Pressure fermenting lager experiment

[Jer]

Great... thanks for the link

[f00b4r]

Hi McMullan
What scales are you using to gauge the corny weight during transfer? I like your set up

Very cheap and cheerful. Got mine a couple years ago for about 17 quid. Not a precision instrument, of course, but good enough to measure 20kg beer.

I guess the question is, can you disable the auto power off?

[McMullan]

Hi McMullan
What scales are you using to gauge the corny weight during transfer? I like your set up

Very cheap and cheerful. Got mine a couple years ago for about 17 quid. Not a precision instrument, of course, but good enough to measure 20kg beer.

I guess the question is, can you disable the auto power off?

Not sure. I think it would take some electronic tinkering. As long as beer is transferring (mass changes) it stays on, but a PITA otherwise. I just note the weight of the empty keg with transfer line and add that to expected 20 or 19kg.

Edit: actually it might be possible to bypass auto off if it's powered by plugging it in rather than using batteries. It wasn't supplied with a power cable so I'll need to find one that fits.

[john luc]

If you buy the old school type like I did €9 then it just has a BIG clock that also has a magnifying glass on it. I'd say it was design so when you bend over to peep past your belly you can read the number

[McMullan]

Hi McMullan
What scales are you using to gauge the corny weight during transfer? I like your set up

Very cheap and cheerful. Got mine a couple years ago for about 17 quid. Not a precision instrument, of course, but good enough to measure 20kg beer.

I guess the question is, can you disable the auto power off?

Yes, it appears so, using a 5V mains adaptor rather than batteries bypasses the auto power off. I've lost count of the expletives discharged due to it switching off automatically too over the last couple years. And all it wanted was to be plugged in

[f00b4r]

Very cheap and cheerful. Got mine a couple years ago for about 17 quid. Not a precision instrument, of course, but good enough to measure 20kg beer.

I guess the question is, can you disable the auto power off?

Yes, it appears so, using a 5V mains adaptor rather than batteries bypasses the auto power off. I've lost count of the expletives discharged due to it switching off automatically too over the last couple years. And all it wanted was to be plugged in

Good news!

[McMullan]

If you buy the old school type like I did €9 then it just has a BIG clock that also has a magnifying glass on it. I'd say it was design so when you bend over to peep past your belly you can read the number

For another €120 David knob-cheese Heath pushes a Norwegian product (designed by appsters reinventing shit) that can text the weight of a keg. That should get around it Innovative Norway at its ‘finest’. No surprise Norway remains a cowering unreluctant petrostate trying to convince themselves - especially since Monday’s IPCC report - Norwegian fossil fuels are different Loads of shite ideas promoted by dicks like David Heath.

Edit:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bnT_DIt6DUo

[McMullan]

Just sampled after 1 week lagering.

IMG_0494.JPG (920.77 KiB) Viewed 7859 times

I think it’s actually ready, to be honest. A nice, refreshing Pilsner. Nice balance of subtle hop aroma with ‘bready’ malt on the nose. Much of the same in the mouth, complimented with a nice bitterness and ‘noble’ hop flavour. Pretty dry (attenuation was a tad over 80%), light-medium body. Relatively high (for me) carbonation level actually works well in this beer. The ‘acidity’ from the CO2 adds to the refreshing crispness. Ends with a lingering spicy ‘Saaz’.

I like it. It surpasses my expectations. Especially as the first week seemed to be a write-off. Essentially 3 weeks to produce a pretty decent Pilsner at 5.6% ABV. It’s not the best Pilsner I’ve had, but it’s considerably better than the mass produced shite sold in supermarkets. It’s not fizzy p*ss water with a lingering metallic aftertaste, that’s for sure. Much more pleasant and interesting. It’s encouraged me to marinate a chicken overnight to turn on the BBQ tomorrow for a nice balti with homemade naan. Sorry, I’ve just dribbled over the keyboard.

[Northern Brewer]

Anyway, it got me thinking about how CAMRA might view my lager. It’s a live, naturally conditioned beer fermented with real yeast, right? So I thought I’d look up CAMRA’s website for any views expressed about lager. I was half expecting to be brutally accused of storing kegs of ‘piss’ in my basement, but I didn’t find any views expressed about lager at all.

There was quite a fad among CAMRA local festivals a few years ago, for having at least one cask of cask-conditioned lager, so it's not something they have a problem with in principle as long as it follows the Holy Writ of being cask-conditioned. Obviously they're not as cold and not as fizzy as keg lager, and it can be argued that it's enough to take them away from most people's idea of lager, but they can be really nice drinks in their own right.

Whilst we're on the subject, if you're into lager then it's worth seeing if you can get hold of some Hana malt from Crisp, which is the "original" Czech malting barley and which makes terrific lager. It's only made in tiny quantities though, a couple of fields' worth, but most suppliers who deal with Crisp should be able to get their hands on it.

[McMullan]

I am enjoying the challenge of brewing lagers. A cask lager sounds great for a day event. I had some very nice German lagers that weren't served ice cold or overly carbonated. Aiming for something close to that in a cask sounds like a fun project for next summer. The Hana malt sounds interesting too. It doesn't seem to be available locally. If my preferred LHBS can't get any in, I'll get enough for a single batch added to one of my 'gift' boxes. Cheers.