[SWhite6124]

Hi. I bought a homebrew kit six months ago and have had 2 goes at making a bitter and another one at a lager. The end result is drinkable but does not seem to have much life to it. During the first process it does not seem to get much of a crust on. I then transfer it into a pressure barrel with a screw on cap but the end result seems the same. Any ideas ?

[DaveJNeal]

hey there,

if using an airlock, did it bubble ?

could have been that the yeast didn't activate ( it s old, the mix was too cold, not enough sugar in the mix ) or the yeast was dead when thrown ( traces of sterlizer in the mix, or too hot when thrown ).

if you did get bubbling, how long did it bubble for and how long between the bubbling stopping and you transfering to the pressure vessel ? any 'bubbling' duration of under a week and I'd personally have put in another throw of yeast and see what happened.

then, when you move to the pressure container, good and primed ? nicely sealed o ring to keep the pressure in ?

other thinks to look out on are 'bad' yeasts getting into your mix ( any sulphurous smells or other bad odours ? ).

must admit, I've yet to do a good lager - not sure if the kits I have are all barley rather than the rice based ingredients of the Americans beers or it the water's not quite right. they usually come out a bit over sweet but the boy seems to enjoy them, and I'm happily more of an ale/bitter drinker so all good :-)

best of luck, try and try again and you'll be well happy once you've doen a good one. hands up I generally go for the cheapest Wilco's ones and then muck about with the hops I've go tin the garden.

cheers

D

[SWhite6124]

Hi. Thanks for the reply. Yes I did use an airlock and it bubbled for about four days. Each time iv'e followed the instructions and made sure everything is well sterilised. I have a thermometer on the side of the bucket and it is always the correct temperature when I add the yeast. I do get a steady bubble from the air lock but the yeast just seems to lay on top. I'm sure that I have seen other peoples with a good crust on top. Then after 6-7 days I syphon into a pressure barrel and leave till 21 days. I use a hydrometer and have watched numerous videos on YouTube but just cant seem to get the same result.

Thanks Shaun

[DaveJNeal]

ooo, could be that, I always tend to stir mine in, to be honest - and I think the crust is gonna come on with all of them.

Lager yeasts tend to be what are called bottom fermenting, ie, you'll not get a crust on the top. Lager will ferment was at a lower temperature too, if that helps ?

cheers

D

[grinling]

The 2 ales I have done so far, Woodforde Wherry was better.It was left alot longer than the other and the taste improves over time.

[Klausy1000]

I'm an experienced all grain brewer, but when it comes to the fermentation our processes are about the same.  I think you should start by chucking the yeast that comes with the kit and getting some good fresh yeast from a reputable supplier.  Pitch plenty of yeast so there are lots of active cells to get the fermentation started.

I'm thinking you should let the ferment go all the way to dryness, as determined by a steady reading on a hydrometer over several days,  and then add an appropriate amount of sugar for a secondary, carbonating, fermentation in your pressure barrel.  This gives you very precise control over the carbonation level.

For a lager I add 4oz (113.6g) of sugar to 18.9L (5 US gallons) of beer, that's about 6 grams per L

I would add somewhat less for an English pale ale to reduce the carbonation.

Could your pressure barrel have a slow air leak?

Take care
Klaus

[Lawrence]

From what you have written it could be one of two things, either you haven't put enough sugar in to get a secondary fermentation or you simply haven't given it enough time to build up the fizz.
Depending on the temperature, it should take between one and two weeks to get it right after bottling or putting it into the barrel.

[SG6]

You are adding sugar for the secondary fermentation aren't you?
Only ask as in the 2 posts there is no mention of this anywhere and it is this stage that adds the CO2 to the beer and so makes it "not flat".

[SWhite6124]

Hi. Yes I put two lots of brewing sugar in. A full bag with the first phase, and then the required amount when it is transferred to the pressure barrel.

[thedadtony]

Do you top the pressure barrel up with co2,and do you have a pressure gauge fixed to the lid of the barrel,so you know if it's holding the pressure?

[SWhite6124]

At the moment it's just a screw on cap. But I have seen the co2 chargers, is that what you would recommend ?

[thedadtony]

Hi S.W. Yes, you should keep it charged with co2 otherwise your beer will go off,if I was you I.d go for a s30 valve in the barrel top plus a pressure gauge and gas cylinder, a bit of an expense to start off with I know but that's what I use , hope that helps Cheers Tony
  p.s.Have a chat with bloke in your local Home Brew Shop there always helpful.

[calumscott]

The best way to get the right fizz in your beer is to bottle rather than keg it.

Plastic homebrew kegs will give you a decent enough pint, don't get me wrong, but bottle conditioning will allow you to build much more pressure and hence have a carbonation level more befitting lagers and US West Coast Pales.  You can of course reduce the priming load for bitters, milds, stouts and such.

The kegs with no CO2 injectors have a fundamental problem.  You rack in your beer with your priming sugar and seal it up.  The yeast go to work and produce CO2 and alcohol.  And that's it.  That's all the pressure you're going to get.

To get the best in that scenario, give your sealed keg two weeks at fermentation temperature then another two to four weeks somewhere cool to condition.

You'll then have to plough through 40 pints pretty quickly else it will spoil - as you draw off beer the pressure drops, the beer gets flatter, and eventually there isn't enough fizz to come out of the beer to replace the volume drawn off and it will be replaced by air glugging back in through the tap.  That will oxidise your beer and make it taste stale.

This is where kegs with injectors have the advantage, you can always keep a positive pressure in your keg so it will keep much much longer.  What fizz you do get into the beer should also stay to the last pint.

The only other alternative is the cornelius keg which is a stainless pressure keg that takes a proper pub style CO2 bottle and can handle BIG pressures but I understand they are in very short supply nowadays...

...if you can't get the fizz you want, try bottling.  It's a bit of faff but the results are definitely worth it.