A beginners question on carbonation

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Badbrew

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Hey all,

Ive just started my journey into brewing and after an indifferent first kit (that looking back, I messed a fair few bits up) im now on to my second kit!

I have a question about carbonation - for a kit lager, is it sufficient to leave it in a bottle for a week before placing it in the fridge or does it need longer? (or less time).

Hopefully this is part of the process I wont completely mess up this time!

Cheers
 
General rule is 2,2,2

2 weeks ferment, 2 weeks condition in warm place, 2 weeks in the cold.
 
thankyou for your comments so far.

In response to the above - im just using a kit. Its a "Ultimate Brewery Classics - German Pilsner Lager". From the ingredients section it states:

Briess Pure Concentrated Brewers wort
Brewers Yeast
Hop Extract

Hope that helps!
 
Patience is the hardest brewing 'skill' to acquire especially when starting out, but one thing to be mindful of is that kit instructions printed on the pack outside are aimed at marketing and selling you the kit so the time periods it suggests can be optimistic..

the only real answer is it takes as long as it takes, by all means pull a beer or too out of the warm and chill them for a sample its your beer you sup it whenever you want ;)

However dont be disillusioned if its not at its best, lay it back down for a week or 2 more and sample again ;)

the step glossed over by the kit instructions is maturing, some beers will benefit from a longer maturing period than others, so if kit #1 was a quaffable pint in 4 weeks brew # 2 may need 8 weeks to mature to its best, then again you may have a taste for what i may consider green beer , its all subjective ..
 
I tend to crack a bottle open and see how it's doing. Who can wait anyway? I leave a week or 2 between openings, and when it's right, down into the cellar. I've never found any consistency on timing; maybe with one type of kit/beer, but not different brews.

Just moved a batch downstairs today (cornie overflow). 2 weeks ago it was pretty flat. Today it's just right. Even the fairly flat ones go down well.
 
Im drinking a Beerworks Gold Digger Lager kit after 1 week carbing up and its not too shabby, the only ones usually ready that quick are Coopers imo. But yes,its a matter of taste it and see,what a great hobby eh?
 
Not done a lager but always do a few plastic bottles as they are a good indicator of carbonation. Mostly i have been leaving my beers for around 10 days to carbonate and place in my cooler for a week. having said that i have just opened a bottle of my extract bitter which was only carbed for around 8 days and wasn't full either( it was my last bottle to fill and ended up short at around 3/4 bottle) but wasn't going to waste the beer:lol:. I stuck it in the fridge for a couple of hours and opened it thinking it would possibly be flatish and not good
result- luvly:mrgreen:
 
Jumping on the back end of this thread for a question on carbonating an IPA or a stout... what's the best method? Carbonation drops or honey or normal sugar?
 
Brewing sugar for me
5g per litre tipped into the fv ten minutes before bottling does the trick for me although i may not be the best person to answer as my methods are basic,works though
 
I don't like honey as it can impart a flavour, plus you need to boil it first really. And my brew buddy blew up a mini keg and some swing tops using honey.

I have mead from a year ago that is still fermenting.

Normal sugar or brewing sugar for me.

I bought carb drops once because they were out of date, good as no funnel or messing around. But not as cheap as sugar. Edit- if you buy them full price

Its the same age old question really. ;-)
 
brumbrew said:
I don't like honey as it can impart a flavour, plus you need to boil it first really. And my brew buddy blew up a mini keg and some swing tops using honey.

I have mead from a year ago that is still fermenting.

Normal sugar or brewing sugar for me.

I bought carb drops once because they were out of date, good as no funnel or messing around. But not as cheap as sugar. Edit- if you buy them full price

Its the same age old question really. ;-)
Click to expand...

If using carb drops is it one per bottle?

And if using sugar or brewing sugar would you also agree with the previous comment of 5g per litre?
 
AlanManley said:
If using carb drops is it one per bottle?

And if using sugar or brewing sugar would you also agree with the previous comment of 5g per litre?
Click to expand...

Alot of people will prime at the same rate for every beer and I can understand it, it works fine for them..

On occasion you may want to prime for a style though, 5g per liter is a pretty good universal measurement but if you was doing an English pale ale/ ESB vs a lager or a wheat beer it would be different ends of the spectrum.

one drop should be fine but its best to do away with them in the end
 

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