Muntons Midas Touch Seems To Be Stuck?

[philip5660]

It was a dry beer enzyme that muntons sent me - complete last resort!

 

[shearclass]

Thanks again Big Yin. I realise this is a common fault but searching the forum i couldn't find a definitive answer.

I'll give this one a stir and take a reading in a couple of days to see if there has been any change. I use an immersion heater in my brew. It's in my bedroom, but a is spend several days away from my house in a row at my girlfriend's place, it gets chilly in my room. My kit has been going for 9 days. I wouldn't be concerned if there had been some change, but the readings i took on both wednesday and friday were identical.

I don't know anything about enzymes! Was this something Muntons recommended Philip5660? I'm going to email them today.

 

[BigYin]

I'm trying to compile a fairly wide ranging 'how to' about stuck fermentations - so any info on what did work, what didn't etc is much appreciated as once it's ready, it will hopefully give future brewers the help and reassurance they need :thumb:

 

[philip5660]

Shearclass - yeah Muntons sent me the enzyme and suggested I added it to the brew. The word "recommended" can only be used loosely here. As far as I know there are sugars in your wort that yeast can't normally ferment and they are there for flavour. When you add the enzyme it breaks some of this material down and makes it available for fermentation.
I did some reading on the matter before I added the enzyme and it's not generally something people use under normal circumstances.
Here's what they (Muntons actually said):

"Please provide your full postal address and a contact number and I will arrange for a replacement kit to be sent out to you. I will also send you an enzyme sachet to add to your existing brew, so all is not lost!

Muntons take all quality issues very seriously and we will obviously look into the matter further and test our retained samples.
"

So it was a case having nothing left to lose, they were sending me a free kit anyway so i may as well bung it in.

The result was that the beer fermented down to something like 10 points below what I was expecting, the resultant ABV should have been around 5.7% but was more like 7%.

If you are emailing muntons be sure to say that you have been chatting to others on the forums that have had similar stuck fermentations with their kits and also they will ask you for the OG of your brew, brewing temp, batch numbers of your kit you have them - so have all that data ready...

 

[philip5660]

I'm trying to compile a fairly wide ranging 'how to' about stuck fermentations - so any info on what did work, what didn't etc is much appreciated as once it's ready, it will hopefully give future brewers the help and reassurance they need :thumb:

good idea

 

[shearclass]

That will be very helpful BigYin, I'll let you know how mine works out.

Philip5660 - was the 7% brew drinkable? Was it very bitter? I'd be very happy if Muntons sent me a new kit, otherwise i probably won't bother using them again. I'd already emailed them before i read your post, so I didn't mention anything about chatting to other forum users about it.

If they don't send me a free kit then i'll complain more vigorously!

 

[philip5660]

That will be very helpful BigYin, I'll let you know how mine works out.

Philip5660 - was the 7% brew drinkable? Was it very bitter? I'd be very happy if Muntons sent me a new kit, otherwise i probably won't bother using them again. I'd already emailed them before i read your post, so I didn't mention anything about chatting to other forum users about it.

If they don't send me a free kit then i'll complain more vigorously!

Yeah it is drinkable although I'm taking my time with it as these things always improve with age - it certainly is quite dry and wouldn't be to everyones tastes. Best served cold I find!
Muntons should treat you ok, their problems seem to be well documented and I get the feeling they are getting a few people complaining!

*EDIT* That put me in the mood to try one - they are definitely getting better!

 

[shearclass]

They have sent me 2 X 3g sachets of enzyme -

'SPECIAL ENZYME FOR DRY BEERS'
ADD WITH YEAST
STORE IN A COOL DRY PLACE

INGREDIENTS: DEXTROSE,
AMG ENZYME

However, there is no instructions as to whether i shoudl add 1 or both sachets of this. Any ideas?

They also sent me a Muntons T shirt, however, it's a large and is very wide so i don't think it will fit me. Does anyone want this?

 

[philip5660]

Just put in one of those sachets and give it a little stir round - I've done the same with mine now!

And a tshirt? ffs, how are you meant to ferment that?

 

[shearclass]

Ha!

I've added my tshirt to the brew. If this fails to get the desired results i'll complain once again to Muntons!

I've been trying to get a replacement kit out of them but not having much luck. Eventually, they told me that if i was not happy with the final product i should let them know, and they would send a replacement kit. I'll wait to see if this ever ferments, keg it, then get back to them on it.

 

[shearclass]

Adding the enzyme got the brew down to 1009. I couldn't be arsed to check if it was a steady reading as the kit had been in the damn bucket for 3 weeks, so i racked it yesterday after takign the reading. The enzyme was added on saturday, so it had had a few days to do it's stuff. Produced 5 litre bottles and the rest in a budget barrel.

My local home brew shop told me that i should not keep the brew in the fermentation bucket for more than 6 days. Apparently if it has not finished fermenting by this point it should be transferred to another fermentation vessel. Apparently the sediment contains dead yeast, which can rot and spoil the beer.

I went back to Muntons on this, and they finally relented and sent me a replacement kit. I've kept the original one that has been in the bucket for 3 weeks and contains the enzyme just to see how it turns out, though i am not convinced it will be drinkable.

As it has been in the bucket for so long, do you think it will need more or less time in the barrel before it is ready to drink?

Cheers

 

[philip5660]

should just take about the same time in the barrell - mine's down to about 1006, if it's still there today I'm going to crash cool then bottle

 

[Aleman]

My local home brew shop told me that i should not keep the brew in the fermentation bucket for more than 6 days. Apparently if it has not finished fermenting by this point it should be transferred to another fermentation vessel. Apparently the sediment contains dead yeast, which can rot and spoil the beer.

So my last batch that was in the FV for 21 days was ruined then . . . funny it didn't taste that way to me. To be fair to the LHBS there is a big difference between keeping it on the lees for 6 days and 21 days at high temperatures . . . but if you are fermenting at 18-21C then you should have no issues . . . when you start 'Fermenting in a warm place' that is when you get all sorts of flavour issues cropping up.

 

[shearclass]

So my last batch that was in the FV for 21 days was ruined then . . . funny it didn't taste that way to me. To be fair to the LHBS there is a big difference between keeping it on the lees for 6 days and 21 days at high temperatures

I happily admit that i don't know anything about Home Brewing. However what confuses me is that the experts all seem to disagree with each other over fundamental issues.

I saw no reason to disagree with my local shop when they have had the shop for over 30 years and brew beer themselves. They stood no financial gain by telling me this, i only popped in to buy a bucket clip at £1.53.

Aleman, what do you mean by 6 days in the lees? I don't know what a lees is. My bucket had the brew in there for 3 weeks at a temp of about 20 - 22 degrees. In your opinion is it fine to leave the brew in th FV on top of the sediment for that long? Will it not have any affect on the flavour of the beer or the length of time it takes to clear now it's in the barrel? What about the addition of enzyme? Will this affect the flavour or the length of time it takes to clear?

 

[shearclass]

Apparently I was in a stroppy mood when i wrote the post above.

This week i received a complimentary kit from Muntons (my constant whining paid off!) However I was surprised to find a Woodfordes kit when I opened the parcel. I assume that muntos owns Woodfordes (or vice versa)?

I cant remember the name of the kit, something about celebrating the Great Eastern Railway, or something. Sounds liek a pale ale, which i would normally really like. Going to dry hop it - never done that before.

Going to try the Muntons next weekend perhaps, no idea what this is going to taste of!

 

[philip5660]

mine should be ready for sampling too this weekend - it'll be interesting...

 

[shearclass]

Just tried my first pint of this. It is still quite cloudy, so I guess I should probably leave it for another week in the garage in the hope it clears.

Sadly, it was totally flat. There was not enough pressure for me to even get a pint out, so i had to artificially carbonate it. I can only assume there is a problem with the barrel, as I also did 5 x 1 litre PET bottles, and these are absolutely rock hard (i was worried they would explode), so they have clearly carbonated.

Anyone know a nifty trick i can try to see if there is a problem with the seal on the lid of the pressure barrel? My thoughts were that i would remove the lid, screw it back on again, carbonate, then try in a few days to see if it's flat. If it is flat, i'd the lid from my other pressure barrel on it, artificially carbonate, then check again in a few days.

I know the 2nd lid works, as i used that on my first brew. If the beer is flat again, I will have to assume the barrel is somehow leaking. this is the first time i have used this barrel, so if that is the case, i'll have to go back to the LHBS.

Phil, how did yours taste?

 

[philip5660]

Had a sample at the weekend (mine was all batch primed with light spray malt and bottled). As you say mine probably could do with a little more time to clear - it certainly doesn't match up the golden description. The taste actually wasn't bad for an early tester and considering i used an enzyme (like I had to with the winter warmer) it didn't have as much of a dry bite.
I'm actually cautiously optimistic.

I did actually fire the girl at muntons another mail just to let her know that I also had to use a dry beer enzyme with this brew - so far no response, I think she probably fears I'm after a freebie again! But in all honesty I just want to know if there is a known quality issue.

 

[YogiB]

Hi all,

I've been reading this thread with interest.

Apologies in advance for my Newbie's ignorance but I have a "what if" question related to this.

Q1: What problems would there be if the SG was 1020 after 14 days or so and there didn't appear to be any bubbles and appeared flat(if no airlock was used)?

Q2: Could it be racked (I think that's the correct term)under such circumstances in a keg with sugar for secondary fermentation when at 1020?

a curious YogiBeer!

 

[shearclass]

Hi Yogibeer

I'm a newbie too, so i can't really advise, just pass on other comments.

what kit have you got?

I would say 1.020 is quite high, may result in the beer being weak and sweet. Some people on the forum recommend stirring the brew gently to somehow encourage fermentation. For some reason though, at this stage getting oxygen into the beer can spoil the taste, so if you do stir, be gentle.

You can get packets of dry beer enzyme for 50p which will aid fermentation, but i don't know how they work or what exactly they do to affect taste. Someone else me know though.