Youngs bitter brew query

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shoreboys

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After finding three old sparklets beer kegs in my loft I decided to try a bit of home brew and bought a bucket ,syphon and a youngs bitter syrup tin , it has now been fermenting in my airing cupboard for 7 days . The hydrometer has a white ,red and yellow marks and according to the instructions it needs to be 1.006 in the yellow zone before you can transfer to a keg . Any way it seems to be stuck at the top of the red zone . Should I wait or shall I transfer to a keg as it has been 7 days?
Also on the the kegs I found two have screw tops with no pressure relief valves and one has a bulb system for gas with what looks like a pressure relief valve any advice on which might be the better one to use? also is it safe to use the kegs without the relief valves?
Any advice appreciated?
Keith
 
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Like this one?
 
Just come home from work and reading is 1.006 which is as recommended ,so going to keg
 
Yey :) On the subject of the kegs, I use one and I have both tops.

You shouldn't have to RELEASE pressure, that valve is there to inject CO2 when the beer in the keg isn't producing enough of its own. This means a vaccum forms and big bubble of air gets sucked in through the tap instead of beer coming out, which is obviously not what you want and could potentially lead to oxidisation. Injecting CO2 in the top gtes that pressure back and forces the beer out.

That's all better for lager though, as it tends to give the brew more fizz and head. If it's bitter you've brewed, there's nothing wrong with fitting the normal lid and if a vaccum forms (which it may or may not, depending on the brew), get the pressure back by the simple expedient of lossening the lid a tad and letting some air in. Gravity will do its work, the beer won't oxidise with those amounts and all will be well.

Hope that helps
 
Thanks for for this as I wasn't sure , Iwent to use the keg with screw top only but found when I was cleaning it the tap was dripping alot. so I cleaned the other keg with the valve on it which seems fine nodripping tap. you are correct it has one of those bulbs in the top for air injection. I just won't use the valve ,I enjoy ale which isn't gassy .
It smelt really good when draining it from the bucket,cannot wait to taste my first brew!
 
No problem. Funnily enough it's fairly difficult to find a lot of info about how to use kegs that aren't cornelius ones. Just because the valve is there you don't have to use it, experience is the best way to find these things out :)

Hope it tastes good! How long are you leaving it to mature?
 
If you have a search around you should be able to identify your keg/pressure barrel from photos in various posts . Then its fairly easy to find spare parts and replacement seal kits for about 4 quid .You must remember to use vaseline on the seals though , or so everyone says . I have a sneaking suspicion that we are told that as the petroleum gel rots any rubber leading to us buying more seals ! :? Seriously though , most of the seals are synthetic these days so thats not a worry - get that vaz on them there threads ! :thumb:
 
Oh , and its best to ignore the colour bands on hydrometers . Theres no unified system so they dont compare with each other and each beer may have different needs so go by the numbers . ;)
 
Thanks for all the advice this forum is so good for novices like me , if my first brew goes OK I will certainly try another one.
the instructions said to keep the keg in a warm place for 2 days before moving it to a cooler place which I have now done . I have moved the keg into a utility room which has no heating whatsoever would anyone know if this means it will affect when it would be ready? my instructions say 7-10 days in a cool place but gives no indication of temperature? at the moment this is pretty cold.

The instructions with these kits are so basic I will definitely get a book and read up next time.
Also I should have tested the kegs were OK before I started this,I was lucky one of the barrels was OK hindsight if only you could bottle it!
Will be sampling next week fingers crossed!!
 
Thanks for all the advice this forum is so good for novices like me , if my first brew goes OK I will certainly try another one.
the instructions said to keep the keg in a warm place for 2 days before moving it to a cooler place which I have now done . I have moved the keg into a utility room which has no heating whatsoever would anyone know if this means it will affect when it would be ready? my instructions say 7-10 days in a cool place but gives no indication of temperature? at the moment this is pretty cold.

The instructions with these kits are so basic I will definitely get a book and read up next time.
Also I should have tested the kegs were OK before I started this,I was lucky one of the barrels was OK hindsight if only you could bottle it!
Will be sampling next week fingers crossed!!
 
2 days is quite short for leaving it in the warm as it won't of had alot of time to build up pressure, the times stated on the kits are very optimistic to say the least!
I ferment my brews for 10-14 days then keg or bottle, then leave in the warm for at least a week, then i move it somewhere cooler for at least 3 weeks.
:cheers:
 
eggman said:
2 days is quite short for leaving it in the warm as it won't of had alot of time to build up pressure, the times stated on the kits are very optimistic to say the least!
I ferment my brews for 10-14 days then keg or bottle, then leave in the warm for at least a week, then i move it somewhere cooler for at least 3 weeks.

Eggman has given you some spot on advice there.

Get it back in the warm mate, then it will be fine.
 
Thanks for advice have moved back into a warmer room, but not my airiing cupboard as the Mrs will moan again, need to stay in good books over Xmas!!
 
For your next kit you might find that the airing cupboard is it a bit too hot, you want to be fermenting most kits (maybe not some of the Belgian kits) at about 20 degrees, more like normal room temp than warm airing cupboard. A slightly cooler slower fermentation gives better results.
I'm convinced this is why the homebrew I made as a teen in the 80's always tasted a bit dodgy....and as an added bonus the Mrs will probably be happier too :thumb:
 

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