Muntons Gold Continental Pilsner and cornie

[Parva]

I've bought all the gear to make AG brews including 2 cornies. I am awaiting the pub gas now which I should get hopefully this weekend.

Now, rather than jump straight into an AG brew I thought I'd do a kit brew for starters so that I can get a feel for using the cornie kegs. If it all goes pear-shaped I'll be less disappointed to lose a kit brew than I will one which I have brewed from scratch.

Just for the record, I intend brewing bitters but have bought a Muntons Gold Continental Pilsner kit simply because I can reclaim some of the expenses off my lad as he's a lager drinker. I drink both but real ale is my preferred brew.

Regarding this brew, I intend to ferment and will probably secondary ferment a couple of days before the end (to remove most of the sediment). Once that's finished and it looks clear I'll siphon straight to the cornie and gas up to 20PSI or so and maintain at that. It's going to be left at room temperature however, I have no chiller and the only form of chilling will be a fermentation vessel with a ton of ice in approx. 2 hours before drinking!

Does this sound ok or am I totally missing the plot somewhere?

[Aleman]

Sounds fine . . . If you are going to secondary, then transfer from primary after 5-7 days and then leave it in the secondary for another 10 . . . alternatively leave it in the primary for 14 days . . . If you want to you can even add finings at day 12, by gently stirring them into the brew (Don't disturb the sediment on the bottom)

Remember the kit is for 23L and a corny only holds 18-19L

Unless you like glasses of foam, you will need to reduce the pressure for serving 8-10psi is ideal, then when you have finished crank teh pressure back up to preserv the carbonation. The cooling method you suggest does work . . . we've been known to use shallow plastic boxes filled with water to stand the kegs in and submerge a copper coil in the water connected to a python chiller. The bottom bit of the beer gets chilled which is where you are dispensing from . . . . one thing to bear in mind though as you dispense from the keg it gets lighter so it will float

[Parva]

Some great advice there, thanks. I actually have 2 cornies but think I'll just bottle the excess. I like the sound of only doing a primary ferment, sounds less risky than going for a secondary (and less hassle). Thanks, I'll give it a bash.