Howdy

[BrewDawg]

Hello,

brand new member and brand new to the world of home brewing. Part way through my first attempt at St Peters Ruby Ale. Currently conditioning in the keg outside in the shed (just under 2 weeks in and trying very hard to patiently wait until 3 or 4 weeks before caving in and getting stuck in!!)

I have a millon questions, which i`m sure will be ridiculous to most of you guys, but i`ll have a good squint around the forum and try to answer as many as i can on my own research before making any more of an idiot of myself than needs be!

Anyway, hope you`re all well and look forward to getting to know some more of you!

Cheers,
Craig.

 

[BrewDawg]

OK, so only a few minutes into brewing and i`m starting to wish i had found this forum before starting!

So far i`ve followed the process as per instructions and brewed in a fermentation vessel etc. However, when i transferred to the pressure keg, before i did that i stirred in the required sugar (20 teaspoons of brown sugar...1/2 teaspoon per pint).
I then syphoned the mixture over into the keg...(and left the gunk at the bottom of the fermentation vessel as i assumed that wasn`t supposed to be transferred over?)

On reading some of the posts it would appear i should have made up a sugar solution and put it into the keg before gently syphoning in the mixture! Does the whole stirring up thing before i kegged it mean it`ll be ruined now, or is it just more likely to be a dud batch?

The instructions said to leave in a warm place after kegging/bottling for a couple of days the transfer to somewhere cool. I just left the keg indoors for a few days (circa 20 - 22 degrees C i guess?) and then transferred the keg out to the garden shed for 2 weeks conditioning, although i`m reading that 4 weeks conditioning is probably better. Will that couple of days at normal room temp be enough or does it need to be warmer/longer? Is there anything i can do about it now anyway?

Last stupid question, for now! Now that i have the beer in the keg, it should hopefully be carbonating during secondary fermentation and the keg should hopefully be keeping that in there (put a dab of vaseline on seals etc before closing up). Do i have to now drink that straight from keg, or can i transfer from the keg into bottles and be ok? Just that bottles are better for dishing out to friends or family to try etc.
I have a carbonation cap and CO2 bottles etc for the keg...could i put awee blast of CO2 into it before bottling to counter the effects of taking out the pressure bottle and transferring into bottles?

Ok, i`m done for now. Any help much appreciated guys!

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome, think your beer should be OK, you could drink after 2 weeks but 4 weeks conditioning would be better. You could transfer to bottles but you would be taking a risk. I would get them to come to the barrel.

 

[bobsbeer]

Welcome. :

 

[oldbloke]

I have a millon questions, which i`m sure will be ridiculous to most of you guys

We were all new once. The only stupid question is the one you should have asked but didn't.

i`ll have a good squint around the forum and try to answer as many as i can on my own research before making any more of an idiot of myself than needs be!

Good man!

 

[joe1002]

Welcome to the forum :

You can bottle but it will need to be consumed within a day or two. Personally I would leave it in the keg.

Once ou have pitched the yeast you don't want to introduce oxygen so if you do stir it make sure it is gentle.

You have the right idea for next time re adding the sugar, another reason for not stirring in the fv is you want to leave the trub behind. Stirring will probably bring some of that back into suspension.

Ideally, once kegged you would have kept it somewhere warm for a couple of weeks then cool to condition for at least 4 weeks. With the weather being warm at the moment your beer will probably be ok. You best pour yourself a glass to check on it's progress

 

[BrewDawg]

Thanks for the input guys. Had a wee sly taste last night, just for quality assurance purposes of course!!
Seemed ok, a little watery and a little cloudy still, but seemed ok and hopefully with another 2 or 3 weeks of conditioning that`ll improve.