only 16 days.

Have any of you boys experienced this from a beer so soon?

I've tried beers early in the past and they have always been, 'just not quite ready', at best. The reason why I tried this so early, is because I have brewed a couple of Citra IPA's in the past. The last one I brewed, I tried after 9 days in the bottle and it was great. But I figured the extra week of dry hopping had something to do with that. I thought this one would be awful after such a short time (this IPA wasn't dry hopped) but curiosity got the better of me.

Is this a case of the Citra hop masking off flavours and making it seem ready before it actually is? I have not heard of hops doing this so would be intrigued by any FB from more learned members.

Slan

 

[simon12]

Sounds normal to me hoppy light beers are at there best very young.

 

[phildo79]

Incredibly short turn around though, no? Blows that 2-2-2 strategy out of the water a little bit.

 

[phildo79]

3

 

[phildo79]

And I wouldn't say 7.5% was light.

 

[simon12]

I mean't light in colour and I never made one that strong.

 

[LeeH]

The 2-2-2 is a rule of thumb for your average joe.

Brewery’s don’t take 6 weeks to get beer out of he door, same applies to AG home brewers that have their procedures nailed perfectly.

I’m not one of the above normally.

 

[Cwrw666]

Hop flavours and aromas fade with keeping. So if that's what you like drink your IPAs young.

 

[Sandimas]

I have been known to dip my glass into the FV....in fact with one small experimental brew it never came out of the FV.

But it is weird how some brews are just great straight off. Most of my recent ones are taking a while to come good.

 

[phildo79]

I generally package my beer as soon as possible. The yeast I use usually does the job in 4 days, max. Then 2 weeks later, they are good to drink. Occasionally an extra week is needed but that rarely happens. Never had one ready this early though.

 

[Hop To It]

What yeast are you using phildo79?

 

[phildo79]

Safale 04 (dry). I don't skimp when I'm pitching either. Think I used 24 grams for this batch but would normally use about 18 grams. It usually gets the gravity right down to target in 3 or 4 days.

 

[SkyBlue]

A little over 4 weeks ago I used all grain to brew the 60 Minute IPA from the Greg Hughes book. Left it in the fermenter for two weeks and a week after barrelling I tried it and was amazed at how well it tasted. It’s hit all the numbers so
I’m happy with the ABV. Will it get better if I leave it for a few weeks? Probably, but as a beer right now it tastes great so I don’t see anything wrong with just enjoying it. It also gives me another good reason to brew some more!!

Cheers!

 

[phildo79]

Hoppy beers like IPAs are best when they are fresh so whilst it may improve over the next few weeks, ultimately the flavour and aroma will start to fade. I'm a firm believer in drinking a beer as soon as it tastes good (I've been caught out in the past due to some bad advice). It'll take a while to get through a keg anyway, so it's a good way of spotting the difference over a period of a few weeks.

 

[Keruso]

I have a similar experience, I like to brew hoppy DIPA's, 1070+ so 7.5% or more. I use hop spiders so I don't need to cold crash so yeast will be in suspension waiting for the priming sugar. I add priming sugar and bottle and leave the bottles indoors at around 20c. After 5 days I get superb beer with good carbination, actually as some have already said the hoppy flavour starts to drop away over time so the best beer is the youngest.

 

[Honk]

Can't say I've ever followed the 2 2 2 rule, but I did have to change my timings when I started force carbonating my beers. When using priming sugar, I would regularly keg or bottle my beers after 1 week but found when force carbonating it's better to leave in primary a bit longer to give the yeast more clean up time, normally 2 weeks now which includes a few days cold crashing. I'm finding around 3 weeks now is a good time to start drinking a keg but some have improved over time.

 

[Lawrence22]

17 days is my quickest turnaround for an IPA that was kegged, and it was one of the best beers I have brewed.

 

[Harbey]

As the theme of drinking IPAs young keeps coming up, how long before they start to deteriorate would you say? It's unlikely to happen to many of mine before they get drunk but just as a guide.

 

[phildo79]

Good question. Like you say, I have never encountered this problem because they are always drank pretty quickly. I think the Youngs IPA and AAA kits state that they are ready to drink 3 months after bottling and should be drank within 4 weeks or they will start to fade. Yes, it's a kit so a little different, but a very good kit. Perhaps 1 month is the absolute optimum for hoppy beers? My mate brewed the Red India Ale, from Youngs, and it didn't half lose flavour around the 5 month period. To the point where you find yourself chucking half a pint down the sink. Seriously doubt my keg of 7.3% IPA will see beyond 4 weeks, so I have little to worry about....this time.

 

[Braindead]

For grain to glass on NEIPAs I usually go for 2 weeks max, thats why Im stressing that mines still fermenting after 11 days.
Usually kegged and carbed by now