Wherry fail?!?!?

[Gilly_willy]

I thought this kit was indestructible?!? I made up to 22 litres, 2 weeks in the primary, batch primed with 100g sugar,into a keg, 2 weeks in the warm, 5 weeks in my garage... And it tastes a bit...... Rubbish.... I drew off half a pint after the 2 weeks in the warm and it was amazing and I was really excited... A great brew for Xmas... Or so I thought. I have put in a co2 cartridge and it's given great head (stop sniggering at the back) but the beer itself is flat..... I don't seem to have any leaks i.e. No fluid loss from the tap, cap was on hand tight, lubed up... It doesn't taste horrible just not as good as 5 weeks ago... Can I do anything to rectify? I hope you guys can help....

 

[NickW]

It could be too cold... What temperature is it in your garage? The cooler the temperature the less apparent flavour. 12C is good :thumb:

 

[Diggerg]

Strange as the wherry kits seem to be popular and indestructible bit iv just read a similar past from Rivvo with similar details about bad taste. Rogue batch?

 

[Tim84]

I hope there's not a rogue batch as I've just put one on for Xmas!

 

[rpt]

They are certainly popular but I don't think the Wherry is indestructible. They have a reputation for stuck ferments (mine did) and it can take several weeks for the flavour to improve (mine took many weeks). They are just as sensitive to fermentation temperature as anything else.

 

[Sandimas]

What keg are you using? My guess is that you've got a tiny pressure leak somewhere, you may be able to rescue it by bringing it back in the warm, re-sealing and squirting to CO2 in.

I've had no end of trouble with various kegs, I now prefer the cheap Wilko ones because they balloon up under pressure, proving you have good gas :shock: I also give them a quick squirt of CO2 after barrelling and listen for any leaks.

Although I'm a pretty experienced brewer now, I still do Wherry occasionally and find it very, very reliable, and nice. The yeast is the weak point IMHO, I put some yeast nutrient in with this one and find it helps preventing sticking.

 

[Rivvo]

To be honest I think it was me being a complete nugget when I first brewed it
I will leave mine as it's still very cloudy and may not have completely fermented.

 

[Gilly_willy]

Thanks all for the responses! My garage was 5 degrees last night and got up to 7 degrees today, I guess this is less than the optimum 12 degrees.... How can I achieve this for storage? The house is warm at the moment (especially with a 6 week old baby in). Will wrapping it in a blanket help?
I'm using a youngs keg, about 25 quid so quite a cheap one.... I resealed with some more Vaseline and squirted some co2 in last night at left it in the garage... It seems to be holding pressure nearly 24 hrs later, would 4g of co2 have leaked out by now? On inspection there's nothing worrying me about a leak, but then how else would the pressure have originally escaped I 'spose? How long should I bring it back in the warm for?
I'm confident the fermentation didn't stick as I started with 1040 and finished a shade under 1014 2 weeks later