Almost a brewday as I missed out the Mash Sparge Boil bit

[Frisp]

Well tonight after a 12 year break, previously an AG brewer, I threw a Lager kit in to cook.. felt strange doing a kit but I have given it a go..
All the cleaning and sanitising routines cam back like second nature, and I have to say, this contact, no rinse sanitiser lark is a revelation..

So the kit is just a cheap and cheerfull "Simply" Lager kit, with coopers No1 Enhancer, and WHC Einstein lager yeast bought from TMM .
The OG came in around 1.042 @20C after I brought it up to the 23L mark . In retrospect I shoulda grabbed some Saaz to pimp it with a wee dry hop but hey maybe next time .

Its sat in a cupboard, on a seed heating tray coupled to an inkbird set at 20C +/- 0.3C

Its a bit of an experiment as Its a Chubby pressure fermenter with a spunding valve . currently5 psi @ 20C and ill slowly ramp up the pressure as fermentation progresses. I intend to try crash chill and carbonate it in my fridge before serving direct from the Chubby.. this is a whole new gig for me when I stopped brewing it was still fermentor buckets and SS conicals were what we all aspired to..

As long as the brew is drinklable- ish Ill be happy enough , as its my first Brew getting back in the game its as much learning about this pressurised fermenter lark as chasing a top end gargle ..

PS im curently working on my fantasy AG setup.. and my first brew AG brew will be my old favourite "Big Kenny" by Wez..

 

[MashBag]

I would keep an eye on the pressure the first time

 

[Frisp]

I would keep an eye on the pressure the first time

Like a hawk its already like watching a newborn..

 

[Frisp]

It finished at 1.010 and its gone into the fridge, in teh fermenter, for a crash chill. ill give it a couple of days and transfer it into a keg with some starbright.. aroma is a low hopped lager with a hint of kit beer. lol

 

[MashBag]

Nice. Have you tasted it, is it still on target?

 

[Frisp]

Nice. Have you tasted it, is it still on target?

tastes ok for a kit and Its really well carbonated. I left the hydrometer in the test jar overnight and once all the co2 was out it read 1.009 so it came in at 4.3 abv.
Fermented it with WHC Einstein lager yeast which took about 3 days at 18C to get going. peaked pressure and temp at 23C @15psi on day 9. and slowly dropped the inkbird back to 20C on Thrusday, swithced off and popped it in the fridge at 2C last night. Its still a bit opaque but Ill keg it tomorrow with finings and leave it in the fridge to condition for 3 or 4 weeks and see what its like then.
I have a "Simply" yorkshire ale kit to go in the fermenter next week which should keep me "fluid" while I slowly gather together my AG kit..

 

[Frisp]

I decanted under pressure from the Chubby fermenter into a 20L King keg Jnr with 10ml of starsan (EDIT: I meant to type starbrite) @12psi I got 19.5L in total

2 days in and had a sup, and it tastes of not a lot, its like a very very diluted wattery thing wi a hint of lager

 

[Rwilts]

10ml starsan?? (Scrub the Oxygen??)

 

[Frisp]

10ml starsan?? (Scrub the Oxygen??)

Doh Typo I meant Starbrite... doh

 

[Frisp]

Ok I gave it another day and the starbrite did its stuff..

I pulled a full pint and it looked as clear as beer of this age could look.. I was V happy at this point

Drew myself up tall and took a good glug of pint #1 .... it drank thin and then it hit,
an overpowering battery acid level of bitterness. Its frankly undrinkable.

its overbittered rather than off flavoured.. so I think that brewing this under pressure from pitching has killed every other flavour and over emphasised every darn hop wthin it..

iIt is with much sadness I must declare its going down the sink..

After a good scrub of the fermenter the Yorkshire kit will be going on tomorrow to be fermented with S-04 at atmosphere.

And a BIAB kit and MT/HLT/Kettle ordered up from TMM on Tuesday..