Barreling?! - (Ballihoo Pressure Barrel)

Hi All!

I'm new to this site & brewing so please excuse my ignorance & lack of terminology!!

I'm in the process of attempting my 1st homebrew which is a Youngs Pilsner. It's currently been in the fermentation bucket for 6 days & 2 be honest not much seems to be happening - it has a faint sulphur smell which i read is normal & my hydrometer reading for the last 3 days has been 1022, is this good, bad, indifferent???

Anyway, these concerns aside my main query is that i'm thinking the time must be coming to tranfer my brew to my brand new 'Balliihoo Pressure Barrel With Temperature Indicator '. Trouble is no instructions came with it & there are a couple of things i can't work out, namely:

1) The top of the barrel has a screw cap.On the top of the cap is a plugged hole exactly the same size as the syphon pipe - is this coincedence or do i need to unplug thehole somehow to aide syphoning?!?!?

2) What is the piece of rigid pipe stuck in the end of the syphon pipe for & what is the flimsy plastic 'bung' on the end of it for???

This is the kit i've been bought by the way:http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001RZYJI6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Any help anyone can give me would be much appreciated, i'm also not sure whether i need to prime the brew to give it some fizz prior to transfering into the barrel as no additional sugar or instructions were given for this either?!!?

Sorry - so many questions i know - be great to have some answers!!

Cheers, Ivesy

Well, I'm pretty new at brewing myself, and I've never seen this kit before, but here's my best guesses:

Your hydrometer reading - did you take a reading before adding the yeast? If so, what was it?

1) Looking at this link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001QTH534/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20) it seems that the hole may be a "placeholder" for the nozzle on this cap. In other words, they may manufacture the same cap for both and punch out some of them and add the nozzle.

2) That sounds like a racking cane. Basically, you stick that in your fermenter (with the "bung" still on) and the actual siphon pipe in whatever vessel you are transferring the beer to. It basically does two things. First, the cane itself makes it harder for the fermenter end of things to pop out of the beer and prematurely end your siphon process. Second, the "bung" helps prevent large particles from coming with the beer you are siphoning out.

I'm also not sure whether you have to prime the beer or if they somehow expected it to pressurize (and therefore carbonate) itself in that barrel. It seems that you can pressurize it with CO2, so perhaps that was the intent.

Anyway, all these answers are educated guesses at best. Hope that helps a bit.

Hi Mojo,

Many thanks for your comments, I can se how the racking cane works now...

Just to clarify, if indeed this is where the 'placeholder nozzle' would go - do i just ignore it????

I did take a hydrometer reading when i started - of 1040 & i'm not consistently down to 1022; does this sounds right???

Finally, if anyone else could offer any advice on the priming issue then i would be very grateful...??

Ivesy.

Can anyone else shed any light on my questions - particularly how to add 'fizz' (bearin in mind i don't have a CO2 carboniser)??

It's a snow day here in the UK which = NO WORK!!

So i'd love to take the opportunity to crack on with my brew - but i need HELP!!!

Anybody out there????

Ivesy said:

Can anyone else shed any light on my questions - particularly how to add 'fizz' (bearin in mind i don't have a CO2 carboniser)??

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There's two ways (that I know of) to add "fizz" to beer - directly injecting gas (CO2), and the other is to add priming sugar of some sort and let it condition in the bottle/keg/cask for a week or 2 at the very least (Revvy demands at least three weeks, but for a simple beer, you'd probably be ok at 2weeks). Since you don't have the equipment to directly add the gas, you have to go the priming sugar route.

It's a snow day here in the UK which = NO WORK!!

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So you guys got what, an inch of snow?

Anybody out there????

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There's lots of us out there.

Bonzo,

Thanx for your response... you've confirmed wot I thought on the priming front- any guide on how much to add bearin in mind its a 40 pint brew?? I heard that if u overdo it the barrel might blow!!!

Also, wot do you make of my hydrometer reading: 1040 down to 1022 after 7 days - is this about right?? Its been 1022 steady now for the last 3 days, i read that pilsner really needs to be down to 1006, do u think it will continue to drop once i transfer it to the barrel??

finally, yes you're right an inch or 2 is about all it takes to grind this bloody country to a halt & it's reassuring to know there are plenty of you out there!!!lol

Cheers, ivesy

You need to rouse the yeast by gently swirling the beer. Your attenuation is only 45%, which is not good. I doubt you'll get 1.006, but 1.012 would be reasonable. What yeast did you use?

Ivesy said:

Thanx for your response... you've confirmed wot I thought on the priming front- any guide on how much to add bearin in mind its a 40 pint brew?? I heard that if u overdo it the barrel might blow!!!

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Standard is about 3/4 cups of priming sugar for 5 gallons, which is 40 pints (US).

Also, wot do you make of my hydrometer reading: 1040 down to 1022 after 7 days - is this about right?? Its been 1022 steady now for the last 3 days, i read that pilsner really needs to be down to 1006, do u think it will continue to drop once i transfer it to the barrel??

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That sounds like a high FG especially since you only started at 1.04. Shake the fermenter a bit and make sure the temp is correct for the yeast.

finally, yes you're right an inch or 2 is about all it takes to grind this bloody country to a halt & it's reassuring to know there are plenty of you out there!!!lol

Cheers, ivesy

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My sister lives in Bristol and she just told me they got just under 4 inches. Nobody is going anywhere because the residential roads are too narrow and windy to plow and sand. She also says " everyone says 'we don't get snow' but they've been saying htat everytime it snows, so you would like they woulod take some sort of measures to prepare." The snow is so bad she can't type today

I agree you should be able to get the numbers to around 1.012 after waking up your yeast. It's still a little high for that style of beer. Your fermenting temperature may also be affecting things as well. Its a delicate balance depending on the yeast used.

I agree with other posts. You need to wake up that yeast by slowly swirling. 1022 is very high for a FG and would only give you a ABV of 2.3%.

As for priming, do some searches on here for Revvy's bottling tips. I know you are not bottling, but transfering into that keg typ thing will be the same as transfering into a bottling bucket. You will want 5 ounces (by weight not volume) of priming sugar for 5 gallons. Because I am retarded, you will have to do the conversions.

You should def let this sit first though. 7 days is still pretty early to transfer.

Oh btw, here in the states, we did not get a snow day and someone at work farted and it is awful. Just thought I would share.

Just curious, what temperature are you keeping your beer at? You say you're making a Pilsner, which is a lager. That's just a bit peculiar for first beer, though not unheard of. Lagers also take significantly longer to ferment since you are supposed to ferment them at cooler temperatures, so 7 days is still pretty early on in the fermentation process.

Also, to answer your other question about the cap, I think you can ignore the plugged hole. Just unscrew the cap, stick in your siphon hose, and transfer it that way.

Thank you very much everyone for the advise - I really appreciate the input...

I've now given the fermenting bucket a good swirl to hopefully kick things into action!!!

I'm not sure what yeast was included in the kit, it was just there in a sealed silver packet, i added it to the bucket & stirred vigorously for 5 mins as instructed..

I'm also not sure of the temp, it's in the cupboard under the stairs so is gonna be normal room temp which i'm assuming is ok???

I went for a pilsner because in general lagers are what I drink!! I know a lot of the purists don't have any time for it & maybe as I hopefully find my feet in brewing terms i'll experiment with a few different types of beers & ales but for the moment it's better the devil i know (& quite enjoy 2 b fair!!)

Cheers again everyone,
Ivesy

Ivesy said:

I'm also not sure of the temp, it's in the cupboard under the stairs so is gonna be normal room temp which i'm assuming is ok???

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Lager usually ferments about 7.2 C-12.8 C (45-55F). If you're fermenting at ale temps (55-75F) with lager yeast, you're making a steam beer.

Hey Bonzo!

Thanks again for the info - think i'll have to invest in a thermometer!?!?

Never realised how involved this was going to be although it's all very interesting!

The instructions on the kit are so basic they don't give any hint to the actual complexitites!!

Speak soon.

Ivesy

Ivesy said:

The instructions on the kit are so basic they don't give any hint to the actual complexitites!!

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Yeah, the instructions on kits are very, very basic. In the end you'll get beer, quite likely good beer, but you probably won't get what you expected. I think this is why most homebrewers start off making ale - temp control is less of a hassle; it's easier to warm up than to cool down.

Bonzombiekitty is right, you'll likely end up with beer, just probably not what you expected. That doesn't mean it will be bad, though! The first beer I did was an English Brown Ale. I was expecting it to be pretty bad being my first beer and all, but it has, so far, been the best beer I've made.

Let us know if your fermentation starts to pick back up!

UPDATE!!

Rite, success - sort of?!?!?

After swirling my brew yesterday I took another hydrometer reading tonight & it's dropped to 1014 - I'm assuming that's progress????

As for temperature I've nicked my daughters ThermoEgg & I can now confirm that the temp in the cupboard under the stairs is 15.2C - is that good/bad/indifferent???

Again your feedback would be really helpful....

ps. i'm also realising how useful having a house full of baby equipment is for brewing!! I've got sterilisers, temperature measures, hand steriliser all at my fingertips!!lol

Cheers, Ivesy

Just realised lookin back at Bonzo's previous post that the temp of 15.2 means i'm in the steam beer bracket!! damn - not really sure how i can make it any colder unless i move it to my snow covered back garden?!?!?!!?

Oh well, is steam beer any good?

Ivesy said:

Just realised lookin back at Bonzo's previous post that the temp of 15.2 means i'm in the steam beer bracket!! damn - not really sure how i can make it any colder unless i move it to my snow covered back garden?!?!?!!?

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Bit too late to cool it down anyways. Next time, you'll need a way to keep it cool. If you don't have a fridge large enough, you might want to try a water bath with soda bottles filled with ice. That's harder to maintain the temperature though.

Oh well, is steam beer any good?

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It's a matter of taste. The only steam beer I've can recall having is Anchor Steam. It's alright. Some people really like it. I'm sure there's people here who have made very good steam beers.

I can't comment on lager yeast, but if you end up brewing an ale, be sure you don't go too warm. Ale yeast is known to give very off, unwanted flavors when it gets too warm (exactly what is "too warm" depends on your strain).

Thanks again Bonzo!

Wot do you make of the hydrometer reading coming down to 1014?

Do u think it's worth leaving it over the weekend to see if there's any further movement?

Cheers,

Ivesy

Just answered my own question, found a calculator on this link: http://www.cascadehomebrew.com.au/brewkits/calculators.asp

Says that my brew is currently 3.9%, so i think I will give it a couple more days then move on to the tricky task of syphoning into a barrel - Any tips are more than welcome????

Ivesy

Ivesy said:

Do u think it's worth leaving it over the weekend to see if there's any further movement?

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Yes. Common practice is after the beer has been fermenting for a few days to take one hydro reading and then two days later, take another. If the reading is the same, fermentation is done. If it has changed, wait another two days. Repeat the process until you get two days of the same reading. What to do at the point that the fermentation is done is up to you. It's safe to bottle, but most people will let it sit for another week or two either in the primary or in a secondary before bottling/kegging.

Caveat to all this is if your gravity measurement is WAY off what you expect it to be. Let's say you have a beer that started with an OG of 1.08, and the hydrometer stops moving at 1.06. 1.06 is way high so this could indicate a stuck fermentation.

In your case 1.014 sounds reasonable, so I doubt you'd have a case of stuck fermentation.

Bonzo (or anybody else) if you're out there I could really use some more advise?!

I finally tranferred my brew to the pressure keg 2nite, it all went pretty well although i only managed to successfully get about 4.1/2 gallons successfully across (more practise required!!)

Anyway my question is how much brewers (priming) sugar should I now add to the barrel to successfully carbonise without ruining the tast or risking blowing the barrel up?!?!?

Answers on a postcard please???

Cheers, Ivesy

About what temperature is your house?

Personally I just use ~2/3 cups corn sugar per 5 gallons. So that's ~.13333 cups per gallon. .13333 * 4.5 = .6 cups. You don't really need to worry about blowing anything up, you're not going to put in enough sugar to worry about that.

But you can get more technical about it.
This is an interesting article on priming.

If you're brewing a lager, you want about 2.5 CO2 units. Your beer right now probably has roughly 1 unit. So you need another 1.5 units. .5oz of sucrose per US gallon will give you approx 1 unit. You have 4.5 gallons, so you'll need 4.5gal *.5 oz/gal = 2.25oz.

According to the article, if you're using corn sugar, you need to increase it by 15%, so that would be 2.25oxz * 1.15 = ~2.59oz. Which, given the numbers in the article is about 20 teaspoons, which is about .42 cups.

So there's a fairly sizeable difference, but I think I usually over-prime. Someone feel free to correct my math, I'm only on my first cup of coffee this morning.

Thanks again 4 the input guys!

I've transferred the barrel to my garden shed (because of the worry of blowing anything up!?!?) so I guess my house temperature is irrelevant??!? It's supposed to get down to near freezing tonight so I hope this won't cause a problem?? At least it will chill my bear nicely lol....

Many thanks for the technical info Bonzo, in truth it's a bit over my head although I get the jist of it ...

As i was desperate to get moving i plumped for just under half a pint of sugar after reading something on anothert website(!!!) just poured to just under a pint glass as a guide measure - really hope i haven't ruined anything??!?!?!

Anyway, i'll keep you both posted - cheers again Bonzo & Mojo!

Ivesy

Ivesy said:

Thanks again 4 the input guys!

I've transferred the barrel to my garden shed (because of the worry of blowing anything up!?!?) so I guess my house temperature is irrelevant??!? It's supposed to get down to near freezing tonight so I hope this won't cause a problem?? At least it will chill my bear nicely lol....

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Too cool and your yeast will not be active enough to carbonate your beer. Keep it at room temperature.

The reason I asked the temperature of your house is that the warmest temperature your beer reached after fermentation affects how much priming sugar you need. The warmer the temperature the more priming sugar is required.

mojotele said:

Too cool and your yeast will not be active enough to carbonate your beer. Keep it at room temperature.

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IIRC, he's making a lager, so he should be OK with colder temps. Or at least I would think so, I've never made a lager. I figure if it can ferment at a low temp it should carbonate at a low temp too.

bonzombiekitty said:

IIRC, he's making a lager, so he should be OK with colder temps. Or at least I would think so, I've never made a lager. I figure if it can ferment at a low temp it should carbonate at a low temp too.

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Lager yeast will carbonate at lower temps but, like lager fermentation, it will take longer.

Once a lager comes out of cold storage you can carbonate and bottle condition at room temperature just fine. Palmer on the topic:

It is not necessary to store the beer cold after lagering. The beer can be stored at room temperature without affecting the taste of the beer.

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In short, it would probably work. It'll just take longer.

i'm gettin confused now!! It's been in the shed for just short of a week now & i'm wonderin whether i should bring it back inside to 'speed things up'?!?!?

I added just under half pint of sugar to get the carbonation going & the average room temp was between 13-15c - i think!!?

Anyway, wots done is now done so my plan is to leave it another week then invite some freinds over for an informal tasting session next saturday night (by which time it will have had just under 2 weeks to carbonate).. Does that sound like a feasible plan to you guys????

Ivesy said:

i'm gettin confused now!! It's been in the shed for just short of a week now & i'm wonderin whether i should bring it back inside to 'speed things up'?!?!?

I added just under half pint of sugar to get the carbonation going & the average room temp was between 13-15c - i think!!?

Anyway, wots done is now done so my plan is to leave it another week then invite some freinds over for an informal tasting session next saturday night (by which time it will have had just under 2 weeks to carbonate).. Does that sound like a feasible plan to you guys????

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Sorry if I confused you! Just leave it be and try it when you want to try it. If it seems flat, move it inside for another week or two then try it again.