Oh dear. Brew #1 is now at the end of its conditioning stage. I would use the phrase 'ready for drinking', but the evidence suggests otherwise. I'd like your help in determining what I did wrong so that Brew #2 is better.
Here's the evidence:
* Kit: Woodforde's Admiral's Reserve - made up using kit yeast (rehydrated)
* No visible fermentation for first 48hours at approx 20C, so I moved it into the airing cupboard (28C) for about 12 hours (large head resulted). Remaining fermentation done at 20C-25C.
* Kegged on day 8 at sg 1013. One PET bottle also filled. All primed with granulated sugar.
* It now seems keg wasn't airtight. Bottle was v fizzy after 4 weeks. Keg as flat as a pancake.
* Keg mainly at 20C during conditioning as I couldn't find a cool place. It got a bit cooler towards the end and now is at about 16C.
So, now it is still cloudy and it smells like yeasty wort. It has a very very faint hint of vinegar, but actually that's not unpleasant. It tastes a bit watery and thin. Slightly sweet, but mainly like a cheap, recently-shaken weak bottle-conditioned beer. It's not horrible, but it's not exactly a pleasure to drink.
Can I do anything at this stage? And what do you think has gone wrong (there's so much to choose from!)
Post-mortem required
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Jaoqua
It was the keg I was describing. The bottle was much the same but had the advantage of being fizzy, so a bit more lively on the tongue.
There are no off tastes or chlorineyness. If anything it just tastes like the sg samples I took.
Just for a laugh I have filled a 1L PET bottle from the keg, primed it and put it in the warm to see what happens. If it pressurizes I'll stick it in the fridge after a couple of days to see if I can chill the cloudiness out of it.
There are no off tastes or chlorineyness. If anything it just tastes like the sg samples I took.
Just for a laugh I have filled a 1L PET bottle from the keg, primed it and put it in the warm to see what happens. If it pressurizes I'll stick it in the fridge after a couple of days to see if I can chill the cloudiness out of it.
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onefortheroad
Re: post-mortem required
Your not on your own! My Admirals Reserve sounds exacctly the same as yours! Only mine was worse I got a final gravity of 1020 which i think is what you call stuck fermentation and it has got all the chacteristics of your beer. I've placed it in a king keg and once poured you end up with 3/4 of your glass full of head but strangely enough tastes, not great, but ok! Still not made my mind up wether to drink or bin it though! It does seem to be improving with age. I think!!!!!! 
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Preid
You didnt happen to buy the Youngs Ale starter kit did you Jaoqua?
I've also got Admirals Reserve
I've got the kit with the plastic keg and I've read its not that air tight at all. I ordered brand name yeast, cant remember what it is, i'll go have a look. I didnt bother rehydrating it because I wasnt to sure how it was done. Yes im a noob.
I had warm water in my fermenting bin when I added the yeast, it went mental for the first night. Now its just bubling slowing.
Gravity was on day one 1.038, two nights ago (day 3 i think) it was 1.018. I also moved mine next to a radiator as fermentation was nearly at a stand still. Im no longer checking on it until day 8 because I disturbed it slightly when I moved it.
The sample I took tasted rather sharp, hasnt retained any of the lovely caramel smell the wort had. Not as sharp as Best ale but its getting close.
I've also got Admirals Reserve
I've got the kit with the plastic keg and I've read its not that air tight at all. I ordered brand name yeast, cant remember what it is, i'll go have a look. I didnt bother rehydrating it because I wasnt to sure how it was done. Yes im a noob.
I had warm water in my fermenting bin when I added the yeast, it went mental for the first night. Now its just bubling slowing.
Gravity was on day one 1.038, two nights ago (day 3 i think) it was 1.018. I also moved mine next to a radiator as fermentation was nearly at a stand still. Im no longer checking on it until day 8 because I disturbed it slightly when I moved it.
The sample I took tasted rather sharp, hasnt retained any of the lovely caramel smell the wort had. Not as sharp as Best ale but its getting close.
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stevezx7r
The best advice I can give would be to leave it for a full ten days for the yeast to make the beer then clear up it by-product flavours. Next on the list would be to leave it in a constant temperature range upto a max of 25C. Once done, transfer as normal and leave in the same temp for say a week then you can transfer it to somewhere cooler to condition for a further three weeks.
The slight vinegary taste could simply be the style you've bought. If it was "off" you wouldn't be thinking of throwing it down the drain, you'd have already done it.
The fact it's cloudy tells me it needs more time in the cool to have the yeast drop out of suspension.
At this stage I would be thinking of using finings although some get better results than others. Pop into your local super market and get some gelatine powder (used for making jelly) and stir some in (not done this myself so how much is up to you).
Anyway, hope that helps a bit.
As a side note, one thing I always noticed when making kits (I've since gone all grain) they have no "real" hop flavour. If you want to improve any kit (especially the cheap ones from Wilkos etc.) is to get £4 (~100g) worth of any hop you fancy from your local HB shop and throw in an ounce (28g) of hops as the taste difference is amazing.
The slight vinegary taste could simply be the style you've bought. If it was "off" you wouldn't be thinking of throwing it down the drain, you'd have already done it.
The fact it's cloudy tells me it needs more time in the cool to have the yeast drop out of suspension.
At this stage I would be thinking of using finings although some get better results than others. Pop into your local super market and get some gelatine powder (used for making jelly) and stir some in (not done this myself so how much is up to you).
Anyway, hope that helps a bit.
As a side note, one thing I always noticed when making kits (I've since gone all grain) they have no "real" hop flavour. If you want to improve any kit (especially the cheap ones from Wilkos etc.) is to get £4 (~100g) worth of any hop you fancy from your local HB shop and throw in an ounce (28g) of hops as the taste difference is amazing.
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bodmin
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stevezx7r
It depends on what result your after.bodmin wrote:hello steve.
I have noticed that quite a few people throw extra hopps in and all say the results are great, at what point should i be throwing them in and how long should i leave them there?
If you want extra bitterness you could make a hop tea. Get a sterilised pint glass, add X amount of hops (the amount depends on the alpha acid of the hop your using, AA roughly dictates how bitter they can be). Boil some water, add to pint glass and add hops and steep for an hour. Keep the glass insulated so it doesn't get cold (try a thermos flask instead of a pint glass
). Once the bittering qualities of the hops have been released add the lot to the fermenter then make the beer as normal.If you want to add a nice aroma to your beer, get a hop bag - these are usually nylon mesh bags which allow the (finished) beer to mix with the hops, thus releasing the nice aroma of the hops. Do this once the beer is in the keg.
If you want extra bittering/flavour and aroma do the pint glass/thermos thing before you make the beer and once the beer is made add the hop bag before you keg it. Be carefull on the amount you add (go for half an ounce at the start and another half for the aroma addition) as you can make a nice light ale turn green.
It's all experimentation but once you've added a dose of hops you'll soon be looking into going all grain
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bodmin
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Jaoqua
OK, I've done it. I was going to sprinkle a sachet of gelatine into the keg, but just at the last minute I got Google involved for advice and found...stevezx7r wrote:At this stage I would be thinking of using finings although some get better results than others. Pop into your local super market and get some gelatine powder (used for making jelly) and stir some in (not done this myself so how much is up to you).
Gelatin Finings (dried form)
Positively charged fining agent for wine and beer. The most powerful of the organic finings, gelatin will also remove excess tannins (polyphenolics) and colouring particles (melanoidins) from wine. Use 1.5 g per 23 litres of beer, 3 g per 23 litres of wine. Pour 125 ml of boiling water over gelatin powder, stirring to dissolve. Stir thoroughly into wine. 5 ml (one teaspoon) = approximately 3 g. Using more than the recommended amount will remove too much of the colour and flavour compounds from wine and some of the body from beer.
So it looks like I'd've ended up with beer jelly or just clear water. In the end I dissolved a fraction of a teaspoon of powder in some hot water and stirred it in.
I'll give it a week, then I'll report back. As the saying goes: "Good judgement comes from experience - most of which comes from bad judgement.". Just let it be my bad judgement, not yours.