Great 'How to start home brewing' Hunt

leon103

shandypants5 wrote: »

No water in the airlock shouldnt cause any problems with fizz, but it could have let an infection in during the early fermentation. (if it tasts ok then you dont have an infection);)

Right at the start you should have added roughly 1kg of sugar to one of the coopers kits.

When fermentation was over(about a week to 10 days) then you should have siphoned it into your pressure barrel.
AND added roughly one teaspoon of sugar per pint.(that kit makes about 35 to 40 pints)

Then you should have saled it tight and put it somewhere warm for a week so the secondary fermentation builds up pressure and makes it fizzy.

Then leave it as long as you can before drinking.
1 week minimum, 10 weeks would make it taste nicer:rolleyes: but anywhere in between or longer is ok.

If you dont have any pressure it was most likely caused by your barrel lid leaking because it wasnt tight.

You could "reprime" that means add more sugar and yeast and leave it for another couple of weeks.

Or just mix it as you drink it with cheap supermarket beer and better luck with your next batch.

From following the instructions I didn't add sugar at the first fermentation stage. I can't remember it asking me to do so. I siphoned it off after approx 10 days then added sugar. I remember reading it said 8g per 750ml so i added 250g of sugar.

The barrel is presurised because when I turn the tap it comes gushing out and gives the impression its fizzy but once the head dies down its pretty much flat. Although there is a slight fizz to it.

Do you suggest opening the barrel adding more sugar and yeast at this point? I have drunk a third of it by adding lemonade.

harryhound

I think it is best to start, champagne style, with bottles, as you can see what is happening to the beer. How it is clearing etc. Once you get the hang of it, trying different materials and sugar combinations and found what tastes good to you, then go in for the mass production of using a keg.

cootambear

N9eav wrote: »

I have made wine and beer over the years and have amased quite a bit of kit. It's fun to make your own drink, but it can become tiresome. Waiting for it to mature or finding it does not taste as good as John Smith's can be a disapointment
3 cases of beer for £20 in ASDA is often the best way to go.

If you home brew didnt taste at least 100 times better than john smiths you should be disappointed.

shandypants5

leon103 wrote: »

From following the instructions I didn't add sugar at the first fermentation stage. I can't remember it asking me to do so. I siphoned it off after approx 10 days then added sugar. I remember reading it said 8g per 750ml so i added 250g of sugar.

The barrel is presurised because when I turn the tap it comes gushing out and gives the impression its fizzy but once the head dies down its pretty much flat. Although there is a slight fizz to it.

Do you suggest opening the barrel adding more sugar and yeast at this point? I have drunk a third of it by adding lemonade.

If it was a Coopers single can kit then you should have added 1kg sugar at the start. the 2 can kits dont need extra sugar but as far as I know Coopers dont make 2 can kits.

Coopers instructions are a little over complicated for a beginner.

It probrably means your beer isnt very strong, I would guess at around 2%.

I wouldnt open the barrel now, its not really improveable.
I would either drink it as you are doing, or throw it away and start again.

Take a look at the Kit Brewing Questions and Answers section on this site, its a great place for beginners to learn how to make great tasting,cheap beer :beer:

leon103

Thanks for all the replies. I am going to get another Coopers kit and try again. Unless anyone else can suggest a better kit out there?

leon103

Anyone know where the cheapest place to buy Grolsch style bottles?

I have had a second attempt at making my Coopers lager after the first attempt turned out flat. This time I used a different pressure barrel has i believe the first attempt turned out flat because the screw top wasn't screwing on correctly.

I followed the instructions given on here and the label. I had 3 grolsch style bottles and opened them over the weekend and the lager was lovely. Great taste and plenty of fizz. I have gone and tried some out of the barrel and its flat, well not completely flat but nothing compared to the bottles. Why is this? Anyway of saving it?

shandypants5

I didnt realize you were making a Lager Leon.

You will never get lager very fizzy in a plastic beer keg.
They are only rated to take about 15 psi pressure maximum before the safety valve opens, and most of them wont hold even THAT pressure without leaking.

To get a fizz like a commercial beer you need to maintain a pressure of around 20 psi or more, and get your temperature down to about 12 degrees C for a coupe of weeks.
(colder beer absorbs more Co2 at a lower pressure, so the warmer your beer is the higher the pressure needs to be to force the gas into soloution.)

Plastic kegs are great for Ales and low fizz type beers, but lager needs to be in a bottle, or an expensive steel keg with a Co2 bottle forcing gas in.

You can use FIZZY water bottles from a supermarket until you collect enough grolsh bottles. (They will hold a LOT of pressure much more than a glass bottle)

500ml, 1 litre, or 2 litre, all work great for coopers Lager I have done several lager kits in them myself.
(2litres means you have to drink 4 pints once you open one though!!!)

They dont look as posh but they work just fine, and being screwtops they are re-useable over and over.


Which Coopers kit is it?
I can recomend the Coopers "European" and allso the "Canadian" Lager kits.

Next time you make a Coopers kit ask your homebrew shop to sell you 1 kg of "Dry spray malt" and use that instead of the table sugar you are probrably using at the moment, it makes a HUGE improvement to the taste and makes your homebrew easily as good as the shop brought stuff if not better.

emujuice

Hi there,
A complete novice here.
What equipment would I need to get in addition to the caraffe 21 kit?
http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Home-Brewing/Carafe-21-3-Week-Express-Wine-Medium-Dry-White-1ltr/invt/0054452?htxt=WTE4qF4UqJRUzbGSviarogMd76ycEtn6RQs2g9THT7ns4%2BpDCWgdyfAOQc4rpOSom2%2FXNXmQfXf5%0AcK1f1Tj9Jg%3D%3D

Thanks!

leon103

shandypants5 wrote: »

I didnt realize you were making a Lager Leon.

You will never get lager very fizzy in a plastic beer keg.
They are only rated to take about 15 psi pressure maximum before the safety valve opens, and most of them wont hold even THAT pressure without leaking.

To get a fizz like a commercial beer you need to maintain a pressure of around 20 psi or more, and get your temperature down to about 12 degrees C for a coupe of weeks.
(colder beer absorbs more Co2 at a lower pressure, so the warmer your beer is the higher the pressure needs to be to force the gas into soloution.)

Plastic kegs are great for Ales and low fizz type beers, but lager needs to be in a bottle, or an expensive steel keg with a Co2 bottle forcing gas in.

You can use FIZZY water bottles from a supermarket until you collect enough grolsh bottles. (They will hold a LOT of pressure much more than a glass bottle)

500ml, 1 litre, or 2 litre, all work great for coopers Lager I have done several lager kits in them myself.
(2litres means you have to drink 4 pints once you open one though!!!)

They dont look as posh but they work just fine, and being screwtops they are re-useable over and over.


Which Coopers kit is it?
I can recomend the Coopers "European" and allso the "Canadian" Lager kits.

Next time you make a Coopers kit ask your homebrew shop to sell you 1 kg of "Dry spray malt" and use that instead of the table sugar you are probrably using at the moment, it makes a HUGE improvement to the taste and makes your homebrew easily as good as the shop brought stuff if not better.

Thanks for the reply. The second reply I bought some brewing sugar from my supllier. Is this batch repairable? I have poured some in a 2litre bottle with more sugar and the bottle seems to be expanding so its doing something. Do you suggest I do the second fermentation stage in a cooler area, such as the garage?

shandypants5

leon103 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. The second reply I bought some brewing sugar from my supllier. Is this batch repairable? I have poured some in a 2litre bottle with more sugar and the bottle seems to be expanding so its doing something. Do you suggest I do the second fermentation stage in a cooler area, such as the garage?

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:

If you do another batch from scratch, I put 6 heaped teaspoons of table sugar in a 2 litre bottle and it gives perfect fizziness to my Lagers.

Allso Brewing sugar is better than table sugar but Dry spraymalt tastes MUCH better again.

Or use a bag of "Beer Enhancer" this is a mix of half brewing sugar and half spraymalt and cost about £3.75 for a 1Kg bag

The taste difference is astonishing

One more thing... but its IMPORTANT.
Treat the water you are going to use to make your beer to get rid of the chlorine in it.

Chlorine in tap water can give your beer a TCP type taste. (some people refer to it as that homebrew Twang)

Its easy to do.
Just fill a container with 20 litres of tap water then drop in half a campden tablet.
That will kill of all the Chlorine instantly.
Then use this water to make up your beer kit. (Again the difference it make is amazing)

1,Use decent sugar
2,treat your water.

Those two rules will transform your beer into something that you will be proud to show off. (and drink.:beer:)