First brew of lager.

[Micheal Naughton]

Hi all, just a few areas that I am not sure of.
1, I have brewed my first batch of coopers larger it appeared to stop activity after 6 days was this too early.
2, I bottled in 5 ltr mini kegs and 2 ltr Demijohns which I primed with 15g and 6g of sugar respectively was this enough sugar ??.
3. I have been a bit impatient and opened a demijohn 6 days after bottling there is no carbonation , the hydrometer is reading 1005 as far as I can see I think the OG was 1050
Is it possible the screw tops which are well used on the demijohn is letting co2 out or not enough priming sugar. Any help or advice will be much appreciated.

 

[sixt3]

I don't know what you mean by 2 litre demijohn, but I wonder if it is suitable for bottling... My understanding (and limited experience so far) is that room temp takes about 2 to 3 weeks to see decent carbonation build up.
Patience ...

 

[Micheal Naughton]

I don't know what you mean by 2 litre demijohn, but I wonder if it is suitable for bottling... My understanding (and limited experience so far) is that room temp takes about 2 to 3 weeks to see decent carbonation build up.
Patience ...

Thanks Sixt3 i will hopefully the kegs will carb up a bit better

 

[ThenFalcon]

Hi all, just a few areas that I am not sure of.
2, I bottled in 5 ltr mini kegs and 2 ltr Demijohns which I primed with 15g and 6g of sugar respectively was this enough sugar ??.

How many volumes of CO2 were you targeting? 15g in 5l will only get you to about 1.6 volumes, which is low for a lager.

 

[skyblue67]

Hi all, just a few areas that I am not sure of.
1, I have brewed my first batch of coopers larger it appeared to stop activity after 6 days was this too early.
2, I bottled in 5 ltr mini kegs and 2 ltr Demijohns which I primed with 15g and 6g of sugar respectively was this enough sugar ??.
3. I have been a bit impatient and opened a demijohn 6 days after bottling there is no carbonation , the hydrometer is reading 1005 as far as I can see I think the OG was 1050
Is it possible the screw tops which are well used on the demijohn is letting co2 out or not enough priming sugar. Any help or advice will be much appreciated.

That's definitely under primed for a lager. Presuming you used table sugar you should have doubled the quantity, slightly more for dextrose. When you say demijohns do you mean 2lt plastic bottles? Are the caps designed for re-use? If not they will not retain carbonation. I believe you can add extra priming sugar but it's not something I've ever done. If you do try it, ensure that you dissolve the sugar in water before adding or use priming drops.

 

[Micheal Naughton]

Hi guys thanks for your help yes they are glass two litre demijohns with metal screw on caps I do agree they may by allowing co2 to escape,
Can I open the kegs and add more sugar or should I take the hit on this batch and learn from it.
Also it will be legged / bottled two weeks what is the recommended time before it is drinkable

 

[Micheal Naughton]

A quick update being impatient as I am I cracked a keg open last night, it was surprisingly well carbonated and retained a nice head. given a little more time id say it will be a good lager hydrometer reading looks to be around 1.005.