Newbie would like some advice regarding priming.

[marshbrewer]

I've just drank most of my first kit ~ Coopers European Lager. It was drinkable, but slightly disappointing in two areas. The first was it was a bit two yeasty than I would have expected. My Dad's been brewing since I was a child, and I know that home brew tastes different that commercial pap, as it isn't farted about with as much, but I had a go at a lager kit when I was a teenager and it was better than this in that regard. The resulting beer was totally clear, however. Secondly, the beer was as flat as a pancake almost immediately after being poured.

I followed the instructions that came with the kit (including the special notes for this specific kit), apart from deviating as follows. Once primary fermentation (which took a surprisingly long time, but the 'special' notes warned of this due to kit using real lager yeast) was complete (S.G. readings steady for a few days, which stupidly I didn't note down, grrrrr), I transferred it to a pressure barrel, flooded it with CO2 and left it to mature (again, for what seemed like ages, about 9 weeks).

If I had bottled it, I would have primed the bottles, which (newbie alert ~ I am making assumptions based on pure guesswork and no knowledge) I assume would have meant that the yeast would have started again, pressured the bottles a bit, then dropped dead at the bottom. So, I'm about to try the same kit again (which makes sense from a reference point of view), and was wondering, can I prime the pressure barrel like I would the bottles, at 8g per litre, or will I just end up with an exploding barrel, or worse, dreadful beer? What else could I try? Would finings help?

All advice appreciated.

 

[Aleman]

You can't get the same amount of carbonation inplastic barrels that you can in bottles. When priming a barrel aim for about 80g of sugar, but you will still end up with an ale level of carbonation. . . . unless you get the barrel cold when more CO2 will dissolve into the beer.

If you really want to dispense fizzy lager from barrels you need to either bottle it . . . or go down the corny keg route.

 

[marshbrewer]

Cheers for the reply. I appreciate I'm not going to get commercial levels of 'fizziness' (don't they use NOx, or summit?), but my attempt was flatter than my Dads dark ale is, for isntance. a small head would appear when you filled a 2 pint jug, but it would be completely flat by the time I had walked 15 yards to the dinner table, as if it were apple juice or something.

I'll try priming as per your advice next time rather than not at all to see what the difference is. Do I just add it to the empty barrel before transferring the beer as I would with a bottle?. Do you think it will reduce the yeasty taste a bit, or is my logic messed up there?

 

[jamesb]

Cheers for the reply. I appreciate I'm not going to get commercial levels of 'fizziness' (don't they use NOx, or summit?),

"Fizziness" is provided by CO2, either from forced carbonation or priming.

The N2 they use is for "smoothflow" beers, to give creaminess. And flatulence. And aching joints. :sick:

 

[marshbrewer]

What a great forum! As well as the advice above, I've read through various old posts, the FAQ's, How-To's, etc and have a list of things I want to try out to see how they effect things. So the plan is to leave the 2nd Coopers European Lager kit waiting in the wings for a bit, buy a beer kit (thinking of Coopers Pale Ale, but undecided), and get that into the FV. Once it's in my barrel, I'll ferment the aforementioned lager kit, and once it's done (at a much lower temp, for much longer), it will go into bottles (so it's no hogging the barrel and I won't be tempted to rush things, and I can also look at the difference between the two methods).

In fact there are so many variables I want to try out that I've had to stop myself running out and buying another barrel or two!

How long that restraint will last, I've no idea. :