Where's my head at?

[Asalpaws]

I've just finished my second kit brew, I made a Edme super brew lager, I used 500 g of dextrose and 500 g of light spray malt. I left it for 7 days until I got a FG of 1008 giving approximate 4.7 %.

This was then put into Coopers 500 ml PET bottles and I added 1 coopers priming sugar tablet to each.

After 7 days it had cleared so I thought I'd give it a taste. Must say it tasted really good, surprisingly clean and hoppy, however there is almost no head, this really detracts from the experiance. Do you think it will develop some fizz in time or have I just scuppered a whole batch by not adding enough sugar?

If not enough sugar is the issue, could I open each bottle and re-prime them? It would be a pain but better than tossing out all that beer. Help !

 

[eggman]

Sounds like you've got plenty of sugar in there, it takes time for them to carbonate fully. Did you have it in the warm for a week after bottling?
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[pittsy]

you could re prime if all else fails ,but in first place you need to warm it for up to 14 days at around 20c , if no fizz after this it will not increase

 

[Asalpaws]

Thanks for the advice, bottles have been in my attic which is about 16 degrees. I'll give them 14 days. It's not so bad to drink, I just pretend it's bitter!

If I decide to re-prime, should I add some more yeast or will the original yeast still be viable?

 

[eggman]

If they've only been at 16deg since bottling that's not really warm enough to build up good carbonation, i would get them somewhere warmer for week before moving somewhere cooler to condition.
For what it's worth i ignore the times stated on the kits and follow the general advice on this forum which is; ferment for 10-14 days, then after kegging/bottling store at fermenting temp for a week before moving somewhere cool for at least 3 weeks.
You shouldn't need to reprime and definately don't need any more yeast, just give it time at the right temps and it'll come good :thumb:
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[Asalpaws]

Thanks that's reassuring ! I think I need more patience......

 

[Mr BR]

+1 for eggman leave them longer i know its hard but you will get the benefit from it and will notice the difference plus it lets you get another brew on straight after so always drinking 1 and conditioning another and fermenting your next all in the one go never letting your supply run low :)

 

[Asalpaws]

Yeah, sitting on my hands is proving to be the hardest bit!

 

[Asalpaws]

Cool, just opened a bottle of the Edme and it's fizzing away with a good head. I moved them into a room at 18 C for about 10 days, worked out nicely!

 

[Baz Chaz]

Patience is the hardest bit of brewing

... which is why it's good to build up a decent 'stock' :

 

[RobWalker]

the longer in the warm, the better. I made a beer in november and cracked a bottle the other day (it was a christmas beer,) despite having quite a lot of fermentable sugar resulting in a low og, the head and lace were still there on the 1/4 pint when I left it in the cold overnight. time is everything!

 

[graysalchemy]

Priming is a 2 stage process.

Firstly you need to allow the co2 to be made ie allow the yeast to ferment the priming sugar. In order to do this you need to leave it at 19-21c for a week. Once this is done you will have gas in the bottle but NOT in the beer.

To get the gas to be absorbed into the be takes time and lower temperatures, as you will reach greater saturation point at a lower temp. So to do this you need to leave your beer somewhere cool for 1 week per 10 gravity points. By this I mean if you have a beer with an og of 1040 you have 40 gravity points therefore you will have to leave it for 4 weeks somewhere cool to condition. 1050 5 weeks etc.

So all that you have done wrong is not left it long enough. I generally forget about my beer for 8-10 weeks before I start to drink. That is why it is better to brew 10 gallons at a time and brew more frequently. Mature beer tastes so much better than green beer. If you want green beer go to your local pub its probably no more than a few weeks old.

 

[oldstout]

Priming is a 2 stage process.

Firstly you need to allow the co2 to be made ie allow the yeast to ferment the priming sugar. In order to do this you need to leave it at 19-21c for a week. Once this is done you will have gas in the bottle but NOT in the beer.

To get the gas to be absorbed into the be takes time and lower temperatures, as you will reach greater saturation point at a lower temp. So to do this you need to leave your beer somewhere cool for 1 week per 10 gravity points. By this I mean if you have a beer with an og of 1040 you have 40 gravity points therefore you will have to leave it for 4 weeks somewhere cool to condition. 1050 5 weeks etc.

So all that you have done wrong is not left it long enough. I generally forget about my beer for 8-10 weeks before I start to drink. That is why it is better to brew 10 gallons at a time and brew more frequently. Mature beer tastes so much better than green beer. If you want green beer go to your local pub its probably no more than a few weeks old.

Great info!!! :thumb:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:


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[Asalpaws]

Yes that's interesting. Just sat in the sun drinking a pint of the Edme, all ready pretty decent. Think I'll hide it till summer! I've got a St John's Ruby Red bottled and a Brewpacks Lager in the FV so I'm slowly building a "stock"......