Transfering first brew to pressure barrel

[WER]

Hi all,

I'm getting ready to test my first brew (Wilkos 2 can 'real ale' kit) to see whether it's ready to move to the pressure barrel. It's been in the FV for a little over a week and there doesn't seem to be any activity in the airlock. Going to see what the gravity is tonight and then do another test in a day or two to see whether it's still fermenting.

I have read on the forum about leaving it in the FV for a bit longer - what's the reason for this and will it help the beer develop? I'm worried about it going off somehow if I leave it sitting with all that yeast?

Also, when it comes time to syphon off to the PB (I don't have a tap on the FV), would it be a good idea to add some finings or do you think it would be ok if left to settle on it's own? How long would you suggest leaving it to settle before syphoning?

Once it's in the PB, would you suggest adding some C02 from a canister to pressurise the barrel straight away or would there be enough generated by the secondary fermentation? I was thinking of just letting it do it's thing naturally and only adding extra C02 once the volume of beer goes down and the pressure starts to drop.

Sorry for all the silly questions but keen to understand how best to go about this.

Thanks!

 

[coyspurs]

Hi Wer

Won't do any harm leaving it in the FV for another week or so as this will help clear it a bit more resulting in less sediment in the PB. Don't forget your sugar for conditioning when transferring to PB. This will create its own CO2 to help keep the beer. Once in the PB you do not want to get oxygen in to it as this will turn your beer. Leave in the PB for 3 weeks or longer before sampling, wont normally need the CO2 until the PB is about a third empty. Check all your rubber seals have been Vasalined to help eliminate gas escape. Finings are not normally used on beers (not sure why)

Some one with more knowledge than me will correct any advice I may have given wrongly, good luck with it

 

[mcc111]

The advice I was given is that finnings aren't required for kit beers - they clear up nicely on their own.

Definitely leave it in the FV for a little longer - the only reason it would go off would be because of poor santitation, which would mean it going off whether in a bottle, barrel or FV. Leaving it a little longer will help the flavour - the yeast get rid of any off flavours they created when they started fermenting.

 

[WER]

Thanks for the advice - very helpful!

Cheers,

W

 

[Martibrew]

Hi Wer,
I am fairly new to brewing also. My first brew was a kit(youngs). It was the clearest brew of the six I've done since from extracts. There were no finings supplied and I never added anything that wasn't in the kit.
As another member mentioned previously kits clear up pretty good on their own.