Carbonating questions!

[thebaron1974]

Yep, my beer glasses haven't seen the inside of a dishwasher in years.

As long as no wee came out you're fine.

Not much wee........

 

[Darenn]

Hi, sorry for the newbie questions this is only my second batch

I've had a Young's lager carbonating for 11 days in my warm room (20 - 23°C) and I opened one yesterday after it was in the fridge overnight to have a look and see if everything is on track. When I was bottling into PET 500ml bottles, it was showing a lovely head but when I opened one of the bottles yesterday there was no head at all, not even when pouring. There were a few bubbles rising to the top when it was sat in the glass, but it tasted fine.
I used half a teaspoon of brewing sugar into each bottle so I cant understand why it was flat as the bottles felt fairly firm

When I was bottling I primed the bottles first with the brewing sugar then filled them, is this the correct way of doing it or should I have filled them first then added the sugar?

View attachment 27811

I've always added a full teaspoon of sugar to the Youngs kits (per 500ml) after I had the same issue as you.

 

[neilb]

I've always added a full teaspoon of sugar to the Youngs kits (per 500ml) after I had the same issue as you.

Thanks mate
Will do this from now on, I expected there to be a learning curve

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I also did not know about the glasses in the dishwasher thing. I too shall experiment with this tonight. A good excuse to have an extra beer!

 

[terrym]

If your beer glasses have tiny bubbles adhering to the sides after you have filled them with beer they are not clean, there is likely a thin film of grease on the inside.
The key to clean glasses is wash them separately in soapy/detergent water, especially the insides, rinse in water, then dry them with a glasses cloth which is reserved for glasses, nothing else, even better your beer glasses only. It might appear a bit ott but it works.
And if you want to induce a head on your beer inject some air from a syringe (like those used for child's Calpol) into the beer. The air displaces the dissolved CO2, but do it carefully because it can cause the beer to foam and you might lose some over the top of the glass .

 

[neilb]

I've started hand washing my pint glasses as of this afternoon and then poured my mates Wilko Velvet stout into one. What a difference!!
As I said earlier, all along I was blaming it on the widget and trying all sorts of other things

 

[Banbeer]

I've started hand washing my pint glasses as of this afternoon and then poured my mates Wilko Velvet stout into one. What a difference!!
As I said earlier, all along I was blaming it on the widget and trying all sorts of other things

Glad to hear that, it's not always going to be the answer for under carbonation but at least you've eliminated a good reason why this can happen. It's not brilliant when spending a couple of weeks carbing and then a couple more conditioning only to find when you pour it doesn't give the results expected.

 

[neilb]

Glad to hear that, it's not always going to be the answer for under carbonation but at least you've eliminated a good reason why this can happen. It's not brilliant when spending a couple of weeks carbing and then a couple more conditioning only to find when you pour it doesn't give the results expected.

Yes exactly, thanks again mate
Hopefully the lager will have a good amount of head in a few weeks

 

[labrewski]

Can you or terrym enloghten me as to why you'd squeeze out the air from PET bottles before capping? I thought that the yeast needed the small amount of oxygen in the headspace in the bottle to get going again. Plus, as the bottle will initially 're-inflate' with CO2 before pressurising, won't this reduce the level of carbonation in your beer?

I have started doing this with one plastic bottle per brew after reading terrys tips and have to say it's the job dont waste beer anymore opening one hoping its carbed I just check my plastic if it's hard and full ready to go

 

[labrewski]

Hi, sorry for the newbie questions this is only my second batch

I've had a Young's lager carbonating for 11 days in my warm room (20 - 23°C) and I opened one yesterday after it was in the fridge overnight to have a look and see if everything is on track. When I was bottling into PET 500ml bottles, it was showing a lovely head but when I opened one of the bottles yesterday there was no head at all, not even when pouring. There were a few bubbles rising to the top when it was sat in the glass, but it tasted fine.
I used half a teaspoon of brewing sugar into each bottle so I cant understand why it was flat as the bottles felt fairly firm

When I was bottling I primed the bottles first with the brewing sugar then filled them, is this the correct way of doing it or should I have filled them first then added the sugar?

View attachment 27811

Make sure all caps are extra tight
Very tight

 

[neilb]

Make sure all caps are extra tight
Very tight

Yes definitely, I actually got 2 blisters on my hand after tightening up as much as I could on my first batch
I then used a damp cloth to fully tighten up this second batch, much easier and less painful

 

[Edison]

Glad the clean glass routine helped! Same goes for any of your brewing equipment, make sure all soap and cleaning residue is thoroughly rinsed off before you brew. Soap residue can break down the oils and proteins in your beer which are needed for foam stability. Nothing beats a handsome looking pint!

 

[neilb]

Just a quick one, I'm using Coopers Pet 500ml bottles. Is there a chance of over tightening the caps?

 

[labrewski]

Just a quick one, I'm using Coopers Pet 500ml bottles. Is there a chance of over tightening the caps?

Doubt that unless your the hulk lol

 

[neilb]

Doubt that unless your the hulk lol

Lol not even close

 

[neilb]

Thankyou one and all for all your help and advice! I added more granulated last week Wednesday to each bottle and now handwash my beer glasses! I decided to see how it's getting on and opened one today and I'm happy with the results! It's got a slight head, alot more fizz and the taste is even better