Instant gratification required

[Tippler]

For various reasons (but mostly bad planning and losing a barrel to oxidisation) I have run out of drinkable beer while I'm waiting for the next batches to finish. Any suggestions for a decent mild or bitter that I can get ready quickly?

[Befuddler]

Make a hefeweizen. You'll be drinking it within a week.

[boingy]

You're not going to beat something like a Cooper's kit for quickly drinkable.

For all-grain brew something dark and not too strong.

[seymour]

I can't stop drinking this dark mild I made recently. It tasted great straight from the fermentor, and just keeps getting better. If you have some nuts (walnuts, chestnuts...whatever), then toast 'em and crumble a small handful into the mash. If not, skip it, no worries.

Barney has posted some great mild recipes, too.

SEYMOUR BLACK WALNUT MILD
all-grain recipe

6 US Gallons = 5 Imperial Gallons = 22.7 Litres

FERMENTABLES:
81% = 6.32 lb = 2.87 kg, Mild Ale Malt (or Pale, if you must)
5% = .39 lb = 177 g, Crystal Malt 80°L
3% = .23 lb = 105 g, Black Malt (I suspect substituting Brown or Chocolate Malt would be even tastier in the early days)
3% = .23 lb = 105 g, Steel-Cut Oats
8% = .62 lb = 283 g, Dark Invert Syrup (made from first-runnings & brown cane sugar)
+ small handful chopped, toasted black walnuts and a pinch of calcium carbonate in mash.

STRIKE 7.79 lb/3.54 kg grains ≈ 63°F/17°C with 3.5 US gal/2.9 Imp gal/13.2 L water ≈ 162°F/72°

MASH ≈ 152.6°F/67°C 60 minutes or until converted.

DRAIN a couple pints of first-runnings into a pot, add brown sugar, a couple drops lime juice, boil-down to a dark invert syrup, eventually add to main boil.

SPARGE ≈ 170°F/76.7°C

BOIL 90 minutes, add a pinch of gypsum.

HOPS:
.34 oz = 9.6 g, Progress, pellets, 8% AA, 90 minutes
.34 oz = 9.6 g, Challenger, pellets, 6.3% AA, 90 minutes
.41 oz = 11.3 g, Progress, pellets, 8% AA, 15 minutes, steep until cooled
.41 oz = 11.3 g, Challenger, pellets, 6.3% AA, 15 minutes, steep until cooled

YEAST:
Fullers strain, ferment at 70°F/21°C

STATS assume 83% mash efficiency and 72% yeast attenuation:
OG: 1.041
FG: 1.011
ABV: 3.9%
IBU: 22
COLOUR: 16°SRM/31.5°EBC

[darkonnis]

Wilkinsons do the kits, I did the copper IPA (or copper mild whatever its called) and added more hops, turn the temp up to about 24 and you'll be done in a week nice steady ale with the extra hops to hide any harshness thats caused through such a rapid fermentation.

Or as Beffuddler says, his suggestion will go really well most like!

Cooky

[Tippler]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I can't get hold of the ingredients for a hefeweizen quite yet, but it's definitely on my list for the summer, so I shall have a go at Seymore's mild as I seem to have the makings of that (might have to see if there's any nuts left over from Christmas!). But as a general strategy, I think the idea of keeping a kit in stock is an excellent idea.

[Derby Dabbler]

I find that pale, low bitterness beers are ready to drink quickest, something along the lines of pure pale malt, 10-15g of post boil hops. Make sure the IBU target is 15-20 and you'll be able to drink it at about 14-21 days. This is after all what a commercial brewery does!

It helps if you can chill to 0c or similar on day 10 to drop the yeast out but this is purely cosmetic, alternatively if its going to be drunk over the next 4 weeks add some isinglass to the barrel and away you go.

In my own very limited experience of kits, they actually take longer to settle down to something nice tasting, probably because of all the oddities of producing such a concentrated wort. It can't be good for all those organic chemicals and rather akin to the huge changes in flavour that pasteurising beer causes on the bottled versus cask beer.

Most commercial cask beer, as far as I can tell, is consumed at 2-3 weeks of age. Hence proper home craft brew often being better! They'd love to age their beer but space and time costs too much money.

[dedken]

Definitely keep a kit in stock for emergency brewing - I've ended up doing a few partial mash brews late at night as a result of having a kit handy. Some of them have turned out excellent.