As this was my first proper homebrew with all the right equipment, I decided to follow the instructions to the letter with my young’s’ larger kit. I used a beer enhancer kit instead of sugar and after 10days when the gravity had been stable I used some beer finings and left for a further 3days before I transferred the mixture from the fv to a keg for priming. As at this point I didn’t have enough bottles (something my friends and I have enjoyed rectifying) I left the larger in the keg and put it in the basement for 4weeks.
After sampling a batch this morning im rather disappointed in the cloudy completely flat yeasty drink iv produced.
Is there anyway of improving this batch, without using co2 canisters?
Hopefully my milestones IPA will fair better than this batch.
Disappointing first offical brew.
Re: Disappointing first offical brew.
Did you prime the beer with sugar before you kegged it?
You need some secondary fermentation in an airtight container (e.g. bottle or keg) to get sparkling beer. It could also be that the keg has a leak and any CO2 produced escaped.
Yeasty taste suggests that either the brew is still fermenting, or that the yeast deposit was disturbed before sampling (e.g. by moving the keg about roughly).
If you want to serve from the keg, you will need a CO2 injection system, but you still have to prime the beer to get the initial sparkle in it, if you're using a plastic keg. Also, bottles are better for lager, as they require a higher level of carbonation than you can get in a plastic keg.
You need some secondary fermentation in an airtight container (e.g. bottle or keg) to get sparkling beer. It could also be that the keg has a leak and any CO2 produced escaped.
Yeasty taste suggests that either the brew is still fermenting, or that the yeast deposit was disturbed before sampling (e.g. by moving the keg about roughly).
If you want to serve from the keg, you will need a CO2 injection system, but you still have to prime the beer to get the initial sparkle in it, if you're using a plastic keg. Also, bottles are better for lager, as they require a higher level of carbonation than you can get in a plastic keg.
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finnfb
Re: Disappointing first offical brew.
i primed the beer in the keg just after siphoning, its a cheap plastic keg so there could of been a leak as it is totally flat. would i be able to transfer the beer from the keg to my bottles now, and prime again or would this have no effect. I looked at co2 injection systems, but i was advised against the small canisters and the large bottle doesn't fit the lid that i have.
Re: Disappointing first offical brew.
Just a thought - did you leave the primed keg in a warmish (18 - 20C) place for a few days before putting it in the basement? I'm assuming your basement is cold, and the yeast may not have been able to work. What sort of temperature has the keg been stored at since priming?
You could certainly bottle and reprime, but you'd have to make sure any previous priming sugar you put in the keg had actually been fermented first, otherwise you could end up with bursting bottles.
You could certainly bottle and reprime, but you'd have to make sure any previous priming sugar you put in the keg had actually been fermented first, otherwise you could end up with bursting bottles.