Advice needed

[Baldy]

Hey all :)

I'm very new to beer making, the current brew is only my third attempt. So please bear with me here!!

I'm brewing a Brupaks "Fixby Gold" at the minute, and at the weekend i transferred the mix from the fermentation barrel into the serving keg. I went into my local brew shop first to buy a new valve for the keg and the chap there told me to do things that are different to what the Brupak instructions say, and it has got me concerned/doubtful.

So the wort/hops & yeast were done per instruction, fermentation was done in 6 days, then i syphoned the 23 litre mix into the keg. Now the instructions say at this point that sugar should be added at a rate of 1/2 teaspoon per pint, or a teaspoon per litre. The chap in my local homebrew shop told me to add only one tablespoon of granulated sugar for this stage, and also sold me some finings saying it would mean my beer is ready quicker.

I cant remember how much sugar i added last time i did a brew, but i measured into a bowl 23 tablespoons of sugar (just to see what it looked liek volume wise) which would have been as per the Brupak instruction, and it was massively more than the one tablespoon the bloke told me to add :wha: In the shop i kept saying 'are you sure, one tablespoon?' and he said yes.

Can anyone tell me if this seems right?

Ta,
Baldy

 

[jamesb]

I'm a bit confused.

Did you add 23 TABLESPOONS, or 23 TEASPOONS after the fermentation had finished?

 

[prolix]

80g of sugar to the barrel should do it.

When bottling I don't prime as the the wort will continue to ferment, maybe that bloke just adds a big spoonful to help it get along and lets the beer use the malts as secondary fermentables.

 

[Baldy]

I'm a bit confused.

Did you add 23 TABLESPOONS, or 23 TEASPOONS after the fermentation had finished?

Hi there, i did not add 23 teaspoons of sugar i added one TABLEspoon like the bloke in the shop told me to. I just measured out 23 teaspoons so that i could compare how much volume that looked like. The Brupaks instructions state that you should use a TEAsoon per litre so i wanted to see what that looked like volume wise as what the chap in the shop told me (one tablespoon only) seems a little light to me, compared to the Brupak instructions.

Also seems that when i have checked the barrel tonight the crappy little plastic serving tap has been leaking, i presume as the pressure builds :cry: I always seem to struggle with keeping the serving keg airtight for the carbonision process, are those little plastic taps really that unreliable?? If i have lost pressure from the serving keg, what should i do to make it right (may as well ask whilst i am on!?)

Thanks very much,
Baldy

ps - i did not use malt during the fermentation process, just the two cans of wort and the yeast and water.

 

[steveb]

Got a similiar small leak from tap..any tips

 

[Wez]

Trial & error i'm afraid, you could fill the keg with water and pressure test it by adding c02 if you are able to?

Those taps can be over tightened too which can cause leaks.

 

[Baldy]

Yes they are very tempremental those taps aren't they!!

So if you lose pressure in the keg, do you then need to do something to correct this? Ie add more sugar and restart the carbonisation process?

Thanks,
Baldy

 

[tubby_shaw]

Are the leaky taps the drum type or the lever type ?
If they are the lever type it is very important that the lever is only turned 90 degrees to the body of the tap to close. If you turn it past 90 degrees (or as far as it will go) it WILL leak.
With the drum tap occasionally some grit will get under the drum and cause a leak.

 

[Baldy]

Exactly like this one...

So, could still use an answer on the original sugar content question?? And IF my barrel has lost it's pressure due to a leaky tap (has not dripped since i nipped it up mindst...) then do i need to re-prime it - don't want to waste the mix so while it's only a couple of days into 2ndry fermentation can someone advise on the situation :pray: pleeeeease :)

Thanks guys,
Baldy

 

[tubby_shaw]

The answer on the original sugar question is to use 50g in keg of that size in future :thumb:
There is little to be gained adding more sugar now.
The white sugar added will ferment very quickly and will have been fermented by now, but there are still some complex sugars in the beer that the yeast will ferment very slowly.
You can, if you are still concerned about the pressure in the keg add a quick squirt of CO2 :thumb:

 

[Baldy]

Oooo ok, excellent ts, thank you :

So, final check before i leave you in peace, one generous tablespoon of sugar in the keg at time of siphoning will be enough and will not affect the outcome of my brew? (50g noted for future reference )

If i give the tap a quick open and there's pressure there would you suggest i just leave it as is and just let it do it's own thing? If pressure has gone then a burst of co2 yes?

The solution was siphoned on Saturday, the shop told me adding the finings would mean the brew should be ready in circa 2 weeks... in view that i seem to have had 'pressure problems' would you suggest i leave it a little longer now?

Appreciate the help :)

Baldy

 

[tubby_shaw]

If it's got pressure and you're happy with that just leave it :thumb:
No pressure, give it a squirt of CO2 :thumb:
It will, as I said in my earlier post, still be fermenting very slowly, conditioning the beer and building up the pressure gently :thumb:
One generous tablespoon of sugar will be OK but I used 50g to prime the last kit that I made
Click here for the how to

 

[Baldy]

Excellent :clap: Thank you.

Cracking informative forum btw, will defo be visiting again

Baldy

 

[Baldy]

Got a similiar small leak from tap..any tips

Just as an update, i got home last night and the pressure had clearly been building up in the keg to the point where the tap was slightly leaking again... There must be a better more reliable tap available for these kegs!!

Anyway, took an executive decision and opened the keg so that i could relieve any pressure there was but more importantly remove and inspect the serving tap (i just cannot be bothered to have problems with the tap all the way through so i wanted it sorted!).

steveb, as a note, the leak on mine was not from the actual serving spout, it was seeping from under the dial that you turn on the tap, ie the beer was seeping back up the thread in the tap. So i took it apart, applied a generous amount of vaseline to the thread, and took the opportunity (while the keg was open) to make the sugar up to 50g Gave the keg a quick swirl around, probably the wrong thing to do but what the heck :party: I then sealed the keg back up with freshly vaselined theads on the lid and the tap, applied a squirt of co2 and the keg has not leaked since :thumb:

So i'm just going to leave it alone for a couple more weeks now before i touch it again, fairly happy that it's all well sealed and can just get on and carbonate/2nd ferment properly.

Cheers,
Baldy