Has my first attempt gone seriously wrong??

[Bobo]

Hi,

I'm new to the world of homebrewing so forgive my lack of knowledge. I bought myself a Youngs brew buddy lager kit as I thought it would be a good place to start. After following the instructions and fermenting, I siphoned the lager into a pressure barrell and was told to leave it standing for around 3 weeks around when it should become drinkable.

Well its been in the barrell for nearly 5 weeks and although it has gone nice and light in colour it is still very cloudy. Has something gone wrong. I tried to keep the temp within range but as its been hot i'm thinking that this may be the problem.

Can anyone help me.

Thanks in advance.

Bobo

 

[Wez]

Hi Bobo

Welcome to the forum

How cloudy is it? It could be a haze rather than a cloudy yeast suspension. What temperature are you serving at?

One thing you could try is pour some into a glass and leave it to see if anything settles out.

Wez

 

[Bobo]

It seems to me to be quite cloudy. I will take a pic at some point and attatch it.

As for temp its around 21 (room temp) was thinking maybe bottle some and put it in the fridge.

 

[Wez]

21c means that it's not a chill haze, has the keg been disturbed at all during the 3 weeks?

Also what sort of keg are you serving from, does it have a top or a bottom tap?

 

[Bobo]

The keg has had the odd knock as its by the back door, it seems to be the coolest place in the house.

The barrell has a tap at the bottom.

 

[Wez]

The first few pints may be a bit cloudy as the bottom is where the yeast is going to settle out to, some kegs have top taps which allow you to drink the clearer beer at the top first bottom tap kegs are very good and many people favour them to top tap kegs but they can take longer to drop bright.

Try pouring some into a half pint glass and leaving it undisturbed, if you get a film of yeast appear at the bottom you still have yeast in suspension.

If this is the case there are ways of getting the yeast to settle out quickly, one that I've seen is to use gelatine, a few of the guys here do that, hopefully one of them will pop along soon and explain how it's done.

How does it taste by the way.

 

[Bobo]

Thanks for the help, will pour some and leave it over night as i'm working nights.

Tastes quite nice to be honest. Had to have a little try even though it did not look right.

 

[Wez]

Nice one Look forward to hearing the outcome :)

 

[Bobo]

ok as promised

 

[Wez]

I'd be interested to see what happens if you can get that sample into the fridge, I think you'll find that the yeast will drop out. Is it carbonated OK?

 

[Bobo]

its not as carbonated as I thought it would be but it is carbonated. I'll pour out another half pint and stick one in the fridge overnight and i'll see what happens.

 

[Wez]

It'll be interesting to see what happens

 

[Bobo]

ok, so both half pints have been left to settle. and both look the same. Its almost as if i've brewed a pale ale without realising. Has anyone got anymore suggestions as to what it could be??

 

[Wez]

:hmm: no sediment settled out at the bottom of the glass?

 

[Bobo]

there doesn't seem to be.

 

[Wez]

I'd have sworn that you would have had some sediment at the bottom of that glass :hmm: maybe one of the other guys can offer some assistance, maybe adding some gelatine would be a good idea anyway just to see what happens, it won't spoil the beer anyway. However if it tastes OK i'd be tempted to just drink it anyway but it certainly should have dropped bright after 5 weeks. I've never brewed one of those kits myself, I always had good results with Brewpaks Kits (Fixby Gold) is nice or Woodefordes Kits (Great Eastern) is nice you might want to try one of those.

 

[Bobo]

thanks for trying to help Wez, i've left the sample in the fridge to see what happens. As you say I might as well drink it anyway. Tastes fine. Gonna get another kit and give it another go but i got 35 pints to drink first. :drink:

anyone wanna join me for a drink?

 

[Wez]

:lol: Thats the spirit

What equipment did you get with that kit?

PS - I purchased a pewter tankard to serve brews that turn out hazy

 

[jonnybeer]

Hi Bobo, i've brewed many, both kit and all grain that have been cloudy and also have many other home brewers. If you like the taste just buy a tankard. Don't be too upset, the next one will be great.

jb.

 

[Bobo]

you got, a 25 litre fermeter barrel, a hydrometer, the malt extract, sterilising powder. think thats about it, can't remember.

it was the youngs brew buddy starter kit.