r/Homebrewing • u/Flyingfongee • May 10 '26
Impatient brewer
Fellow homebrewers,
I was wondering which styles of beer are best to brew for impatient people like myself. I have been brewing some lagers recently and fermenting at warmer temps and have have been loving the results. However I notice by the time I drink the last beers of a batch, they always taste so much more mature and well rounded. I kick myself every time, telling myself I should just wait a month minimum before getting stuck in. But that’s just not realistic.
So the question to you all is: in your opinions, what beer styles, if they exist at all, are best consumed fresh/right away. A big no no are NEIPAS. I don’t like juice bombs. Open for everything else (I think!)
Best regards,
Flyer
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u/Hotchi_Motchi May 10 '26
A Scandinavian farmhouse ale with kveik yeast will be fermented out in like three days.
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u/Hairy_Astronomer1638 May 10 '26
Kveik and forced carbo will easily cut the homebrew time down substantially
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Fermenting time is not the issue, it’s the post bottling waiting time. I’d like to know if there are if any beer styles suited to super fresh consumption.
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u/_brewchef_ May 10 '26
If you don’t want to wait 1-2 weeks post-bottling (assuming it’s waiting for carbonation to build up in the bottle and not to age the brew) then kegging with forced carbonation is your best bet and you don’t necessarily have to choose a specific beer-type to do it
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Yeah I’m a bottler, I probably should have said that upfront
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u/_brewchef_ May 10 '26
Find a gas supplier near you to get CO2 and possibly a KPa/KPi pressure gauge because those can be a bit expensive depending on where you get them from but a few refurbished 1/5 barrel kegs with couplers are usually pretty easy and relatively cheap to get
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
I have a keg but I prefer the ease and simplicity of bottling. I have what i think is a very efficient method and maaaany swing top bottles, both 500ml and 1L
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u/NaughtyAudio May 10 '26
Yes but if you don't want to wait 2 weeks after bottling, you could keg and be ready in 1 to 3 days.
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u/_brewchef_ May 10 '26
Got it, then honestly the only way to “speed up” the post-bottling wait time is to brew beers that aren’t usually served at higher carbonations so you have to wait a shorter amount of time for them to carbonate like Stouts/Porters/Lambics/Barleywines/Old Ales
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u/patrick_swayzak May 10 '26
Unfortunately natural carbonation takes time. This process can be sped up if you ferment under pressure (this is my assumption, from what I have read, I personally do not do it). Kegging is the best option for quick turn around. I also recommend like others have mentioned to have a pipeline, that way you always have one ready. Would also recommend getting a wort chiller if you can.
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u/njals May 10 '26
Most styles benefit from aging. Good brewing practices will help with better overall flavour and taste, and yet aging will still improve the final product.
The best solution to aging is to start a pipeline, if you cannot wait. The pipeline allows you to age while consuming previous aged product. My preferred pipeline timing is two and half kegs roughly, so brewing my next batch when the current pouring keg hits about half empty so fermentation takes place during the two to three weeks it takes me to finish it, giving one full keg aged and ready to consume while the next two batches age. Depending on consumption that gives me two to three months of aging.
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Yep I thought this was probably the reality. I’ll do what I can to brew more often :)
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u/njals May 10 '26
Even if on your next brew day, you do two batches, or two days back to back or two consecutive weekend brews, once you have consumed the first or near finishing it you brew your next batch and then you should be able to keep yor regular brew cycle. Just need to get that initial buffer for aging going, it is just finding the time for that little extra work up front, that has that tasty pay off down the line with the finished product.
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u/Shills_for_fun May 10 '26
lol this is great advice. I don't drink a lager until another lager is in the keezer conditioning.
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u/davogiffo May 11 '26
I use a 70l fermenter and have 4 kegs. I can pretty much continuously brew primary (60l) and push into 3 kegs when they are empty. This gives me a good buffer (1keg) for unexpected demand, and otherwise just gives me better aged beer. I could tell when a keg was down to the last few beers based on how well it pours. I have recently switched to floating dip tubes, hoping to get that awesome finish throughout the entire keg. I'm just guessing here that it's due to the carbonation working from top down. The verdict isn't out yet. Theres still a fair bit of tasting required to be sure.
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u/Character-Bed-3198 May 11 '26
FlotIT 2.0 floating dip tubes are wonderful! I've got 7 kegs now with 'em. I get perfect pours top to bottom - when the keg blows it's only a couple ounces of cloudy beer. Trong makes fantastic products!
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u/dfitzger May 10 '26
Belgian Wit is a lovely style when fresh imo
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u/patrick_swayzak May 10 '26
You can brew most ales with Voss Kveik. “Done” in 5 days depending on fermentation temperature. They will not be to style, if you care, but it is an option
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u/Mayes041 May 10 '26
Was gonna say this. Love Kveik. Don't have to spend as much time chilling wort, just pitch that shit at 90 and let er' rip. Starts bubbling within like 6 hours, it's nuts. And like you said, ya it doesn't necessarily conform to a style. But brewing in a way thats satisfying to you is pretty important
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u/IblewupTARIS May 10 '26
Personally, I do no chill, and it’s really nice. I cut the heat for the boil, stick the kettle in my basement, and the next day I’ll transfer to the fermenter and pitch yeast.
I also like to do an overnight mash for some styles that I’m shooting for full attenuation.So Friday morning I collect water from my RO system. Friday night I finish collecting water (the RO system holds 3 gallons then goes to a trickle), grind grains, do my salts, and start the mash. I use a sous vide to hold temps pretty close to where I need them.
Saturday morning, I get up, start raising to mash out temp, brew a pot of coffee, and do my boil. Cut the heat at the end, and Sunday morning before church I move the wort to the fermenter and pitch yeast. For ales, I can usually keg the next Friday. I can usually drink it by the next Sunday evening.It’s a super lazy way to make beer, about an hour of work at a time, but I have ADHD, so it helps me enjoy brewing more and do it more when I’m at work 12 hours a day. I also won a people’s choice competition at a local festival this year doing this.
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u/Mayes041 May 10 '26
That's a pretty slick system there. I like it. I really need to think about how a brew and see if I can make it suit my schedule better
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u/iamcornholio2 May 10 '26
Extract, Kegging, Kveik, Conical! I used to make Northern Brewer's Exotic Tropical Wheat Wine extract kit with Hornindal Kveik. I usually used a simple wort chiller down to 90 degrees before pitching, then a heater to keep it around 95 degrees, and dropped the trub out the bottom a few days before kegging. All-in-all, it's easier than making a vat of chili ;)
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u/EverlongMarigold May 10 '26
Yeah man, this is the way... I typically do a Friday mash/ boil and transfer on Saturday, but I have also done the 3 day "brew day" as well.
It's been a game changer for me.
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u/IblewupTARIS May 10 '26
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to get it all done in one day, but I don’t have a chiller, and getting several pounds of ice and stirring the wort for several hours gets old quick. Not to mention I do it all on my stove/with a sous vide, so getting up to temp is very slow too.
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u/EverlongMarigold May 10 '26
Agreed. I'm not keen on running gallons and gallons of water through my wort chiller, when I can just let it sit.
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Yeah I also can’t justify it for several reasons. I’ve found asking as I’m clean and can hold a steady fermentation temp, the result is at the very, very least acceptable. I’m in the process of frankensteining an old fridge into a fermentation chamber and dipping my toes into water chem!
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u/EverlongMarigold May 10 '26
Water Chem is another good step. Do you have consistent source water? Are you brewing with extract, all grain, or BIAB?
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u/Flyingfongee May 11 '26
All grain BIAB and my water is hard. I’ve already ordered the basics and now it’s just learning how to use them effectively.
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u/EverlongMarigold May 11 '26
Have you tried any of the brewing software? Brewfather is my go to. Others will have different recommendations
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Your Method is almost exactly what I’m trying to dial in. I’m a no chill bottler with a very primitive biab setup. I enjoy the analogue hands on style! I plan to try an overnight mash in the near future too, looking foward to it! Also just starting my descent into water modification! The sous vide for the overnight sounds great. I have an electric tea boiler but I don’t trust the temp gauge so I usually sit there next to the kettle with a thermometer and stir occasionally. I too have long manual work days, so using your methods I will spread out the workload while still enjoying the process and having time for other activities. I appreciate your response!
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Fermentation times are why they are that doesn’t phase me, it’s the post packaging/conditoning time that I’m interested in
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u/patrick_swayzak May 10 '26
Conditioning time is relatively the same. Sure, you can drink it at day 7, but it will taste better as it matures.
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u/dan_scott_ May 10 '26
I feel like kveik also matures faster; I use Lultra for cider and it's got apple flavor at 2 months that takes any other yeast I've used at least 4 months to develop.
That said, the key to brewing with Kveik (IMHO) is nutrient. That "Kveik twang" people talk about, in my experience, goes away with appropriate nutrient additions (I use Fermaid-O).
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Nice thanks for info, I have some kweik Voss and wanted to try out a really hot fermented ale this summer. Nice to know it could condition quicker too :) I saw a doco about Norwegian homebrewers using their stains of yeast, and they mashed overnight, didn’t chill and drank it seemingly young.
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u/dan_scott_ May 10 '26
Farmhouse brews like that, they are intentionally going for a brew with all the extra funk and esters it'll give; like a saison but even more so I think. If you're trying to use a Kveik for a more typical lager or ale style, you want to use more traditional techniques or you'll get all those extra flavors that you likely don't want.
But you can get very solid pseudolager or ale results running Kveik lutra + nutrient in the 75-90 range, and treating it as a normal brew otherwise - it's just going to finish fermenting a LOT faster (and it will be very aggressive, so leave a lot of head space) and I would expect them to clean up after fermentation a fair bit quicker as well (especially if you warm them into that 80-90 range for conditioning).
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u/PaleoHumulus May 10 '26
This may or may not be feasible, but you can just brew more, so you have more backlog, and then the backlog can condition while you drink the other stuff. (this has done wonders for my lagers!)
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u/Mammoth-Record-7786 May 10 '26
A customer came in right after we opened once and really wanted to start Homebrewing, he asked tons of questions, and seemed like he was about to go home with his new purchases and start brewing beer.
He came back just before close that day to tell us that he thought something was wrong. Him and his friends drank the “beer,” but it tasted weird, and didn’t get them buzzed.
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u/AD_On_Beer Nordeast Brewers Alliance May 10 '26
I suggest just brewing more frequently. That way you can be enjoying the previous beers while your other beers mature.
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u/Rawlus May 10 '26
waiting a month is not realistic?
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
For me no, I’m just too impatient. I can’t help myself. I walk past the bottles every day and my curiosity just gets the better of me!
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u/BartholomewSchneider May 10 '26
You could brew more often too, so you always have beer that’s been maturing for a month or more.
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u/gregthomas02 May 10 '26
Almost anything low alcohol is good fresh and young. 3.5% English Mild or Bitter, American Pale Ale 5% or under, German or Belgian Wheat beers. When I make a big beer I remash the grain and make a small beer, usually about 3.5% very dry and light bodied, refreshing "lawn mower" beer. I drink that while the bigger beer is conditioning and ageing. That being said I just tapped a Belgian wheat thats been sitting in my basement for 5 years, its fantastic...
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Wow, yes well I usually brew around 4% beers anyway, so maybe that’s on the right track, but the styles u suggested I will definitely have go at. I LOVE german wheat beers but usually like one or two to scratch the itch then I’m a bit over it. I And where i live I can always get them well priced and with huge variety so no interest in brewing them. But the Belgian ones definitely!! How do English ales fare when they’re carbonated? When I was in the UK I just couldn’t be swayed by the lack of carbonation. Maybe an English bitter with carbonation would be nice. I think these styles plus having a „pipeline“ I.e. brewing more often is the answer!
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u/gregthomas02 May 10 '26
When I make English bitter and mild I carbonate it just like everything else I make. I like to pour it through a stout faucet with beer gas (75% nitrogen, 25% CO2), the same way draft Guiness is served. This does knock some carbonation out of the beer. Theres no reason you can't pour it through a normal beer faucet with straight CO2 if thats what you like. Either way low alcohol English pub ale is my favorite.
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Im a hardcore bottler so maybe I’ll just try a low volume priming sugar solution
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u/yorptune May 10 '26
Even NEIPA which is generally considered to be best drunk ASAP doesn’t really taste best until about 2-3 weeks after racking.
My bet is that many styles are drinkable (and even tasty) near the end of fermentation but you’ll still feel that the last glass tastes best.
Patience is a virtue on this one unfortunately.
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Yes I thought this would be the case. And as i said, they definitely are tasty after a week or two after bottling, but the last 5-6 500ml bottle always tastes by far the best. I also considered just brewing more frequently so that I’m distracted by the new project. If only free time flowed from taps!
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u/lookmumnohandschrash May 10 '26
Planning Is you friend. Just brew beers before you're ready to drink them so they have time to condition.
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u/timscream1 May 10 '26
Have you considered session beers? You can get tasty beers in a week, even without kveik.
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u/spoonman59 May 10 '26
The secret that works for me: brew 10 gallons.
By the time the first keg is finished, the second keg is beautifully aged!
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
A great simple idea actually, but I just don’t have the setup for such a big batch. Hopefully in the future :)
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u/spoonman59 May 10 '26
So most of my beers are pretty good within a week or two. Recently I did an Irish red, American pale, and pilsner were all tasty on day one. That’s not to say they weren’t even better after a few weeks….
I kegged on day 10, and served on day 13.
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u/Flyingfongee May 11 '26
Yeah I mean most of my beers are tasty and I’m pretty happy with them after a week in the bottles. It’s just they’re so much better by the end of the batch (usually 3 weeks). That’s why I’ll probably just end up brewing more hopefully and have more beer just sitting around conditioning.
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u/spoonman59 May 11 '26
Absolutely! The only other alternative is to just…. Wait.
That’s never worked for me, so let me know if you figure it out!
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u/Dogs_LOR May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Cutting matureing time can done but just from a microbiologically and biochemical view , you might want to keep it in the range for each style. Depending on the your contents of your wort( alc, ibus, dextrines,aa,fats) the yeast just needs time without being stressed. You can also split the batch after the Fermentation and have part of it mature for longer
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u/padgettish May 10 '26
The real answer is: bigger staggered batches. You don't need faster beer, you need a pipeline so you have beer to drink while another batch ages.
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Yep I thought this would be the reality. I think i just don’t want to accept that fact :). But I will. And like u said and others I’ll just try and brew more frequently (pipeline - learnt that today) and maybe try out some other suggestions out of interdtnlikena saison, witbier or mid-strength
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u/Electronic-Yellow-87 May 10 '26
All the recipes you get here will be more interspersed when they are matured. Just make more beer and learn how to be patient ;)
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u/boarshead72 Yeast Whisperer May 10 '26
You’re a bottler like me, so you’re stuck with the 2 to (at my house) 3 week carbonation period. After that, to speed up time until it tastes right to me, I store all of the bottles in the fridge. Time until ideal taste for me varies by yeast strain: some English strains are good to go almost immediately (like 007); lager strains are in the 4-6 week range; US05 is around 5 weeks (Chico cultured from SNPA is quicker); powdery strains like 029 or 644 take about 6 weeks. This is all according to my palate… I don’t like drinking yeast.
Try a hyper-flocculant English strain if you want your beer to taste ready quicker. Also try to store the bottles cold if you have the space.
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u/Flyingfongee May 11 '26
Nice advice thanks alot. I guess I’ll put the crates for conditioning out of sight and mind in the basement. Cool stable temps there, however without a fridge. Should do the trick though
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u/EducationalDog9100 May 10 '26
Hefeweizens and Witbiers are my go to styles for quick turn arounds, styles that are often meant to be drank young to keep their complexity.
Though I also agree with the beer pipeline. Having something ready when the kegs kick is a game changer.
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u/JoystickMonkey May 10 '26
I made a pale ale with s-04 yeast a while back and it was pretty clean and mature after two weeks in the keg. Nice and clean, easy drinker.
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u/slugger77 Intermediate May 11 '26
+1 for just brewing more beer and letting the pipeline take longer inbetween waiting for maturation.
Something i also do is brew an ale every now and then. I can get it fermented and in a keg drinkable in around 2 weeks and it really starts hitting the spot around 3 weeks. That gives me a distraction from my lagers that need some time.
Ive also started buying more kegs soo i can fill more kegs and it will take longer to get through the beer giving it enough time.
Also brewing larger batches also helps. Roughly the same effort, double the beer.
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u/Flyingfongee May 11 '26
Bigger batches would be great I’m just limited by equipment for the time being. One day though :)
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u/slugger77 Intermediate May 12 '26
I have never done this next suggestion but if you have the fermenter space you could try brewing a stronger beer and then diluting it in the fermenters to increase your volume
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u/boookworm0367 May 10 '26
Hefeweizen - Hefeweizen typically takes only 7-10 days to fully ferment, if that.
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u/bskzoo BJCP May 10 '26
I just fermented out a table saison with DuPont yeast in 3 days at like 85F or so. Smells amazing fresh and is incredibly drinkable at like 4%ish ABV.
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
Yeah I might give this a go too! From my research I was thinking that’s probably a good bet. Farmers beers…I’m assuming they were thirsty back in the day and did quick turn arounds!
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u/Lil_Shanties May 10 '26
I’m gonna second the Belgian Wit. Helpful hint is if you like the citrusy notes of a wit it’s more often from coriander than fruit peel, the fruit peel steers what fruit you think it is but the coriander is pulling a lot of the base citrus notes.
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u/drluisluis May 10 '26
Lallemands novalager is a good quick fix for a lager while you wait for a real lager to finish xD
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u/CoolHandMike May 10 '26
Bavarian Hefe can go from grain to glass in under two weeks if done right. :)
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u/Flyingfongee May 10 '26
I have to finish my fermentation chamber first, but I will definitely try this
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u/CoolHandMike May 11 '26
Might want to invest in a big blow off tube. Fermenting hefe's have a tendency to be very vigorous. I use a 1.25" OD vinyl tube (which fits a standard glass carboy perfectly), about 4' long, and I run it into a bucket of Star San next to the fermentor.
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u/georage May 10 '26
Wheat beer with Voss kveik can go from grain to glass in a week if you keg/force carb.
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u/deckerhand0 May 10 '26
Pale ales old school ipa’s that’s less juice think dogfish 60 min ipa. Farm house ales. I mean any beer you can do what you’re requesting. Just finish them before the month point.
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u/blizzzbrz May 10 '26
IPAs in general won’t benefit much from aging, are you opposed to west coast style too? a Simple pale ale you can brewed and kegged within a couple weeks if need be
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u/Character-Bed-3198 May 11 '26
I feel your pain about waiting for bottles to mature. I always hated bottling - found it tedious and a space hog. Now I keg & force carb, I have a 3 faucet home bar with two kegerators - one for servicing the faucets and one for conditioning kegs . The fastest recipe I brew is BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde Ale - 12 days grain to glass. That said, I hooked up a fresh keg of it last night that had been conditioning for 23 days. Crystal clear with no gelatin fining and DEFINITELY tastier thanks to time!
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u/Flyingfongee May 11 '26
Yeah I actually like bottling lol. But yeah I think time is important, so I guess I’ll just brew more regularly.
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u/Financial_Wall_5893 May 11 '26
Use a kveik yeast.
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u/Flyingfongee May 11 '26
For me fermentation times aren’t the issue, i accept them cos i Kind of have to. I’ve brewed with kweik in the past and even though it ferments quickly, the bottle conditioning still takes time I’ve found. It’s the post bottling waiting time for peak enjoyment.
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u/phase172 May 12 '26
Bigger batches! I do split batches. So one 5gal lagers while I drink other. Or brew every time you tap a keg so always have one coming
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u/Alternative-Ad-2312 May 13 '26
A hazy/juicy IPA.
I'm guessing you're stateside, but when I just want to get something on the go (I'm in the UK), that'll just need 2 weeks in a bottle before I can drink the whole lot.. I'll buy an all grain kit for ease and then 5 weeks later (3 fermenting, 2 bottle conditioning) and it's ready to go.
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u/outlaw2019 May 13 '26
Lutra is pretty clean for a kveik. Most kveiks finish pH is low. Another idea is a warm ferment with 34/70 under pressure. Nothing will be faster than a 35C kveik ferment but they do have a unique flavour profile. Want something cleaner try the warmer 20C 34/70 and 15 psi pressure if you can do it.
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u/Herr-Charles-D-Ward May 15 '26
Kveik ales.
I had a standard kveik (non-hazy) IPA recipe of 85% Maris Otter and 15% Crystal 20 (adjust for your taste) and would just swap out the kveiks and hops between batches.
Likewise, making yeast starters should help you shave off some time.
Basically, I think you’re looking for pale and low ABV. Darker and stronger will take longer.
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u/Interesting_Ring_761 May 10 '26
Brew more often so there’s always a batch in the pipeline.