Newbie Questions

Hi just signed up to forum as i have decided to have another go at homebrewing

I had a go years back ,then gave up .I kept most of the equipment

Anyway i thought i would have an other go and today started a coopers stout kit . How long do you recommend for primary fermentation , i have put in .5 kg of dextrose sugar and .5 Muntons dark

I want to transfer this to a king keg pressure barrel instead of bottles .How do i go about with secondary fermentation ? and do you recommend adding co2 to the barrel ?

Many Thanks for any help Mark

Primary til DONE. That means checking w/a hydrometer after at least 2 weeks on average maybe 3. If you have no change in SG two days apart it's done. Unless you are adding fruit forget secondayr.

Sorry I know nothing about those pressure barrels.

Welcome back to the hobby !

I aggre with C-Rider. I wait 3 weeks in the primary before I even think about checking SG.
At that point I don't care if it's done or not as it can finish any fermenting in the keg at room tempuraure if needed.

I suppose the pressure barrel could act as your secondary but I would still wait 3 weeks before transfering.
Are you carbing the pressure barrel with priming sugar or are you using a Co2 cartrige ?

Also are you planning on serving from the barrel ?

Thanks for the replys ,yes i will serve from the pressure barrel .I have co2 capsules for the barrel do you recommend this or sugar for secondary fermentation ? .Dont know how you go about with pressure in a sealed barrel

I tested the gravity before putting in the yeast it was 1.010 does this sound about right ? does the amount of sugar change the SG before ferementation .It only .5kg suagar in it the rest is muntons

Thanks Mark

C-Rider said:

Primary til DONE. That means checking w/a hydrometer after at least 2 weeks on average maybe 3. If you have no change in SG two days apart it's done. Unless you are adding fruit forget secondayr.

Sorry I know nothing about those pressure barrels.

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This^ There is no reason to do a secondary unless you are expecting a second fermentation. If you aren't creating a second fermentation by adding fruit, fermentables, etc., the only possible advantage to racking to a second vessel is for further clearing. Except that it will clear just as well in the primary vessel. Just be careful when racking to your packing vessel so as not to stir up/suck up trub.

Welcome back to the obsession!

The 1.010 reading is likely a measurement error due to inadequate mixing. If you list all your ingredients and your finishing volume we can calculate the OG for you.

Those pressure barrels are more common in the UK so I've never seen one but it sounds like you just transfer to the barrel, add the appropriate priming sugar based on your volume (can use a calculator like this) then seal it up and leave it at room temp to carb. I think most folks only use the cartridges to serve the beer, otherwise you'd probably be going through a lot of them. Didn't it come with instructions? If not pretty sure there are youtube videos on it.

Sorry i typed that in wrong it was 1.020 .24hr later fermentation seems to be going a bit crazy .Its pushed the lid of onece and is now coming out of the airlock

The ingrediant were

1* coopers stout kit 1.25 lt
500 grams dextrose
500 grams muntons dark

I missread the instruction {rushing } and put in 25 lt of water instead of 23lt ,which is what the ins say .The Ins only gives ins on secondary fermentation into bottles

Thanks Again Mark

Markhomebrew said:

Sorry i typed that in wrong it was 1.020

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Hi Mark,

Even 1.020 seems really low for that kit

Are you sure you are reading it correctly ?

Almost sure i am reading it properly Must admit the hrydrometer is about 30 years old ! so maybe its not floating as it should What do u think it should be and does the amount of sugar effect the initial reading ?

Looks like a mixing issue. The stout kit looks to be 1.7 kg of LME or 3.75 lbs. That's 3.75 x 36 = 135 gravity pts.
The kg of sugar+DME should be about 2.2 x 45 or 99 gravity pts.
You used 25 L or 6.6 gals. 234pts/6.6 gals should be about 1.035.

You can package the beer however you want, use a secondary or not, etc. I was asking if your pressure barrel comes with instructions on how to use it. Like do you need any accessories to seal it up, etc.

I didnt use 1kg of sugar it was 1/2kg .The malt says to replace 1/2 the sugar with the malt the malt was 1/2kg .So its had 1kg of malt and sugar

I have the instruction for the barrel but it doesnt say to put any sugar in the barrel for secondary its say use the capsules

If you want to carbonate using sugar rather than the capsules, which would be more cost effective, you can use this calculator to work out how much sugar to boil up.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/primi...wNw&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=linkshare

I still prefer to go for British levels of carbonation though, thankfully this site has those styles included

Cask beer would be carbonated by shifting it to the cask a couple of gravity points above final gravity, I wouldn't recommend that route though, that's for when you really have your process down like a brewery would have.

Markhomebrew said:

I didnt use 1kg of sugar it was 1/2kg .The malt says to replace 1/2 the sugar with the malt the malt was 1/2kg .So its had 1kg of malt and sugar

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That's what I was calculating, 1 kg total sugar + malt. They have about the same sugar content.

Ok then so what s the best way to go the kit instructions say leave for 4 at 27 0c or 6 days at 21 0c ,and how do i know what the fg reading should be?

If i use sugar for carbonation in the barrel {its a top tap barrel so it will need some carbonation to get the beer out } ,i take it i will have to leave it longer again ?

Thanks

I would not bother with the kit instructions.
I would let it finish fermenting in your primary at least 21 days.
Then just make sure it stays the same for 3 days in a row and then it's finished.
I am not sure about pressure barrels. From the little I have heard about them I think you can transfer your beer with priming sugar and let it carbonate, but you should check that with someone that knows.

So how often do u check the gravity .I think my plastic hydrometer is inacurate .And where do u check it from the top of the liquid or top of head

I suspected that your hydrometer was inacurate when you said you got a 1.020 reading from your wort. Have you tried taking a SG reading of just plain tap water with it ? You should get a reading of 1.000. Thats sort of a quick way to see if your hydrometer is out of calibration.

As for how often should you check your gravity ? I would say as little as possible.
Once before you pitch the yeast and then wait at least 21 days and check. Check once more on the24th day to make sure it's finished then transfer to your pressure barrel or bottle.

Yes it does read 1.000 with tap water .I took a reading of the beer earlier on and that over 48 hrs after after i pitched the yeast and it seemed to be showing 1.050.The hydrometer seems to stick to the side of tall plastic container you put it in

Do you check the reading direct from the bin or put some in the tall container .Also is the reading taken from the top of the liquid or the head