Am I making mistakes?

[Fruitloopy]

Hi All

Another new and bored lockdown member but thanks for letting me join.

I'm on my second brew now and I'm concerned I am doing something wrong resulting in questionable results.
My first attempt was a Woodfords Wherry kit I bought from Tesco for £20 which I thought was a good deal considering it came with a fermenting bin, spoon, hydrometer, hoses and of course...beer! I have done home brew many years ago and I remember the bottles were a massive pain in the ass so I bought a pressure barrel from Wilco's instead. Happy days, boredom reducing beer here we come!
To keep a constant temperature I bought a warming mat and the Inkbird ITC-308 temperature controller because the central heating in my house is all over the place.
Everything seemed to be ok. I was careful to keep things clean and when first fermentation ended I successfully siphoned it off into the PB. PB stayed on the warming mat at around 19.5 degrees for a couple of days then I switched it off so probably around 16 degrees for a couple of weeks as instructed.

With anticipation I poured a small amount into a clean glass. There was plenty of pressure but the beer was a bit cloudy, almost but not quite clear and it smelled a bit yeasty. I gave it another week, bought another PB and started up a Muntons Continental Lager while I waited. Tried another glass and it hadn't really improved much. After reading some info about beer not always being as crystal clear as a commercial beer I tried to enjoy a few pints.

Oh dear...

I was farting all night! I think some of the wallpaper has peeled off! Chemical warfare in the bedroom! My guts were none too pretty and I felt burpy for a couple of days afterwards.

I gave it a few more days but it still hadn't cleared so I've thrown it all away and now starting up a Courage Directors.

The lager should have finished its second fermentation but it is not clearing either. It's been two and a half weeks so now I am worried about that.

Am I doing something wrong? Why will it not clear?

Thanks in advance

 

[Clint]

Did it taste ok otherwise? For it clear it needs to go somewhere a bit cooler,under 10c.

 

[Fruitloopy]

The taste was not what I would expect from an ale and a friend of mine said it was a bit yeasty. For the lager I have put it in my outhouse which is around 1 or 2 degrees higher than the outside temperature but even after a couple of days it still isn't clear. Again there's pressure in the barrel but the lager seems to be as flat as an ale.

 

[Rodcx500z]

You don't mention how long you ferment for, the norm is 2 weeks if it's finished by then put it some were cold for 2 or 3 days this will help it clear then prime and put it in your pb in the warm for at least 7 days then back in the cold for a week and you should have clear beer, good advice i got on here is follow the 2+2+2 rule ignore the instructions that come with the kit you can't make decent beer in 21 days, well not from a kit

 

[Fruitloopy]

First fermentation was for 7 days, after that I added the sugar to the PB, siphoned out from the FV then kept it warm for 2 days. After that it was kept at around 16-18 degrees for 2 weeks. I did put it in the colder outhouse for a week but it didn't help.
Am I just being impatient then? Should I have left it longer?

 

[Ezza]

I do two weeks in Primary then rack to secondary for further two weeks then bottle/keg,so far never had a problem.

 

[Surfingobo]

Rule of thumb is 2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary (pressure barrel) with sugar to prime, 2 weeks conditioning (preferably cool)

 

[Clint]

You don't mention how long you ferment for, the norm is 2 weeks if it's finished by then put it some were cold for 2 or 3 days this will help it clear then prime and put it in your pb in the warm for at least 7 days then back in the cold for a week and you should have clear beer, good advice i got on here is follow the 2+2+2 rule ignore the instructions that come with the kit you can't make decent beer in 21 days, well not from a kit

THIS!

 

[Fruitloopy]

So do you mean 2 weeks in the fermentation bin then transfer to PB with sugar and keep in the warm for two weeks then two more weeks in the cold?

 

[Clint]

Yes.

 

[Fruitloopy]

Sounds like a good plan. I'll leave the lager alone in the cold for a couple of weeks and hope for the best.
I'll follow this plan for the Directors I've just started then.
Thanks for the advice everyone

 

[darkbright]

It a mistake everyone makes - don't believe the instructions. Most manufacturers want to give the impression you can have great beer really quickly. It probably takes twice as long as they advise and then a few weeks on top of that.

If you get a few FVs you can plan for the future so you never have to be without beer for too long. But that is the start of a slippery (but brilliant) slope.

 

[Fruitloopy]

Thanks I'll hear that in mind now. I have a separate post about FVs. Are there any reasonably priced ones out there?

 

[Clint]

A standard plastic fv is really all you need. Cleaning,sanitising and patience are the things you need to master.

 

[darkbright]

Thanks I'll hear that in mind now. I have a separate post about FVs. Are there any reasonably priced ones out there?

Prob about £10 in Wilkos. The range also does some cheap gear.

 

[Surfingobo]

So do you mean 2 weeks in the fermentation bin then transfer to PB with sugar and keep in the warm for two weeks then two more weeks in the cold?

Definitely. The first two weeks allow fermentation to complete. I’m not saying you can’t make this step shorter but that is something that you will get a feel for as you get more experience

second two weeks with priming sugar in a warm place allows the beverage to carbonate.I use table sugar and I find that it takes the full two weeks to lose the green apple flavour I get from table sugar (this seems to be subjective, some people can’t use table sugar at all because they never get rid of the taste, some don’t seem to detect it at all.

last two weeks allow for the beer to drop clear and “condition”. By all means try a half pint during this time especially as you are using a barrel so can just pour a bit out.

lastly, I found I didn’t really love the wherry kit until approx 2.5 months in the bottle, at which point it turned into one of the best kit beers I’ve tried. I haven’t found the same issue with hoppier kit beers or all grain brews.

 

[AXW123]

I agree with all of the above. Patience really is the key. Sometimes I’ve had beers which have taken several months to come good. I’ve had a few kits which were undrinkable at four week but four months later we’re really nice. Beer is rarely going to be ready in anything less than six weeks. As for the farting - It can be a bit of a an occupational hazard!! I would also consider putting a few pints in bottles even though you don’t like bottling - it does give you the opportunity to see what’s going out on with your beer without disturbing it. Clear pet bottles such as soft drinks or tonic bottles are ideal for that. You can then at least remove the pressure barrel as a further reason for failure.

 

[TonyT]

As everyone is saying, it really is down to patience, which is an art in itself.

You’ll find that many posters here don’t like pressure barrels for a variety of reasons. I do because I’m not a fan of fizzy beers. The downside, personally, is that it’s far too easy to look at it and think “ I’ll just have a quick squirt to see how it’s getting along”, and before you know whats happened it’s nearly all gone. And by the time you get towards the end you realise that it’s really rather nice and you should have left it for another few weeks.

I always do it and I ever learn!

 

[user 40634]

Hi, another newbie here.
If I intend to bottle rather than keg do I move from the fermentation bin and prime in bottles rather than in a keg before cooling for conditioning? Not sure how I would keep the bottles warm.Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Buffers brewery]

I follow the 2+2+2 rule but....the first 2 is only complete after 2 hydrometer readings taken 2 days apart are the same. I then cold crash for 4 days (this sometimes is part of the first 2), cooling the beer down to 4C or less. This helps clear the beer. As I use PBs I batch prime in the PB. (If I were to bottle I think I’d still batch prime, probably in a cheap PB, so I can bottle under pressure rather than just gravity). After 2 weeks in the PB at 18-20C I cool down to 10C for at least 2 weeks before it’s ready.