Great 'How to start home brewing' Hunt

leon103

shandypants5 wrote: »

If the bottle is expanding then it sounds like you still have some secondary fermentation happening so you might make the lager a bit fizzier by transfering to bottles and adding sugar.

BUT.. Transfering beer brings it into contact with air which could oxidize it or allow infection in so its a bit risk, I wouldnt move it personally,it is still good beer, just not very fizzy, the keg will still keep it fresh and sterile.
If you DO move it to bottles try not to splash it around too much, slowly syphon it into the bottles with sugar in the bottom, dont squirt it from the tap, or you will end up with a bottle of foam.

The secondary ferment needs to be kept warm so the yeast can work, but then when you have pressure in the bottles after about 7 days, you can move the bottles somewhere cold to age and condition.
(Coopers Lager gets much nicer after about 6 weeks)

When the beer is cooled the Co2 in the bottle will be absorber into the beer and the bottle may feeel a little softer. dont worry the bubbles are still in there.;)

The best way to serve fizzy lager is to chill the bottles nice and cold so that the gas is disolved IN the beer, and then when you open it the beer wont rush out and foam up.

Then you pour the chilled beer into a ROOM TEMPERATURE wet glass.
The glass will warm the beer slightly and the Co2 will begin to come out of suspension as bubbles giving you a nice sparkling beer with bubbles forming low down in the glass and rising.:D

Getting thirsty now thinking about it.:rotfl:

I will get it right soon. I will invest in some bottles for the next batch.

shandypants5

leon103 wrote: »

I will get it right soon. I will invest in some bottles for the next batch.

:rotfl:You quoted me while I was edditing.. read my post again theres more reading now sorry, I get carried away talking about beer.:rotfl:

leon103

shandypants5 wrote: »

:rotfl:You quoted me while I was edditing.. read my post again theres more reading now sorry, I get carried away talking about beer.:rotfl:

Just noticed. Cheers

Despondent

Can anyone tell me where I can get Martini kits from. I used to buy these mail order years ago but can't find them anymore.

Androcles

Not a kit, but you can get flavourings from :

http://www.art-of-brewing.co.uk/cgi-bin/ss000006.pl?SS=vermouth&ACTION=Go!&PR=-1&TB=A&SHOP=trlshop48147

Despondent

Thanks very much for that, that's great. Will get to work now.

harryhound

Anyone got any tips on the best place to get cheap second hand beer and wine making kit?

mark_dumpleton

Apologies for bringing up an old thread...
I'm new into this, so if I wanted to brew a 'real ale' type thing where they're not fizzy like lager is, after fermenting and transferring into a pressure barrel would I still need to add sugar etc?

shandypants5

mark_dumpleton wrote: »

Apologies for bringing up an old thread...
I'm new into this, so if I wanted to brew a 'real ale' type thing where they're not fizzy like lager is, after fermenting and transferring into a pressure barrel would I still need to add sugar etc?

Real ale kits work really well in a plastic pressure barrel as they wont really hold enough pressure to make a lager type fizz.

You will still need to add a little sugar though, just to create a blanket of Co2 on top of the ale and keep it fresh.

When you have drunk half the barrel you may need to add some gas from a Co2 supply or open the lid a little to alow air in and beer out.( although this would make the beer go stale faster)

There is a good forum at JIMS beer kit, where you will find lots of info on ammounts of priming sugar for the level of fizz you require.:beer:

creased-leach

Hi guys- not read the whole thread but as an ex-homebrewer, I thought you'd like a heads up of something that surprised me when I stumbled on it the other day.

Our local Tesco's extra (Westwood x, Thanet) have cleared our a large chunk of the DIY section and have started selling homebrew gear. Didn't have time to check prices etc, but there seemed to be a good range of kits and equipment.

HTH.