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Leave it at room temperature to carb upit sits under my stairs. Should it be somewhere colder? the barrel is a bit large to get into a fridge.
Leave it at room temperature to carb upit sits under my stairs. Should it be somewhere colder? the barrel is a bit large to get into a fridge.
Hi, mind if I join in ? I'm not quite so new to this, but am intrigued by those contributors who don't do any secondary fermentation. I always have because I began by bottling all my brew, and without secondary fermentation ll you have is flat beer (?). I now tend to use a PB for secondary fermentation and storage, transferring to mini kegs for easier chilling. Am I right in assuming that it's because Corny kegs use higher pressure CO2 that secondary fermentation is unnecessary ?Hi, I should not have assumed you were using a Cornelius keg, they don't have taps. Sounds like you have a keg like the picture below. I don't know your kit instructions but as a guide you normally do 2 weeks fermenting including adding hops, 2 weeks carbonisation at room temperature, 2 weeks conditioning somewhere cooler. You will ferment in your bucket, you can transfer beer when fermentation is finshed to the Keg, adding what's called priming sugar to the keg, within two weeks the yeast will eat the sugar turning that into CO2 for fiz, it will add pressure to the keg too, which allows you to serve but when pressure drops you may need CO2 to serve the beer. Sediment is normal, especially if you add hops during fermentation (called dry hopping). If you are able to put your fermenting bucket somewhere cold (1.5 degrees celsius) after fermentation has finished, for 24 hours or more, it causes all the sediment to drop, but not everyone can do that without the equipment.
Hi Phildo 79, I too am from NI originally. Is your beer bottle conditioned ? or do you add CO2 as you bottle it ? I am a bit staggered by two or three on this forum saying they don't do secondary fermentation. If you don't condition it one way or another surely you are left with flat beerI don't think I have ever second fermented my beer. I used to transfer into a second fv just before bottling to help with clarity and minimise trub transfer but that was it. Not sure what the benefits are Vs the hassle of doing it.
I think original ales dont have co2. Maybe some like it that way.Hi Phildo 79, I too am from NI originally. Is your beer bottle conditioned ? or do you add CO2 as you bottle it ? I am a bit staggered by two or three on this forum saying they don't do secondary fermentation. If you don't condition it one way or another surely you are left with flat beer
I very rarely bottle any more since I moved to kegs. However, the same principles apply when transferring, i.e. you need a clean transfer or you risk getting the dip tube or liquid out post clogged up (that's happened a few times). If I hadn't of come up with a method to trap all the trub / hop debris, then I guess I would still be using a second FV.Hi Phildo 79, I too am from NI originally. Is your beer bottle conditioned ? or do you add CO2 as you bottle it ? I am a bit staggered by two or three on this forum saying they don't do secondary fermentation. If you don't condition it one way or another surely you are left with flat beer
Gotcha Ivan. Thanks. I'll siphoned off 6 bottles straight away.Hi Phildo and Antony, the picture is beginning to clear for me (just like the beer).
When sugar is added to the bottle and the bottle is capped, it creates a degree of secondary fermentation by mixing with the yeast particles that the beer will still retain. Craft brewers will call it "bottle conditioned" or "cask conditioned" (according to the receptacle). Home brewers seem to call it "carbing up" I have ben referring to it as secondary fermentation but perhaps that is confusing because it doesn't go through a FV twice.
I would suggest Antony that if you are using a PB you still need to add sugar so that it carbs up in the PB. I usually dissolve 100g sugar in 500ml of boiling water and allow to cool. Then add that to the beer as it transfers from FV to PB and if you want some in bottles then bottle it at that stage, and leave both PB and bottles in somewhere around 12 degrees for 1 week and somewhere cooler for 2 weeks before drinking, but the longer the better.
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