Problems, Problems

[ryan79]

Hi here is my first unsuccessful brew story. I tried brewing a pilsner kit which apparently was the hardest to do. I used a 5 gallon plastic tub with lid loosely on and an airlock.

It was cold here 15c throughout and I didnt use heat belt. As a result it took 18 days to ferment and I just had to make it do, it was on 1006.

Then I used a pressurized keg very similiar to this:

http://www.leylandhomebrew.com/item838.htm

Also I didnt have a gas bottle or anything on top just the lid. I didnt lubricate the seal before use. I simply poured 1/3 cup of granulated sugar into the keg. A day later I was hearing hissing noises from the keg so I tightened and was ok. 2 days later I drew off 2 litres from keg so I could look at it in a plastic bottle, I didnt add any further sugar.

2 weeks later keg and bottle flat as hell, a further week does nothing. poured away.

 

[s3n8]

Why not hook it up to some co2?

 

[kanielb1]

Your keg did not seal and you lost your CO2, hence the hissing noise you heard. You should have added your priming sugar and bottled it then.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

In other words, you didn't follow directions through the entire process. Are you surprised you ended up with a less than spectacular product?

 

[ryan79]

Advice not criticism please. I thought this was supposed to be a forum.

 

[KhellendrosXS]

I see three good pieces of advice up there.

1) Shoot it with some CO2, there was no reason to dump it.
2) Bottle it if you cant keg it properly
3) Follow the directions next time and you will be less likely to have problems


........

All fermenting problems aside, in the future, if you put beer into a keg it needs (generally) to have a shot of CO2 put in it to hold the seals tight. For added protection against oxidation that first shot should be bled off and followed by a second shot (and bled) and a third shot to seal it up. Once the seal is made the priming sugar (dextrose next time, not table sugar) will be consumed by a small amount of remaining yeast and carbonate the beer like it would in a bottle.

I wouldnt have dumped it as you could have easily force carbonated it. Youll find that even if your beer tastes terrible right away that if you let it hang out long enough (barring an infection) it will usually turn out fine.


Seriously, what did you expect?

-edit-

After seeing that keg Id throw it right in the garbage. Its going to let light in and skunk your beer. Secondly, if you ever do get a beer carbonating in it properly youre going to have all sorts of dispensing issues.

 

[david_42]

Most of the people on this board are not familiar with the plastic kegs that are common in the UK. That type of keg relies on a screw-fit for the seal, not pressure, so no CO2 is needed. Absolutely nothing wrong with them.

I would recommend adding some more sugar and letting it repressurize. With a pilsner, you may need to add sugar again later to maintain the carbonation level.