Home Brewing

Won’t that just restart fermentation?
Yes
I guess that’s the benefit of using corny kegs in that you don’t do a second fermentation in the keg but instead force carbonate it using bottled co2, giving you a clearer beer.
yup and you can filter (if you are a geek) to remove most yeast and delay it.
Then carb.
Stopping fermentation other than boiling, properly, is quite hard. But yes that is a benefit other than all the time saved.
 
Yes

yup and you can filter (if you are a geek) to remove most yeast and delay it.
Then carb.
Stopping fermentation other than boiling, properly, is quite hard. But yes that is a benefit other than all the time saved.
I must admit that not having to wash, sterilise, prime, fill and cap 40 bottles for each brew would be nice!
Just have to try and work out where I would fit a keg dispenser in the house without invoking the ire of the good lady!!
Out of interest, how long does the beer keep in a corny keg, both before you start drinking it and once it’s been tapped?
 
I must admit that not having to wash, sterilise, prime, fill and cap 40 bottles for each brew would be nice!
Just have to try and work out where I would fit a keg dispenser in the house without invoking the ire of the good lady!!
Out of interest, how long does the beer keep in a corny keg, both before you start drinking it and once it’s been tapped?
Changes character for sure but it’s the same as being in a bottle even when tapped if you purge air at the start. Put a kegerator outdoors somewhere mine lives in the gazebo (happy days 😁) doesn’t look too offensive
 
I must admit that not having to wash, sterilise, prime, fill and cap 40 bottles for each brew would be nice!
Just have to try and work out where I would fit a keg dispenser in the house without invoking the ire of the good lady!!
Out of interest, how long does the beer keep in a corny keg, both before you start drinking it and once it’s been tapped?
Also you can force carb in 20 mins. Means as soon as you siphon out of the fermenter you can drink it. I still have a couple of pressure barrels for ale which is better in those
 
Where the corny kegs worked for me was I could have 3 beers on the go and they never went off. While not getting quite as much character as an ale in a cask they still give great beer. In most ways they were really a great compromise, the downsides were few. If you're doing the more modern styles with new world hops which don't benefit from aging, they are really excellent, and for the very traditional styles like dark milds at around 3.3% they were great because in a cask those don't last very long. For strong traditional beers they work well as they do improve with a few months in the keg like they do in bottles.
 
I'm keeping the Pilsner for 3 months before drinking, the stout i'll give at least 6 weeks. that will be on beer gas (70/30 nitro/co2) to give it the right feel.
Cider i'll give it a month and then experiment with the back sweet / concentrate suggestions of the great and wise on here if the character hasn't come good by then.
 
I'm keeping the Pilsner for 3 months before drinking, the stout i'll give at least 6 weeks. that will be on beer gas (70/30 nitro/co2) to give it the right feel.
Cider i'll give it a month and then experiment with the back sweet / concentrate suggestions of the great and wise on here if the character hasn't come good by then.

Have you tried any of the WHC blitz lager yeast to brew a lager in 2 weeks to see how they compare to a traditional?
 
I'm keeping the Pilsner for 3 months before drinking, the stout i'll give at least 6 weeks. that will be on beer gas (70/30 nitro/co2) to give it the right feel.
Cider i'll give it a month and then experiment with the back sweet / concentrate suggestions of the great and wise on here if the character hasn't come good by then.
Random to say but if low in tanin cold strong black tea adds to it. It’s not perfect but worth an experiment
 
I must admit that not having to wash, sterilise, prime, fill and cap 40 bottles for each brew would be nice!
Just have to try and work out where I would fit a keg dispenser in the house without invoking the ire of the good lady!!
Out of interest, how long does the beer keep in a corny keg, both before you start drinking it and once it’s been tapped?

I've had a beer in the keg for a year and it's been fine, "tapping" corny kegs isn't a problem like cask is, as they have quick disconnect posts and you just put CO2 in as you need to to keep the serving pressure after you've dispensed some, so the contents won't be exposed to air which is what causes cask beers to go off once tapped
 
Have you tried any of the WHC blitz lager yeast to brew a lager in 2 weeks to see how they compare to a traditional?
Not tried it - used 34/70 in this batch and will see how it does. I'm also keen to give the fresh wort Kolsh a go from Malt Miller, but i've got 60 litres of other stuff to drink first (well, at least 19 litres to free up a keg!)
 
I hope you guys do not mind me bombarding you with questions but I have one more that you might be able to advise on:-
I am still using the "kit beer" that I usually use (Geordie Winter Warmer) but to make a small difference I have done my last brew using 500g of Granulated Sugar plus 500g of Dark Spay Malt instead of the 1kg of sugar that the instructions say. It has finished fermenting at smack on 5% ABV which I am very happy with. The brew has a nice smooth "malty" taste (Which I quite like) but I am thinking that I might be able to improve the flavour just a little by infusing some extra hops into it. I have a 100g pack of "Northdown" Hop Pellets and was thinking of using something like 25g of the hop pellets boiled in 1L of water and mixing the liquid with the wort as I make it. I also have a pack of Mango Jacks M36 Liberty Bell yeast which I am thinking of using instead of the normal "kit yeast" which might change the flavour slightly.
What would your thoughts be and would the 25g of Cascade hop pellets be sufficient to infuse a slightly more "hoppy" flavour without overpowering it in the finished ale please?
Sorry about all of what you guys might see as very basic questions but if I don't ask I am not going to learn so Thanks in Advance Guys!:tiphat:
 
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I am thinking that I might be able to improve the flavour just a little by infusing some extra hops into it. I have a 100g pack of "Northdown" Hop Pellets and was thinking of using something like 25g of the hop pellets boiled in 1L of water and mixing the liquid with the wort as I make it. I also have a pack of Mango Jacks M36 Liberty Bell yeast which I am thinking of using instead of the normal "kit yeast" which might change the flavour slightly.
What would your thoughts be and would the 25g of Cascade hop pellets be sufficient to infuse a slightly more "hoppy" flavour without overpowering it in the finished ale please?

The hops will add flavour but also bitterness. The amount of bitterness will depend on how long they are in boiling water for. I would suggest you would want to add a minimum of bitterness so if you are adding the hops, boil them in 1L of water and add them to the liquid of the wort but don't boil them for very long before you add them to the liquid, 5 minutes will probably be plenty.

The yeast is worth a try.
 
The hops will add flavour but also bitterness. The amount of bitterness will depend on how long they are in boiling water for. I would suggest you would want to add a minimum of bitterness so if you are adding the hops, boil them in 1L of water and add them to the liquid of the wort but don't boil them for very long before you add them to the liquid, 5 minutes will probably be plenty.

The yeast is worth a try.
Many thanks. I should have said that I was only them for a couple of minutes. Might an alternative be to put them in inside a muslin bag without boiling them at a later stage of the fermentation, and if so roughly how many (In grams) might be a good starting point?
 
Many thanks. I should have said that I was only them for a couple of minutes. Might an alternative be to put them in inside a muslin bag without boiling them at a later stage of the fermentation, and if so roughly how many (In grams) might be a good starting point?
You can just cast the pellets into the wort usually 3 or 4 days after fermentation starts to dry hop. The bits will ultimately drop out of suspension but you may need to wait a week longer than usual before bottling or barrelling. Will get more hop aroma and less bitterness that way.
 
You can just cast the pellets into the wort usually 3 or 4 days after fermentation starts to dry hop. The bits will ultimately drop out of suspension but you may need to wait a week longer than usual before bottling or barrelling. Will get more hop aroma and less bitterness that way.

I put them in a very fine muslin bag.
 
Thank you Essexsussex and Morkai, that sounds more like a way to get the results that I am hoping for!
I appreciate the help and advice all of you offer! :tiphat:
 
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