My first brew

[Stoobs]

Hi first time brewer here , I've had a kegerator for a while now and used to get a micro brewery to fill up my kegs but I have just finished my first brew and kegged it this afternoon , I've read so much online about it all but just feel a bit confused and would love some feed back before I start my next brew , my first question is do I need to do anything different because I'm kegging my beer and not bottling it ie no 2nd fermentation I've read a few things about this and I'm wondering if I need to add extra dextrose at the beginning so the alcohol percentage reaches the intended volume , and my second question is because I'm force carbinating my brew what is the best and safest method to not over carb my brew , and pretty much any advice for a begginer trying not to have failed brews

 

Cheers look forward to some feed back 

[ben 10]

6 minutes ago, Stoobs said:

the best and safest method to not over carb my brew

Put the gas on at serving pressure and drink after a week....

[Stoobs]

Yeah ok that is actually what I have done I was tossing up between that and 30 psi over 2 days 

[Beer Baron]

5 minutes ago, Stoobs said:

Yeah ok that is actually what I have done I was tossing up between that and 30 psi over 2 days 

You can do this if you want to drink it quicker. Just remember after the 2 days you drop to serving pressure and purge. I prefer to set and forget method. There is no chance of over carbing doing it that way

[The Captain!!]

Hey Stoobs,

Welcome to the journey.

Like Ben and BB says, serving pressure (12-14psi depending on system) for a week. 
 

To quicken up the carb I’ll run, like other people on here, 40 psi for 20-22 hours. Burp, down to serving pressure 

Good luck with the brew mate.

[Stoobs]

Yeah ok thanks for the feed back I think the set and forget will be my starting point and maybe progress to a quicker method down the track , any advice on the fermenting process for kegging as the few brews I've got and with what I've read when kegging you miss out on the 2nd fermentation and im wondering if this is an issue and weather or not to add some dextrose around 200g which is what ive found on some forums ive read 

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

You will get many arguments on force carbing v natural carbing in kegs. My opinion is natural is better for yeast driven beers ( belgians, wheats, saisons, aussie pale ales ) plus high ABV brews which need long conditioning. Everything else is better with force. Anything hoppy is better with force. 

Also if natural carbing use less priming sugar. 80 to 100gm is enough for a 19L keg depending on how much bubbles you want

[Beer Baron]

11 minutes ago, Stoobs said:

any advice on the fermenting process for kegging as the few brews I've got and with what I've read when kegging you miss out on the 2nd fermentation and im wondering if this is an issue and weather or not to add some dextrose around 200g which is what ive found on some forums ive read 

You could always use a little less water to get to your intended ABV or if you want to keep the same volume then add some dex or malt or just like Greeny said you can naturally carb with priming sugar in the keg

[Otto Von Blotto]

It's not an issue either way with regards to carbonating kegs. You can use the gas cylinder or you can add some priming sugar and do it that way. Both methods work. 

I force carbonate all my kegs, sometimes I do the set and forget on serving pressure, sometimes I do the high pressure for a day, let it rest for 5-6 hours then burp and drop it back down. The styles I enjoy aren't really yeast driven. I don't care about missing out on the extra 0.4% ABV from priming sugar because it doesn't affect the flavour, and in a keg it would be less than that even due to the lower amount of priming sugar needed. 

Try both methods and decide which one you like better, you won't get bad beer either way. 

[Stoobs]

7 hours ago, Greeny1525229549 said:

My opinion is natural is better for yeast driven beers ( belgians, wheats, saisons, aussie pale ales ) plus high ABV brews which need long conditioning. Everything else is better with force. Anything hoppy is better with force. 

Also if natural carbing use less priming sugar. 80 to 100gm is enough for a 19L keg depending on how much bubbles you want

Great that advice helps a lot I've just brewed a hoppypacific ale and next I'm doing another hoppy pale ale , with the natural carbinghow long would you need for that process , also one other thing I've read on other forums is about cold crashing to clear up the brew after fermentation and before kegging any advice on this especially for the pacific ale I just brewed and the pale ale I'm about to do as traditionally the commercial versions are a pretty cloudy beer ?

[Stoobs]

5 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I force carbonate all my kegs, sometimes I do the set and forget on serving pressure, sometimes I do the high pressure for a day, let it rest for 5-6 hours then burp and drop it back down. The styles I enjoy aren't really yeast driven. I don't care about missing out on the extra 0.4% ABV from priming sugar because it doesn't affect the flavour, and in a keg it would be less than that even due to the lower amount of priming sugar needed. 

Ok cheers mate that helps , when you talk about brews that arent yeast driven are you talking about the flavour of then as in more hoppy brews etc ?

[Otto Von Blotto]

1 hour ago, Stoobs said:

Ok cheers mate that helps , when you talk about brews that arent yeast driven are you talking about the flavour of then as in more hoppy brews etc ?

Those are one example. American pale ale is pretty much hop driven. Other things like stouts and porters are more malt driven. The styles greeny mentioned in his post are more yeast driven. 

The yeast will always have an effect on the flavour to some degree, it's just some yeasts are more dominant than others. I prefer the malt and hops to be most prominent, although I do use certain yeasts in certain beers to accentuate aspects of that malt and hops balance. 

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

2 hours ago, Stoobs said:

Great that advice helps a lot I've just brewed a hoppypacific ale and next I'm doing another hoppy pale ale , with the natural carbinghow long would you need for that process , also one other thing I've read on other forums is about cold crashing to clear up the brew after fermentation and before kegging any advice on this especially for the pacific ale I just brewed and the pale ale I'm about to do as traditionally the commercial versions are a pretty cloudy beer ?

Natural carb will take about a week to a week and a half depending on the temperature of the keg. Try to keep it above 18c for it to referment. For the above styles you mentioned i would be force carbing.

Agree with what Kelsey has said. Only place i might not agree is a high ABV stout or porter as i think a high ABV beer conditions out better with a secondary ferment. As kelsey says try for yourself. Your tastebuds are your guide and everyones tastebuds are different.

[Otto Von Blotto]

As for cold crashing, I never found it to clear up the beer much by itself, but it was and is useful for dropping out more sediment than without doing it, so I still did it and continue to do so. Yeast drops out by itself anyway, the haze I used to get was chill haze i.e. the beer would look clear at room temperature then go hazy once it was chilled.

I add clarifiers now to get rid of the chill haze but that's personal preference, neither way is right or wrong.