To keg or not to keg? That is the question...

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danielski

To keg or not to keg? That is the question...

Post by danielski » Fri Dec 22, 2006 10:35 am

Merry Christmas all.

I'm currently on my second brew - a Wheeler Pendle Witch clone. It was in the fermenter for 7 days and was down to 1012 (target FG= 1008), I then siphoned it into a secondary bucket where its been for 5 days.

Do I:

a) rack it into a Corni keg this afternoon and get it under co2 before I disappear for a week

or

b) leave it in the secondary until I return after christmas (= a total of 12 days in secondary)?

Also, when would be a good time to add finings? (beerclear)

Thanks
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Orfy

Post by Orfy » Fri Dec 22, 2006 10:43 am

I'd add the beerclear now, leave in secondary and keg on you'r return.
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Vossy1

Post by Vossy1 » Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:20 am

Ditto what Orfy said :wink:

You could also give the secondary a quick squirt of c02 after adding the beercleer, then close it up.

That way you get the best of both worlds 8)
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danielski

Post by danielski » Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:28 am

Cheers fellas. Happy drinking!
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mysterio

Post by mysterio » Fri Dec 22, 2006 12:54 pm

Neither look like bad options to me.

Personally I would be looking for a beer as soon as I got back so I would go for fining in the cornie 8)
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danielski

Post by danielski » Fri Dec 22, 2006 1:13 pm

mysterio wrote:Personally I would be looking for a beer as soon as I got back so I would go for fining in the cornie 8)
Wouldn't it need to sit in the cornie for a few weeks before I drank it anyway?
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mysterio

Post by mysterio » Fri Dec 22, 2006 1:28 pm

Personally I find that the beer is much better when it has been sitting in the keg for at least a week. That's assuming you're force carbonating, if you're naturally carbonating it might be longer. Of course any extra time you can leave the beer will improve it, generally speaking.
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danielski

Post by danielski » Fri Dec 22, 2006 1:48 pm

Ah I was under the impression I should be leaving it in the keg for a good few weeks before I touched it...

(carbonating with CO2 btw)
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danielski

Post by danielski » Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:45 pm

Racked to the Corni tonight, added the beerclear (it was pretty clear anyway tbh) and now its outside cooling down so I can try and get even more gas dissolved in there.

A quick sip tells me its good - much improved on the under-fermented butterscotch disaster that was my first brew :D

Now I've just gotta wait for it to mature... :cry:
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Vossy1

Post by Vossy1 » Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:09 am

Now I've just gotta wait for it to mature...
Why :?:

If force carbonating, it's ready to drink when your happy with the carbonation level 8)

In my case about a week :roll:

I am impatient :oops: but there is method in my madness.

If I test an ale after a week it's fairly easy to detect bacterial infection...in my case this mainly seems to be diacetyl, ie, butterscotch.

If this is the case at least I can drink, maybe 2/3 of it b4 I have to chuck it....if I waited 4 weeks!!!!!!

Btw, I can detect this flavour at least a week b4 my wife and friends...I must have a sensitive palate despite all the years of abuse :shock:

I never get this in my bottled samples, only when tapping a corny.

It usually happens after day 2 from tapping :cry:
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Seveneer

Post by Seveneer » Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:37 am

That's interesting Vossy. I've had a few batches with diacetyl recently. I think I've found the problem to be under-aerating. I now use an air-stone and (touch wood) it's done the job.

That said, I'm taking no chances. I'm also leaving the beer longer in Primary and taking the corny apart for cleaning rather than a soak and shake.

How are you dealing with it?

/Phil.
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mysterio

Post by mysterio » Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:56 am

Diacetyl is usually caused by yeast rather than bacteria. It can be due to low fermentation temperatures among other things. Safale S04 is known to throw out a lot of diacetyl too, but it soon clears it up if left to mature for a day or two after fermentation.

Maturation is more than just carbonating the beer, the yeast are still working on the beer even though they aren't actively fermenting.
Last edited by mysterio on Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Andy » Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:03 pm

Vossy - impatience might be the cause of your diacetyl problems....

From http://beerme.com/diacetyl.shtml

"What to do about it: You're not going to believe how simple this is. Do a “diacetyl restâ€
Dan!
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danielski

Post by danielski » Sun Dec 24, 2006 1:41 pm

Vossy1 wrote:
Now I've just gotta wait for it to mature...
Why :?:

If force carbonating, it's ready to drink when your happy with the carbonation level 8)
Ok, now I'm confused! :lol:

Either I wait until I'm happy with the level of carbonation, or I let it mature for a week per 10 degrees of OG... I guess everyone has their own methods which work best for them, but when kegging in a corni which one is it? :)
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Orfy

Post by Orfy » Sun Dec 24, 2006 2:36 pm

Both,

Or force carbonate by pressurising, chilling and shaking the crap out of it and drink green.
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