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BarnsleyBrewer

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Right, well im new to homebrewing, and i think its going to be a rather large hobby ive taken up.

First of all, i got my beginners kit Christmas. Fermentation bin, keg, airlock etc etc. And a Woodfordes Wherry Real Ale Kit.
Started it around 24-30 hours ago. Followed all instructions etc. Its now In the fermentation bin in a cool room with a temp around 18-22°c. Is this an ok temp to leave it at?
Will also be leaving it around 2-3week then kegging it.

How much sugar would i need to nake sure its carbed? And what temp should i leave it for and how long?

I would appreciate some tips etc. Would be mostly appreciated.

My starting gravity was 1.038, but my airlock hasnt had any bubbles yet.

Forgive me if these questions are 'stupid'. But ive searched the internet and found too many answers to suit my needs. So would like some personal experience answers.

Thanks fellow homebrewers and i wish you great luck and great tasting beer to come!
 
18-22c = 66-72f, right? Lots of conversions today!

A little bit warm, especially if thats ambient, rather than wort temperature.

Your beginner kit came with a keg - like a full size 5g keg, or is this a Mr Beer kit?
 
If you are going to keg it, you can force carbonate it (assuming you have a bottle of CO²) and you wont need priming sugar. There are plenty of threads about kegging on here, just do a search.
 
Woodfordes Wherry Micro Brewery

The fermenter is now down the cellar/basement. Where its a little cooler.

Im wanting to do a natural carbonate with priming sugar, but no idea how much to use.

Also not sure where to keep the keg when ive transferred it.
In a warm room ir the cellar/basement still?


All help appreciated. Thank you.
 
Have moved the bin down the cellar/basement, where its a little cooler. Thanks for all the help so far guys. Appreciated.
 
Not sure,but he may be refering to a bucket,or those plastic keg-like containers they have in the UK. 5G typically. But for the average ale yeast,18 to 20C is actually not bad at all for uncontrolled ferment temps. Cooper's ale yeast loves that range,for instance. Not all ale yeasts can go below 62F & remain active. There is indeed some variance,so check the yeast's temp range with the manufacturerer to be sure.
 
Not sure,but he may be refering to a bucket,or those plastic keg-like containers they have in the UK.

I just googled his kit and found this vid, looks like a UK pressure barrel to me.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3t0pj7FyQM&feature=related]Pouring a pint of homebrew Woodford's Wherry. - YouTube[/ame]
 
Yup,that's one of them. I just couldn't remember the name. They put the beer in it,& prime it in there,then serve. Interesting idea,but the priming rate is different,as I understand. They have at least a few different ones,but all work the same.
 
I've never used a pressure barrel. So, take this for what it's worth, but I'm assuming you want a lower/cask style carbonation on that beer. If so, you're not going to need to add much sugar. For a five gallon corny keg you would need less than an ounce of dextrose for the whole batch.

Doesn't your kit come with kegging and priming instructions?!?!
 
Yeah,you'd need some priming instructions for those pressure barrels,since the priming calculators we use are for bottling co2 amounts. I agree to look at the instructions for priming amounts with those.
 
Shooter said:
I've never used a pressure barrel. So, take this for what it's worth, but I'm assuming you want a lower/cask style carbonation on that beer. If so, you're not going to need to add much sugar. For a five gallon corny keg you would need less than an ounce of dextrose for the whole batch.

Doesn't your kit come with kegging and priming instructions?!?!

Thanks.

And yes. Both come with instructions. Unfortunatley, both contradict each other.

One also says leave 3 days in primary and other says 3 week :S.

On says add sugar other says dont lol.

Would i be best off to get a co2 injector valve and bulbs to prime it or to use when its ready.

Really new to this (2days to be precise) , so my knowledge isnt the best.

Thanks again.
 
3 weeks in primary would be better to get clearer,cleaner tasting beer. Then transfer to the pressure barrel & prime. It's the priming sugar amount that you need to know for that barrel.
 
unionrdr said:
3 weeks in primary would be better to get clearer,cleaner tasting beer. Then transfer to the pressure barrel & prime. It's the priming sugar amount that you need to know for that barrel.

Excellent ill leave it three weeks.

Would it be possible if i left it at room temp when i kegged it for 3days and then a cool place for a week-2week.

Or straight to basement?

Could i also stand the keg on its side. So when i pour my pint the trub will stick to it. Or should i just stand it upright and throw the cloudy pints away.

Thanks.
 
Are you doing primary in the pressure barrel,or separate FV? I'd use a separate primary myself,let the beer reach FG,then allow it to clean up & settle clear before racking to the pressure barrel for priming. It'll likely take a couple weeks to carbonate. At least close to the time it takes in bottles. But it'll need conditioning time as well. & cover it with a dark tee shirt or a cozy to keep the UV light spectrum from skunking the beer. Standing it upright will do,since putting it on it's side,then going upright will stir up the trub again.
 
unionrdr said:
Are you doing primary in the pressure barrel,or separate FV? I'd use a separate primary myself,let the beer reach FG,then allow it to clean up & settle clear before racking to the pressure barrel for priming. It'll likely take a couple weeks to carbonate. At least close to the time it takes in bottles. But it'll need conditioning time as well. & cover it with a dark tee shirt or a cozy to keep the UV light spectrum from skunking the beer. Standing it upright will do,since putting it on it's side,then going upright will stir up the trub again.

I am using a fermenting bin with an airlock for primary. Letting the beer reach FG and racking to a barrel.

Appreciate the tips. Thank you.
 
Does your pressure barrel work via gravity? I thought they were designed to work like a cask and draw air in through the top. If there was a way to blanket more CO2 on top I would do that myself, but not sure if that's possible with one of those kegs.
 
To my knowledge,those pressure barrels aren't designed for using co2 cylinders. Just co2 from priming sugar solutions.
 
Shooter said:
Does your pressure barrel work via gravity? I thought they were designed to work like a cask and draw air in through the top. If there was a way to blanket more CO2 on top I would do that myself, but not sure if that's possible with one of those kegs.

unionrdr said:
To my knowledge,those pressure barrels aren't designed for using co2 cylinders. Just co2 from priming sugar solutions.

The barrel has a lid where a co2 injector valve can fit where you use co2 bulbs.
 
It sounds like the one you have is designed to use what we call co2 cartriges. That could help when dispensing the beer to prevent the beer from going flat as it is dispensed.
 
unionrdr said:
It sounds like the one you have is designed to use what we call co2 cartriges. That could help when dispensing the beer to prevent the beer from going flat as it is dispensed.

Excellent. Thanks.

Very happy i joined this site. By far the best and everyones so helpful. Thank you very much.
 
I used to use a similar pressure barrel up to about 15 years ago. Mine had a flexible pickup tube attached to the spigot and a float on the other end, so the beer was always drawn from the top, and you never got cloudy beer.
As for priming amounts, I hardly ever primed, and got carbonation levels similar to a southern English bitter. You may want a bit more carbonation that I like. 50 g of dextrose (or table sugar) should give you about 1.5 vol C02 (which is a bit high for a draught beer, and a bit low for bottled. I'd start there, and adjust up or down as required for the next brew.

-a.
 
ajf said:
I used to use a similar pressure barrel up to about 15 years ago. Mine had a flexible pickup tube attached to the spigot and a float on the other end, so the beer was always drawn from the top, and you never got cloudy beer.
As for priming amounts, I hardly ever primed, and got carbonation levels similar to a southern English bitter. You may want a bit more carbonation that I like. 50 g of dextrose (or table sugar) should give you about 1.5 vol C02 (which is a bit high for a draught beer, and a bit low for bottled. I'd start there, and adjust up or down as required for the next brew.

-a.

Excellent ajf thank you.

How should i use the sugar.

Sanitize barrel, add sugar, shake and transfer it?
 
Nuke 1C of water for 3 minutes or so,then add the sugar & stir to dissolve. cool it down to 22C or so,then add to barrel,racking beer onto it. Then stir lightly so as to mix it well,but not add oxygen.
 
Boil the sugar in a small amount of water (just in case there's anything nasty in the sugar). Let the sugar cool. Sanitize the barrel, add the sugar, rack the beer onto the sugar solution. There's no need to stir it as the yeast will find the sugar and work their magic. The 50 g figure is assuming you have 5 US gallons (19 liters) of beer.

-a.
 
unionrdr said:
Nuke 1C of water for 3 minutes or so,then add the sugar & stir to dissolve. cool it down to 22C or so,then add to barrel,racking beer onto it. Then stir lightly so as to mix it well,but not add oxygen.

ajf said:
Boil the sugar in a small amount of water (just in case there's anything nasty in the sugar). Let the sugar cool. Sanitize the barrel, add the sugar, rack the beer onto the sugar solution. There's no need to stir it as the yeast will find the sugar and work their magic. The 50 g figure is assuming you have 5 US gallons (19 liters) of beer.

-a.

Excellent. Thanks for the help.
 
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