graemed5 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 hi i am new at brewing made my first batch out of the box followed all the steps bottled brew for two weeks then tasted a bit on the flat side Where did i go wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Welcome to the Forum Graeme. I am assuming that you added 2 carb drops per 740ml bottle. At what temperature have your bottles been stored? Don't be concerned though, it sometimes takes longer than two weeks to build up consistent carbonation. Give the bottles a gentle shake to stir up the yeast, store them some place warm and give them another week or so. They should come good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 hi Graeme, welcome to the forum. a couple of things, firstly the longer you leave your brew in the bottle, the better head retention you will get, secondly always pour into a perfectly clean glass that has no residual detergents or soaps. i have a few schooners that are always washed and rinsed and left on a shelf in the freezer. what did you use to prime your bottles? lots of people swear by the conditioning drops, but i have found that sugar or dextrose works much better for me. with lagers and pale ales, i usually put slightly more than the level teaspoon for a tallie or level half teaspoon for a stubby, just be very careful not to over charge your bottles, especially glass. finally always fully rinse the bottles and make sure the caps/tops are fully sealed. turn each bottle upside down and give it a shake. this will ensure that priming sugar is fully mixed and will also alert you to a top that is not tight enough. happy brewing, Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graemed5 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Thanks Hairy,and Nick I will wait bit longer i put two carb drop in each 740ml bottle of larger Going to try a pale ale next Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 no wux Graeme, the pale ale is great choice. simple recipe and truely the king of beers (well, one of a few)[lol] its always difficult with your first brews to leave them long enough to fully mature, but patience will bring rewards. keep brewing and gradually you build up stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne (Captain Yobbo) Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Yep what they said! +1 and with the pale ale its a very good kit I find them to be really nice at 2 weeks in the bottle but even nicer a few months in the bottle. PS the coopers commercial yeast makes its pretty close to the real deal once you up to reculturing yeast if you want.[cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 With such minimal information as to what you did, or didn't do, there are so many answers that may have been the problem. Sometimes people interpretate instructions differently or they may simply just overlook something. However, I reckon Hairy is right. Just leave them for a little while longer at 18C+ and they should come right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Another thing to consider is the air-space at the top of the bottle, as I discovered when I once bottled twenty eight and three quarter amber ales. The three quarter full bottle was almost completely flat, even though it made a "psst" sound when I opened it. I think what happens is that the CO2 builds up in the air-space at the top and, when it reaches a critical pressure, starts forcing its way into the beer itself. The more space there is at the top, the longer it takes to reach that pressure and the slower it'll carbonate when it does. Now in my case it was a pretty extreme example because I had a lot (in relative terms probably 10 times the usual amount) of space in the top so I don't really know how much difference it'd make. Does anyone else know whether small variations make much difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianD7 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Hi Graeme Thanks for your post As I have the same problem with a pale Ale (my first brew) the process followed to a T. After 2 weeks at 18deg opende fist pET bottle (640ml I think) and it was as flat as but the taste was OK. There was small bubbles in the glass but no fizz nor head. I'll take the forums advice and leave it another couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Hi BrianD7. As a rule of thumb, MOST ales are not meant to be high foaming heady types of beers. Two weeks is given as a MINIMUM time to allow secondary fermentation to complete a basic level of carbonation. New to home brewing brewers (or "mixers" as some would call us) expect miracles at this 2 week junction. Sorry to be the one to tell you, but this just ain't gonna happen. As most that have brewed for a while will attest to, the longer you are able to leave your completed brews in the bottle, the better the beer will taste, the better the head & it's retention will be, & the better the carbonation will be. If you are brewing Ales primarily, try to get your bottled stock up near the 2 month mark, before you start to look at regularly refridgorating & drinking your home brewed beer. I know it's tough early on, but it is worth it in the long run. Ruddager makes a good point about your bottle fill height too. I took note of where my Fav commercial brewer (Coopers) fills to, & replicate that height when I fill my own bottles of home brew. Beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 (or "mixers" as some would call us) [lol] [lol] [lol] Ive a feeling this is going to be a future trend for some time to come....Its actually already starting to feel more like AHB around here [tongue] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 [lol] [lol] [lol] Ive a feeling this is going to be a future trend for some time to come....Its actually already starting to feel more like AHB around here [tongue] GrahamB8 just got slotted into the "sharp cue" rack. I knew someone would pick up on that eventually. [biggrin] I didn't start that discussion, but I'm more than happy to continue it. [devil] Beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF9 Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 New to home brewing brewers (or "mixers" as some would call us) expect miracles at this 2 week junction. Never underestimate the value of a good stir! [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 but I'm more than happy to continue it. [devil] No value in it or reason to continue it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianD7 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Thanks Beerlust. Yes I was expecting all to be near perfect after 2 weeks. But although taste was good, there wasn't any head or frothy stuff on top of poured Ale even when poured into a glass from a great height. But thanks to this forum's advice I will stick with it and check a bottle each week. But this may mean by the time it's ready there won't be much left. But that's all part of the learning. Graemed5 please post updates as I'm keen to know if yours improves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 (or "mixers" as some would call us) [lol] [lol] [lol] Ive a feeling this is going to be a future trend for some time to come....Its actually already starting to feel more like AHB around here [tongue] Every brewer in this excellent forum was once a mixer. every brewer became a brewer because of the friendly and informative advice that they recieved from those who went before them and passed on their knowledge. my short time here has been a huge benefit to my as yet very limited skills. in those couple of short months i have seen many new members ask the same basic questions that i did, and all were answered in the same friendly and genuinly helpful manner as mine were. i dont give a feck about Other forums as i can get all the answers i need here, from blokes who are passionate about their brewing/mixing, happy to share their wealth of knowledge and enjoy a good laugh to boot. i think i'll leave AHB to those other guys. [joyful] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wal Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Every brewer in this excellent forum was once a mixer. every brewer became a brewer because of the friendly and informative advice that they recieved from those who went before them and passed on their knowledge. my short time here has been a huge benefit to my as yet very limited skills. in those couple of short months i have seen many new members ask the same basic questions that i did, and all were answered in the same friendly and genuinly helpful manner as mine were. i dont give a feck about Other forums as i can get all the answers i need here, from blokes who are passionate about their brewing/mixing, happy to share their wealth of knowledge and enjoy a good laugh to boot. i think i'll leave AHB to those other guys. [joyful] Here here, well said..[biggrin] I'll drink to that [smile] [w00t] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Every brewer in this excellent forum was once a mixer. every brewer became a brewer because of the friendly and informative advice that they recieved from those who went before them and passed on their knowledge. my short time here has been a huge benefit to my as yet very limited skills. in those couple of short months i have seen many new members ask the same basic questions that i did' date=' and all were answered in the same friendly and genuinly helpful manner as mine were. i dont give a feck about Other forums as i can get all the answers i need here, from blokes who are passionate about their brewing/mixing, happy to share their wealth of knowledge and enjoy a good laugh to boot. i think i'll leave AHB to those other guys. [joyful'] Yes often you get the same questions and although it is a bit mundane as people take the easy way out rather than do a simple search, I guess if people keep reading the same answers then they are more likely not to forget. I do wish people do a search first though but only few people ever will... I mean how many times do you hear the same questions and on multiple forums....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Yes often you get the same questions and although it is a bit mundane as people take the easy way out rather than do a simple search, I guess if people keep reading the same answers then they are more likely not to forget. I do wish people do a search first though but only few people ever will... I mean how many times do you hear the same questions and on multiple forums....? I cant agree more with the research thing Bill, but humans are social animals and asking basic question about new interests or hobbies on a forum like this, is a veiled way of saying hello, i'm here and i want to be part of this group. You can Googalise anything you want and generally find all the answers you need, but nothing takes the place of 2 humans interacting. unfortunately, social media and the like are slowly eroding our ability as humans to interact with each other. i would rather say the same thing 50 times to 50 different people than write it once. [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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