Couple of newbie questions

[marty27]

Hi all - I'm halfway through my very first brew (using the Young's Microbrewery all-in-one box, with Woodford's Wherry beer kit) and I've got a few questions which are still puzzling me.

My progress so far: I just siphoned into my secondary keg today after 7 days in the primary vessel, and - dare I say it - things seem to be going ok?! :shock: It certainly smells nice, and the blizzard of activity I saw during the first 4 days had left a massive pool of gunk at the bottom of my primary vessel (pretty nasty looking stuff - but I'm assuming a good sign?). My hydrometer reading of 1020 did disappoint me a bit, but I've seen a few posts saying that's a common occurrence for Wherry, so I'm not overly worried. Anyway, on with my questions:


1. This will have a few people facepalming, but it's a genuine query. When my keg is ready after a couple of weeks, I don't really plan on keeping it in the fridge due to lack of space. I would much rather bottle it at that point via the spigget, but my concern is that once the beer comes out the barrel it'll decarbonate rapidly (frothing up etc). Is this the case? If so, do I need to do a kind of tertiary fermenting with yet another round of sugar? Or is it simple a no-no to do primary vessel -> secondary vessel -> bottle?

2. A temperature query. I bought a brew belt which is heating up nicely, but I'm not convinced how big an impact it's having. Does anyone have an opinion about whether the brew belt is really as good as it claims? (I'm contending with chilly garage temperatures in London, so I'm concerned here). What's more, is my stick-on plastic thermometer reading going to be distorted by proximity to the brew belt? (And also is it reading outside temp, or the temp of the liquid?)

3. The Microbrewery package comes with a CO2 bulb which apparently allows me to keep the internal pressure up once the keg is half empty. That's great - but I can't get my head around the science of this. If I don't use the CO2 bulb, does this mean that all the air in the keg will allow the second half of my brew to decarbonate rapidly, thereby becoming flat? (Beginning to wish I'd just bottled!)

4. The air lock that comes with the Microbrewery is a big disappointment. Most of the time it bubbles away nicely, but on a couple of occasions I've returned home to discover that the loose-fitting lid of the lock has literally blown off the top, landing a couple of feet away from the vessel. I am guessing it's because water around the rim made it airtight (there's no tiny holes - surely a design flaw?), thus allowing pressure to build and then blasting it off. Is this the correct diagnosis, and should I just buy a sturdier air lock?

5. Despite my very best efforts, a little bit of the aforementioned gunk from the primary vessel did make its way into my secondary keg. Is this going to be a big problem? (I've seen a nice looking anti-sediment product for bottles here - http://sedexbrewing.com/ - but it's not so cheap when shipped from Oz, and anyway I think it only works on screw-on bottles).


That's everything. I gotta say notwithstanding some confusion :wha: at times this is proving to be a great hobby. The FAQs on this forum have been great and I've also found this YouTube guy http://www.youtube.com/user/CraigTube to be quite helpful (he seems to be for ultra-newbies like me). Anyway happy brewing and thanks all for your words of wisdom on the forum!

Best,

M

PS I managed to break the grommet on my Microbrewery while I was washing up today. Don't suppose anyone knows the specification so I can get a quick replacement? Keen to start a new batch!

 

[Hollow Legs]

Marty27, Hi, the brewbelt is good for raising the temp by 5 degrees, so if your garage is 12 deg then it will only raise the temp to 17 deg etc etc. As for the stick on LED thermometer it usually reads the temp of the liquid inside the Fv but if you have the brewbelt over the thermometer then it will be reading the temp that the brewbelt is outputting (I place the lead over the thermometer not the orange bit)

Colin

 

[mickeyt69]

1. DO not keg your beer just leave it in secondry then when readyto bottle rack it into another vessel with the required amount of disolved sugar or DME this is called batch priming then bottle and cap after a few weeks it will be carbonated and ready to drink.

2. Brew belt is ok to get things started after a stuck ferment but it is important to keep a constant temp throughout fermentation for the best results

3 There will be no air in your keg just c02 under pressure which should keep your ale carbonated

4 buy a sturdier airlock but not a major problem

5 dont worry about the sediment best to avoid it but everyone gets a bit in its just spent yeast

hope some of this helps i am drunk and tired so apologies for any mistakes and enjoy your brewing : : :thumb:

 

[Merry]

In most cases once primed the idea is to transfer the beer into the vessel it will be dispensed from, i.e. keg or bottle, where conditioning will take place. It is quite possible to use the keg to bottle from, just be aware that if you allow the pressure to build in the keg (i.e. if you try to carbonate) you're going to find bottling very messy.

Also, don't be tempted to bottle direct from the tap without using a bottling stick, or at least some syphon tube, or you will introduce too much oxygen during the process.

My main concern at this point though would be the stuck fermentation. This thread has plenty of advice:
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=15082

I would use a tsp of yeast nutrient myself. Since I used to suffer stuck fermentations all the time I now add it as a matter of course when pitching the yeast and haven't had a problem since.

 

[marty27]

Awesome thanks for the feedback guys :thumb:

@HollowLegs I had suspected as much - the belt guide claims it can offset temps as low as 5 degrees celcius (bringing it up to 20!) and I was sure that's bull. It is still a useful piece of kit though, until I get a thermostat.

@Mickeyt69 Do you mean I should transfer into the secondary keg, but literally just leave it a few minutes (to allow the sugar to dissolve) and then bottle straight away? I wish I'd done this to begin with now as it sounds much simpler - will get a bottling wand asap. Only concern is that the sugar might be absorbed unevenly / sink to the bottom, but noone seems to have mentioned this being a problem.

@Merry I hear you re the stuck fermentation and yep I'd already read through that thread, was very helpful. I'm definitely going to order some yeast nutrient, and next time think I'll allow more than 7 days. Cheers for flagging up the danger of bottling from tap too - as above will be ordering a bottling wand to aid in this.

My brew's been sitting in the keg for 24hours now in fairly warm temperatures, so I'm guessing the opportunity to quickly bottle will have now passed (as it'll have started building pressure)? Something to remember for next time. Now my only real concern is that I didn't purge the oxygen whilst filling keg, and as you can see from pic there's quite a bit of air space above the brew. Hopefully it won't matter but we'll see.

EDIT: And I just realised I added the sugar after siphong, instead of before, and then did not stir. Worried about uneven carbonation now having watched this vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6wnVFsGdv0&#t=5m22s . Should I give it a quick stir or just leave as is? (It's been in pressure barrle for 24hrs now)

Cheers :

M

 

[luckyeddie]

Slosh it around to dissolve the sugar. If it's only been in secondary for 24 hours or so, that's not a lot of time to sacrifice. If it had been lagering for a fortnight, that would be another matter.

 

[marty27]

Sloshed as advised!

Now the hard part: waiting two weeks. :pray:

Thanks again

 

[luckyeddie]

I love the 'safety helmets' warning on the mat.

I suggest that this style is probably appropriate...