Kegged, now how long to wait?

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jkw1000

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I just kegged a German Pilsner last week Wednesday and placed it in the frig after kegging. I force carbonated it and broke down and tasted it last night. My thoughts are it tasted yeasty and wasn't all that great. I don't think I have an infection, but was thinking two possible things. First is maybe I pulled some minor settlement that maybe happened in the keg in my small glass I poured. Second is, maybe I need to wait longer for it to come into its prime. So my question is, how long do you all wait before tapping your kegs and pour cold ones for friends? I know different beers may require different times.
Thanks,
 
Did you lager it prior to kegging? If so, you shouldn't have much yeast in it. Whatever has settled should be sucked up pretty quick leaving you with clear beer.

If you didn't lager it, I'd give it another week and draw out the sediment, then give it another few weeks cold conditioning.
 
Okay, thanks! I didn't lager. I must admit, I'm not even sure what that entails. Sounds like a research topic for tonight!
 
jkw1000 said:
Okay, thanks! I didn't lager. I must admit, I'm not even sure what that entails. Sounds like a research topic for tonight!
Click to expand...

Means "to store"...essentially just extended cold storage. Leave it in the keg in the fridge and come back in February.
 
Um, maybe a smarta@@ question, but did you use lager yeast? And what temperature did you ferment at? For how long? I am thinking that if you used an ale yeast, you would indeed be tasting some yeast.
 
Whether it's a real lager using a lager strain or a faux lager using ale yeast, a lagering period of 4-5 weeks at 34-38*F is going to help it.

Something you can adopt in the future to help avoid your beer being "yeasty" is to, once fermentation is done, move the primary into lagering temps for 5-7 days before racking to the keg. It will really help to clear the beer and firm up the yeast cake. Also, be careful when moving the fermenter just before kegging and try to not suck stuff up with the auto siphon.
 
I used White Labs WLP810 San Francisco Lager Yeast. No temp controlled frig. I used the wet towel wrap and fermented at 60 ish per thermometer. I live in Florida. Fermented for 2 weeks.
 
I like the tip about putting in the refrigerator to harden cake. Also I do have to admit that I'm pretty aggressive of getting every ounce of beer out of the fermenter that I can. I probably need to sacrifice a little bit for quality. I do realize that. Maybe I'll do that on the next batch that I brew to test that out of the same beer.
 
Is a frig where we put beer if it's been bad, yet still on a boat?

OP you will be amazed at the flavor changes your kegged brew goes through over time (in a good way, unless you're a hop head) . I had no idea, until I experienced it myself.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Home Brew mobile app
 
jkw1000 said:
I used White Labs WLP810 San Francisco Lager Yeast. No temp controlled frig. I used the wet towel wrap and fermented at 60 ish per thermometer. I live in Florida. Fermented for 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

Essentially, with that yeast at those temps you brewed a "steam beer" or California Common rather than a German Pilsner lager. It will taste somewhat different than an actual pilsner, but steam beers can be very nice. I'd still be inclined to cold lager it for a month.
 
Okay, action plan "be patient" is implemented. The brew store had another yeast option (WLP800 Pilsner Lager Yeast), but said since I didn't have temp controlled fermentation, I wouldn't want to use it.
 
Another thing to consider is the level of carbonation. I had an amber lager I just brewed & when it came time to tap it, I wasn't satisfied with the taste. Kinda too sweet, just something off. When I upped the carbonation, it not only tasted better, it tasted great! Think of the example of coke syrup before carbonation & after
 
It's funny you bring that up because it was quite a bit flat. I've boosted the CO2 more in hopes to get that resolved. I have to admit that I didn't boost it to 30psi and shake like heck like I should have. I forgot to and then tried to shake it after it was in, but not under hi pressure. I know better. I've since done that and will taste it after being in there a month. Hopefully the waiting and adjusted CO2 will be good. I'll update this thread when I do.
 
I noticed that some beers if lef tin the system carb up fine in a week, typically most are good in 2 and some take 3 weeks. 36-38 degrees @ 11 psi. I put it in and in a week get a sample if not where I wanted it I wait another week and repeat. The longer it's left the better it seems to taste anyhow.
 
jkw1000 said:
It's funny you bring that up because it was quite a bit flat. I've boosted the CO2 more in hopes to get that resolved. I have to admit that I didn't boost it to 30psi and shake like heck like I should have. I forgot to and then tried to shake it after it was in, but not under hi pressure. I know better. I've since done that and will taste it after being in there a month. Hopefully the waiting and adjusted CO2 will be good. I'll update this thread when I do.
Click to expand...

If your going to let it lager for a month, set the co2 to what you want it to finish at, 10-12 probably, and let it sit at that pressure. In a month, it will be at the perfect carbonation. This is a lot easier than going high psi then trying to dial it down before over carbing.
 
November said:
If your going to let it lager for a month, set the co2 to what you want it to finish at, 10-12 probably, and let it sit at that pressure. In a month, it will be at the perfect carbonation. This is a lot easier than going high psi then trying to dial it down before over carbing.
Click to expand...

+1... I find after 2 weeks it's drinkable, 3 perfect.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Home Brew mobile app
 
Update. Carbonation is fine. Color is clearing up and taste is 50% percent better. Operation patience is paying off.
 
Last update. I wasn't happy with the brew, so I focused my consumption on killing that keg versus others. I just cleaned the keg and noticed a significant amount if sediment. I think I picked up sediment from fermenter. To aggressive on siphoning and also made the mistake of moving Carboy to rough minutes before siphoning too. Bought a racking cane and won't move Carboy. Can't wait to brew it again to see if that was it.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
jkw1000 said:
Last update. I wasn't happy with the brew, so I focused my consumption on killing that keg versus others. I just cleaned the keg and noticed a significant amount if sediment. I think I picked up sediment from fermenter. To aggressive on siphoning and also made the mistake of moving Carboy to rough minutes before siphoning too. Bought a racking cane and won't move Carboy. Can't wait to brew it again to see if that was it.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

No worries. You're learning some important brew practices and will only get better at this.

Cold crash that next batch for a week before racking to the keg, be careful to not suck up any of the yeast cake and you'll be very pleased.;)
 

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