First Kit - No Head Retention / Carbonation after 3 weeks

[thomascrabs]

I'm in the process of doing my first kit - a John Bull IPA - but it's lacking any decent head retention / carbonation and is cloudy.

Being my first brew i've probably messed around with it too much in the fermentation stage - had the lid of a few too many times etc.

Here is a run down of what i've done:

* Fermentation -> 2/5/13 – 17/5/13
* Finnings added 15/5/13
* Kegged - 17/5/13
* Put outside - 20/5/13
* Back inside! - 24/5/13
* Back outside again! - 3/6/13

It tastes fine and has some bubbles (wouldn't call it head) at first but disappears after a few seconds. This was the case when I had a taste on 24/5, hence bringing it back inside under the impression it would help?! I've now had another taste today and it's still cloudy and no head etc.

I've brought it back in today to see if I can kick start the carbonation again – is this possible after being outside for a while? Will the yeast die after a specific amount of time? Does adding finnings mean it will take longer to carbonate?

Having looked at various other threads, could I try adding more yeast and / or sugar?

 

[PD]

when did you add your priming sugar ( assuming its not a cornie keg being forced carbed ) and how much did you use ?

 

[thomascrabs]

Sorry should have included that info!

Added 60g of table sugar into the pressure barrel just before transfer as per instructions. It's a youngs barrel from tesco.

Cheers

 

[PD]

that's at the low end of carbonation but leave it for now and keep it warmish for a couple of weeks, carbonation should build up a bit. enough for an English Bitter anyway.
in future for ales add 3gms of sugar per liter bottle, and about 5gms for a lager type, always 2-3 weeks warm and a week cooler then.

 

[thomascrabs]

OK thanks for that, i'll give that a try. It only says to leave for 4 days and then leave in the cold for 3-4 weeks.

Main lesson so far is to increase times on just about everything!

Thanks for the help and i'll report back in a couple of weeks :pray:

 

[calumscott]

OK thanks for that, i'll give that a try. It only says to leave for 4 days and then leave in the cold for 3-4 weeks.

Main lesson so far is to increase times on just about everything!

Yup! At least a week and more like two for carbonation to happen properly. Beer kit instructions are my pet hate. They're designed to make you think you can be drinking your beer inside three weeks. :sick:

The very quickest you could possibly do IMO is 2 weeks in FV, 2 weeks to carbonate properly and a week to settle out somewhere cool. Then another month just hanging around to get good...

I bottle rather than keg and I'll always open one after a fortnight in the bottle, just to see how it's getting along but never for actual drinking...

 

[droche]

I bottle rather than keg and I'll always open one after a fortnight in the bottle, just to see how it's getting along but never for actual drinking...

Did you forget to put a smiley face at the end of this. If not you should be reported for wasting beer. :nono:

Thomas, do you use CO2 in your keg. I've had some Wherry in a keg for 3 weeks and the first few drinks were ok but then started going a bit flat, so a squirt with a CO2 bulb and it was fine again for about another 3 pints then needed doing again. The pressure created by priming does not last very long in the keg but I bottled 12 and I think they are too fizzy. It seems to kill the flavour a little.

 

[PD]

quote....

I bottled 12 and I think they are too fizzy. It seems to kill the flavour a little.


aah the light dawns !

thats why F****rs and the like are ****.

Craft beers brewed for taste.... lightly carbed and served at just below room temperature...that's the way of English beers...

If you want the F***Ers feeling...suck on a blown up balloon.. :clap:

 

[droche]

I agree with you there piddle. I will have to experiment with the amount of sugar for priming bottles but I suppose it is a matter of personal taste. My mate looked at me as though I had gone mad when I served him a beer that had not been in the fridge I tried his IPA and it was that cold I couldn't taste a thing and it hurt my teeth but he said it was the best home brew he had tasted. He is a southern softie though so probably does not appreciate what good beer should taste like :lol:

I think I may have started a debate here

 

[graysalchemy]

He is a southern softie though so probably does not appreciate what good beer should taste like :lol:

I think I may have started a debate here

You may well just have done that, being from the Sunshine State of Manchester I agree with you, however there are many a forum member from southern climes who produce mighty fine beers not to be sniffed at.

In fact many of my beers are 'southern' beers but they have been brought bang up north with the addition of a little wheat malt. Once you do that you have northern beer again.

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[calumscott]

Craft beers brewed for taste.... lightly carbed and served at just below room temperature...

*cough* SOME craft beers etc etc...

Others, like the hefeweizen I'm currently supping (a little too young but when stocks are otherwise low...) deserves to be fizzier than a fizzy thing and lightly chilled to boot.

And there is a good reason for that.

CO2 dissolves better cooler so you end up with lots in solution which, when it warms up on your tongue, comes out of solution. As it does so, it brings with it lots of the flavour compounds in the beer and is particularly effective at wooshing them up the back of your mouth to your soft palette and nasal receptors which is where all of the complex aroma (which is what we think of as flavour) is detected.

This is far too aggressive an approach for most English styles but it does suit the more estery Scottish styles, American and European styles very well indeed. Which is why the Continental Europeans do it that way and probably why the American craft beer movement brews styles that work that way - they've been conditioned on fizz so brew beers that work well that way...

But yes, you don't want a fizzy Wherry... that would be plain awful...

 

[thomascrabs]

Thomas, do you use CO2 in your keg.

Not yet!

Didn't think to buy anything for injecting CO2 when I got all the gear as I thought at the time priming would be enough.

Bit of an open ended question but how many co2 bulbs etc would it take to keep a keg carbonated until empty? Does is depend on how quickly you drink it or is it just down to volumes?