First brew is go.......

[SteveD]

The other thing to do is purge the air out of the keg before filling. Close the keg, give it a squirt of CO2 to pressure it up. Wait a few minutes, then slowly release the pressure by opening the safety valve or CAREFULLY unscrewing the cap. The lighter air will be expelled, and your keg will be filled with CO2 before you run the beer in. Also, run it in smoothly, without sloshing or splashing.

[MJW]

Sunday afternoon, a nice brown topped yeast party was happening in the fermenting bucket.

A couple of questions from a newby needing some advice:

I'm currently attempting my first ever fermentation (48 hours in), the frothy bubbles look healthy enough and it smells nice and beery, but I've got little patches of brown dotted around the white froth that looks like caramalised sugar has sprinkled on top. I was a but worried this was mould, even though it doesn't look like mould, does this sound natural?

Also once I transfer to the pressure barrel and leave till it clarifies, how long do I have to drink it once its clear? 40 pints is quite a lot of beer to get through.

[SteveD]

Sunday afternoon, a nice brown topped yeast party was happening in the fermenting bucket.

A couple of questions from a newby needing some advice:

I'm currently attempting my first ever fermentation (48 hours in), the frothy bubbles look healthy enough and it smells nice and beery, but I've got little patches of brown dotted around the white froth that looks like caramalised sugar has sprinkled on top. I was a but worried this was mould, even though it doesn't look like mould, does this sound natural?

Also once I transfer to the pressure barrel and leave till it clarifies, how long do I have to drink it once its clear? 40 pints is quite a lot of beer to get through.

The brown flecks are perfectly natural and a normal part of the process. They are a mixture of coagulated protein, hop debris, and resins, collectively called 'trub', brought up to the top by fermentation activity. Sometimes it's just a few flecks, other times the whole surface might be covered. It won't harm your beer in the primary fermenter. Some people choose to skim it off (leaving the clean yeast underneath) and others choose to leave it. If you're going to skim, make sure you sterilise your spoon/paddle/whatever, AND the container you're depositing it into.

Although fine in the primary fermenter, you do want to avoid transferring any to your barrel, or bottles. That also goes for the sediment in general. As you drain the fermenter, you'll see that a lot of it sticks to the sides anyway.

When to drink it? Depends on the gravity and hop rate of your beer and how patient you are. If it's a light beer, you could start practically as soon as it's clear. A stronger and/or more heavily hopped brew will benefit from some maturation time to smooth out the flavours, say, 3-6 weeks. But, let your taste buds decide. I tend to leave ales in the 1040-1055 region 3-4 weeks before trying them.

Keeping time depends on how good your general brewing technique is as regards sterilisation, exclusion of oxygen, bugs, beasties, etc. Also teh integrity of your bottles/casks, and the nature of the beer - strong, well hopped beer keeps longer than weak or mildly hopped beer. But in general, for normal strength beers, you're good for at least 6 weeks from when you start drinking it.

[shedifice]

Not sure about the keeping time but from all the yeast head pics I have seen the brown lumps are normal

[DRB]

I'm currently attempting my first ever fermentation (48 hours in), the frothy bubbles look healthy enough and it smells nice and beery, but I've got little patches of brown dotted around the white froth that looks like caramalised sugar has sprinkled on top. I was a but worried this was mould, even though it doesn't look like mould, does this sound natural


ANSWER - YES


Cant answer the second question for you,maybe a 3 months as long as you use some sort of gas.

[shedifice]

Well final gravity 1012-1014 ish.

primed with 75gm beer sugar in hot water.

10 days in fermentation.

now in barrel, and if I can get pics to work I will add a few more pics of beer in barrels

just a wait now for 3 weeks!!

hmm I have a Birkby bitter kit sitting in the cupboard.............[/img]

[MJW]

Cheers for the reponses to my questions, I've got one more if you'll humour me, I'm planning to transfer to pressure barrel tomorrow if the hydrometer readings go right. Thing is I've got no brewing sugar left, and the instructions say put a bit in to the barrel before I transfer, is normal sugar okay or should I go and get some brewing sugar first?

[SteveD]

You can use any sugar you want. Darker sugars will add some of their flavour and colour if you want it, eg, black treacle in Old Peculier. Otherwise use granulated white sugar or caster sugar, which dissolves faster.

Use 2-3oz (60-90g) for 5ish gal/23L-25Land dissolve it in a minimum of water - easier if the water is just-boiled. Use a pyrex jug, or similar. Then, zap it in the microwave for a couple of minutes to sterilise it. Then, add it to the barrel, and rack your beer onto it. If you keep the beer outlet right in the sugar, it will mix evenly.

[prodigal2]

You can use any sugar you want. Darker sugars will add some of their flavour and colour if you want it, eg, black treacle in Old Peculier. Otherwise use granulated white sugar or caster sugar, which dissolves faster.

Use 2-3oz (60-90g) for 5ish gal/23L-25Land dissolve it in a minimum of water - easier if the water is just-boiled. Use a pyrex jug, or similar. Then, zap it in the microwave for a couple of minutes to sterilise it. Then, add it to the barrel, and rack your beer onto it. If you keep the beer outlet right in the sugar, it will mix evenly.

And don't forget to cool your priming solution

[SteveD]

You can use any sugar you want. Darker sugars will add some of their flavour and colour if you want it, eg, black treacle in Old Peculier. Otherwise use granulated white sugar or caster sugar, which dissolves faster.

Use 2-3oz (60-90g) for 5ish gal/23L-25Land dissolve it in a minimum of water - easier if the water is just-boiled. Use a pyrex jug, or similar. Then, zap it in the microwave for a couple of minutes to sterilise it. Then, add it to the barrel, and rack your beer onto it. If you keep the beer outlet right in the sugar, it will mix evenly.

And don't forget to cool your priming solution

By the time it's in the barrel and you've sorted yourself out to rack the beer, it will be cool enough...5 seconds of beer running onto it..it will definitely be cool enough! Don't bother to specifically cool it

[prodigal2]

You can use any sugar you want. Darker sugars will add some of their flavour and colour if you want it, eg, black treacle in Old Peculier. Otherwise use granulated white sugar or caster sugar, which dissolves faster.

Use 2-3oz (60-90g) for 5ish gal/23L-25Land dissolve it in a minimum of water - easier if the water is just-boiled. Use a pyrex jug, or similar. Then, zap it in the microwave for a couple of minutes to sterilise it. Then, add it to the barrel, and rack your beer onto it. If you keep the beer outlet right in the sugar, it will mix evenly.

And don't forget to cool your priming solution

By the time it's in the barrel and you've sorted yourself out to rack the beer, it will be cool enough...5 seconds of beer running onto it..it will definitely be cool enough! Don't bother to specifically cool it

I stand corrected. and will save myself a bit of arse ache cheers Steve

[shedifice]

Well.....

beer has been in the pressure barrel for 2 weeks now.

Result!!!!

it comes out sparkling, with a head and tastes like beer!!!! and not half bad too.

will post picks asap......

happy brewer