AG help needed

[Kegged]

Well, I have made it to AG #4, the tastes and quality of the beers produced in comparison to 'kits' is second to none.

The only problem I am finding is that my brews are all coming out a bit 'lifeless' with very minimal bubbles and never a head to be seen.

There have been some bottles in the batches that have had said carbonation and a slight head. But not many.

Perhaps I have not put enough sugar in when bottling? Or maybe the problem lies within my secondary fermentation vessel? Has anyone experienced this? Is there a common cause that I may not know about?

Please help!

 

[PD]

Carbonation needs 3 things, priming sugar, warmth, and TIME.
half a tsp of sugar per 500ml bottle, or its equiv amount of 5 gms per litre for bulk priming. Seal well and leave in the warmth for 2 weeks.... 14 days and then move to a cooler spot for further 7 days.
Your beers will be carbonated.

Certain Malts added to the brew will help on head retention i.e Torrefied wheat or Wheat Malt ( around 10% of the grain bill )
Clean drinking glasses with no grease or oil on them. ( so no chips or crisps while drinking )

 

[pittsy]

you may need to add ingredients to help with head retention , can you list your last few recipes . many grains can help , wheat,biscuit ,carapils, etc etc , assuming you've primed correctly and kept warm long enough . Btw what was your bottling amount, style of brew and amount of sugar used ?

 

[Kegged]

14 days and then move to a cooler spot for further 7 days.
Your beers will be carbonated.

Clean drinking glasses with no grease or oil on them. ( so no chips or crisps while drinking )

Thanks for your advice piddledribble - I have been leaving in warmth for 7 days then out in the shed for 3 weeks. I will try leaving in the warmth for longer next time.

All glasses are clean and no food is interfering. Thank you for your advice.

can you list your last few recipes . many grains can help , wheat,biscuit ,carapils, etc etc , assuming you've primed correctly and kept warm long enough . Btw what was your bottling amount, style of brew and amount of sugar used ?

Thanks for your reply, my recipes have all been from Graham Wheelers book - Exmoor Gold, Broadside, Black Sheep, Timothy Taylors Landlord all bottled so far & currently have Sarahs Hughes Ruby Mild in the FV.

Regarding my bottling - I am averaging 32 bottles per brew, using a level tsp of brewing sugar. What do you mean regarding style of brew? Excuse my rookie questions.

 

[pittsy]

style of brew , bitter , lager etc such as a bitter may have around 60/80g of sugar per 23l while lager may have around 160g per 23l . I think your problem may be due to using spoons , try batch priming by boiling water and said sugar then cool and pop into clean fv , then transfer fermented beer into clean fv then bottle . This way all your beers will be primed equally and the right amount :thumb:

 

[Kegged]

style of brew , bitter , lager etc such as a bitter may have around 60/80g of sugar per 23l while lager may have around 160g per 23l . I think your problem may be due to using spoons , try batch priming by boiling water and said sugar then cool and pop into clean fv , then transfer fermented beer into clean fv then bottle . This way all your beers will be primed equally and the right amount :thumb:

OK, my style of brewing so far has been Real Ales. Stouts, Bitters & Pale Ales. I am quite interested in trying batch priming next.

I am currently transferring to a secondary keg style barrel for 6 days after initial fermentation then bottling. Perhaps with my next brew I should batch prime into my keg after primary fermentation then bottle straight away?

 

[pittsy]

next brew , try leaving it in primary for 10 days then (if hydrometer has stopped dropping) transfer it to your primed keg : p.s you may want between 80 and 120g depending how fizzy you like it

 

[Kegged]

Right that's what I will do - I shall let you know how I get on

 

[Kegged]

So following on from some good advice, I am about to batch prime.

I will be adding boiling water to 80-120g of sugar then putting this into my keg, along with the contents of my FV.

Then I will be bottling straight away.

But how much boiling water do I need to use? I am confused

 

[pittsy]

1 pint is enough or half a litre