Help with my first brew attempt Please :)

[Guitarman]

Hi all, What a great forum. I am a total beginer to all this and i need some help please.
I bought a C*opers lager kit, a 23 litre fermenter and a pressure barrel 3 weeks ago,followed the instructions started with a SG of 1042 and ended with a FG of 1008. Took about 7 days at 21 degC and FG was same reading 2 days going.

Now this is where i did a boo boo. The primary fermemter was not in a good location when i was ready to Siphon to a pressure barrel. So i had to move it. Moving it caused the yeast deposit that formed at the bottom of the primary to re-mix with the beer, and when all the beer was transferred to the barrel, i think pretty much of the yeast went with it!. Before i closed off the pressure barrel, i put about 60g of granulated sugar into the mix.

I've let the barrel sit in a warm place for a week, and decided to try some in a sample jar.. 1st pour, cloudy, plenty of C02, and a yeasty taste.

As a beginner i have realised my mistake and understand the racking process should try and avoild the clump of yeast that settles. I am now in the 3rd week of brewing and i've put the barrel in a cool area (about 10 deg c) the yeast i think has gone into suspension and is about 10cm thick at the bottom of the barrel. Just did a sample pour, still cloudy, taste a little yeasty (but less than before), dry, but it's definitaly a lager taste.

What do i do now... is it too late to attempt a second rack, bearing in mind i want the brew ready for xmas and i'm not a yeasty person.

Thanks for any advice!

Guitarman

 

[jjones17]

Sounds like you are on the right track in many ways... however I am a bit confused and forgive me if I am the one in left field here and not helpful.

You say you racked it after 3 weeks to a pressure barrel? Do you mean a carboy with an airlock, or is that some kind of fandangled DIY kegish system like a giant beer bottle that you carbonate?

Anyway, I have no experience using the pressure barrel.. so I cannot give you racking advice. It likely is just not ready yet, IMO though.... 3 weeks is not usually enough time to have a beer taste 'good'.... *usually*

 

[mdwmonster]

I think that jjones has it right - after 3 weeks the beer might still be a little too green. Three weeks is pretty young for a lot of beers.

If I'm not mistaken, a pressure barrel is a jug with a spout at the bottom designed to hold contents under pressure, right? (Googled it and they actually look pretty handy) If that is the case, I think that you need to just wait for the yeast to resettle. If the spout of the pressure barrel is in the settlement you might just have to suffer through yeasty beer until you get to the good stuff. Rest asured that you will get to the good stuff eventually. I'd give it another week and try it again.

 

[Guitarman]

Thats exactly it lads, a plastic barrel, with a tap about 5cm from the bottom, with a pressue valve on the screw cap. The purpose of this is to regulate the pressure and to allow Co2 to be injected if needed. Bought another barrel today and decided to siphon the beer into the new barrel, leaving behind the yeast cake residue at the bottom. Examined the yeast afterwards and boy was it a yeast cake. It took some hot water and shaking to clean that barrel! Will be starting a german lager this week, so will have an australian and german to enjoy at some point in time