After a weekend in Norfolk with family and a friends birthday party I needed to keg the latest batch of Pirate Pale today.
While syphoning the beer into the keg I took a sample as usual and the clarity immediately grabbed my attention because this beer is usually very clear out of the fermenter and this batch is a little hazy.
A quick sniff confirmed this isn’t right at all and a taste was the final confirmation, far more malty that it should be and the bright hoppiness I expect from this beer was missing. Then I became aware there was no hop debris in the fermenter - I’d completely forgotten to dry hop the beer before we went away, probably distracted thinking about the weekend!
What to do? The beer tastes OK but isn’t the beer I was looking forward to having at Christmas. Decision made.
I filled the keg to the rim to minimise any waste, washed up the fermenting bucket and transferred the beer back into the bucket, then added the dry hops along with a little ascorbic acid. To further minimise oxidation I fed CO2 into the head space for a minute or so and fitted the bubble trap. Fingers crossed
That can sit in secondary now for 2 of 3 days and I’ll have another go at kegging it.
While syphoning the beer into the keg I took a sample as usual and the clarity immediately grabbed my attention because this beer is usually very clear out of the fermenter and this batch is a little hazy.
A quick sniff confirmed this isn’t right at all and a taste was the final confirmation, far more malty that it should be and the bright hoppiness I expect from this beer was missing. Then I became aware there was no hop debris in the fermenter - I’d completely forgotten to dry hop the beer before we went away, probably distracted thinking about the weekend!
What to do? The beer tastes OK but isn’t the beer I was looking forward to having at Christmas. Decision made.
I filled the keg to the rim to minimise any waste, washed up the fermenting bucket and transferred the beer back into the bucket, then added the dry hops along with a little ascorbic acid. To further minimise oxidation I fed CO2 into the head space for a minute or so and fitted the bubble trap. Fingers crossed
That can sit in secondary now for 2 of 3 days and I’ll have another go at kegging it.
