How fizzy should Coopers Ginger Beer be?

[gtfletcher]

I've just tried my first glass of Coopers Ginger beer and while the flavour is pretty nice I was expecting it to be a lot fizzier. I followed the instructions to the letter apart from I used Coopers Carbonation Drops rather than sugar when I kegged it. Still being a noob I'm not sure how fizzy it is supposed to be and whether if simply adding more sugar/carbonation drops will make it more lively or am I likely to ruin it?!

 

[BigYin]

the amount of carbonation will depend on how much sugar is available for the yeast, how long they have had to work on it, was the temperature right, and is the keg completely airtight....

there may have been a slight leak that prevented the CO2 pressure building up, so less CO2 was absorbed into the beer :hmm:

 

[gtfletcher]

Thanks for getting back to me BigYin! :thumb:

if memory serves i used 45 carbonation drops (based around the instructions saying one drop does 500ml bottle) and it was between 21 - 23 celsius for a month before I put the keg in the pantry where it has been now for about a month.

is there anyway I can test for a co2 leak? low pressure never even crossed my mind tbh as its a top tap keg and it still pours well which I didn't think it would if the pressure was too low?

 

[RobWalker]

if it's in a plastic keg, you can only hit about 10 psi - a little carbonation, but not a lot by any stretch of the imagination. any excess pressure will be let out of the valve on the top.

if it's pressurized and pouring properly when you turn the tap, that's as good as it'll get in a keg i'm afraid - bottles can take a lot more pressure. if this is a disaster for you, you could always bottle it from the keg - we do ours in 2L pop bottles sometimes, 3tsp sugar per 2L bottle will give a big fizz :thumb:

But I would say just get on with it - you live and learn with brewing, and as long as it's good beer, consider it a success! :

 

[gtfletcher]

yeah its a plastic KingKeg Top Tap. would love to upgrade to something better but SWMBO has told me i have to work with what i have for the moment! Might try and bottle some and see what happens as ive got some 2L glass cider bottles that are empty at the moment! Its still very drinkable as it is, just not quite the carbonation i was expecting. :