Adventures in Homebrewland (image heavy - you have been warned!)

Larumbelle

:rotfl:

I daren't suggest that to my OH, he'd probably do it!

gravitytolls

We have a barrel in which we made beer ~ some form of Woodfordes ale ~ but it wouldn't com out. We put in a gas bomb (?I think), the CO2 stuff, but only managed to get a pint out of it before the problem started again. What do you think was wrong? We spoke to Woodfordes, but they just recommended the co2 stuff.

I wouldn't mind another go, as we have the barrel, but am unwilling to brew more if the same problem is going to happen again.

MartialAnt

gravitytolls wrote: »

We have a barrel in which we made beer ~ some form of Woodfordes ale ~ but it wouldn't com out.

Do you mean you fermented it in the barrel?

shandypants5

Hi MartialAnt, dont I see you in Jims forum..:beer:

shandypants5

gravitytolls wrote: »

We have a barrel in which we made beer ~ some form of Woodfordes ale ~ but it wouldn't com out. We put in a gas bomb (?I think), the CO2 stuff, but only managed to get a pint out of it before the problem started again. What do you think was wrong? We spoke to Woodfordes, but they just recommended the co2 stuff.

I wouldn't mind another go, as we have the barrel, but am unwilling to brew more if the same problem is going to happen again.

Sounds like the tap is blocked to me.. did you brew in a bucket first?

like Ant says if you brewed it completely in the barrel then the yeast may have blocked the tap.

The barrel is for the final clearing and pressurising only.

MartialAnt

shandypants5 wrote: »

Hi MartialAnt, dont I see you in Jims forum..:beer:

Yes SP5, thats me on Jims. Jims beer forum everyone. http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/index.htm Anything and everything you need to know about home brewing. Have a look, its free, friendly & very knowledgeable.
8 months ago i was paying about £5 for 3 bottles of ale from an offy. Then i joined Jims beer forum. Now i make my own for as little as 17.5p per pint. It doesnt take much to get good at making All Grain beer which tastes as good as real ales. In fact it can taste better (ie Morrisey fox crap).

Jastons

Ive been homebrewing for a few years now and really enjoy it. I buy my yeast on ebay
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1313&_nkw=turbo+yeast&_sacat=See-All-Categories and it works very well, you certaintly know you`ve had some when you wake up the morning after...

The best wine ive made so far is apple wine. I got a fruit juicer from argos for about £20 and spent a few hours juicing 8kg of apples (I think i got about 5 liters of juice). I poured this into a 5 gallon bucket and added the yeast along with 6kg of sugar and water. A few weeks later and.......i cant rememeber, thats how good it was :rotfl:

The last wine i made (it finished a fortnight ago) was made from apple and blueberry fruit tea bags. Its got plently of alcohol in but its lacking a bit of body. About 18 months ago my step dad filled a 5 gallon bucket with water, 6kg of sugar and some yeast. When that had finished brewing he poured in a bottle of malibu and left it another week or so before bottling, the wine really takes on the flavour of the malibu and tastes great.

Larumbelle

Help! Can I save my home-brewed lager? It's just a kit lager I was doing for Xmas, but my other half decided to 'helpfully' move my fermenting bucket, he's put it right next to the radiator and I think it's got too hot and killed the yeast. I do have brewer's yeast and yeast improver, how much would I need to add? There's 23 litres of it.

Jabberwock

silvercharming wrote: »

Help! Can I save my home-brewed lager? It's just a kit lager I was doing for Xmas, but my other half decided to 'helpfully' move my fermenting bucket, he's put it right next to the radiator and I think it's got too hot and killed the yeast. I do have brewer's yeast and yeast improver, how much would I need to add? There's 23 litres of it.

Hi Silvercharming,
I've never made lager (yet;)) but if there are no visible signs of fermentation going on I would use a hydrometer and check the gravity of your brew, depending how long it's been on the go it may actually be ready. I believe that for lager a reading of 1006 or lower means that it's ready to bottle so it may be fine.
I know that with wines it is possible to use a "re-start" yeast to help a stuck ferment so in theory it should be possible to do the same with lager, but I'm sure some of our more experienced brewers will be along shortly with more detailed knowledge but I would definitely get a reading with your hydrometer and it should give you and idea of whats going on at the moment and then work from there.
I hope it turns out ok.
Cheers
:beer:
Jabberwock

Larumbelle

Well, would you believe it - I checked with the hydrometer and the lager is indeed ready for bottling after just three days! I was going to apologise to other half, but then I discovered that he hadn't rinsed out the bottles properly from the last lot so I've spent most of the last three hours jamming a bottle brush into bottles that are really a bit too narrow for it. :mad: There was proper mould in some of them and I'm more than a little annoyed!

Thanks Jabberwock, I don't know what I'd do without you! Stay sober, I expect...