High Temperatures and my Young's brew kit

[Staaue]

Hi all.

What a great website, I found so much useful information here, it's been a real asset to getting me started in home brewing.

I need some advice, about this hot weather we've been having!!! Is it going to ruin my Lager? (It's a Young's brew kit bought from Wilkinsons) Also I need some advice on transfer from fermentation tank to pressure keg.

Let me give a short diary of events to help understand what has been going on with my brew kit!!

I started the brew last Sunday the 20th July, where the ambient temperatures were in the region of 18'C - 19'C. Perfect I thought.
A gravity test showed a reading of 1.038....

The first three days went well. The airlock was bubbling every four seconds or so; and as it is my first home brew, we were all mightily impressed by this activity. I found myself spending several minutes at a time watching the bubbles.

Anyway, on day 3 (Wednesday) the temperature shot up to 21'C, a little unnerving as the yeast range on the instructions is from 18'C to 21'C.

I was powerless to keep the temperature down as the fermentation tank is in the coolest part of my house!! Bubbling is still going well at every four seconds or so..

Day 4 (Thursday) I'm quite worried at this point as the ambient temperature is 23'C.
The gap between bubbling is slowing down to every 10 seconds or so in the morning. There is a 16 second gap between bubbling at lunch time and on Thursday night the gap between bubbling is around 40 seconds. The brew is showing a hydrometer reading of 1.006.
Although a little cloudy, it is not the dark tea/coffee coloured as it was at the start of the brew, it is now resembling lager; a golden colour that smells like flat larger. I don't know if this is correct but it seems to be going good.

Day 5. The ambient temperature is now 25'C
In the morning the gap between bubbling is 40'ish or so seconds and on measuring the gravity in the evening, the bubbling gap was 70 seconds between bubbling. The hydrometer reading today is 1.003

Day 6. The ambient temperature is now 26'C to 27'C
The bubbling this morning has slowed down to 90 seconds between bubbling. At lunch time the gap between bubbling is 100 seconds between bubbling. And on my final reading last night, the gap between bubbling is about 120 seconds. The hydrometer reading is 1.002.

Today is day seven, I'm going to put the lager in a pressure barrel today; but I'm concerned that carbonation can't occur due to the barrel's lid having a vent in the top, it's a hole with a rubber band around it...

I'm off to Wilkinson's to get the alternative pressure top for my keg, you know the ones that have the CO2 attachment. Your thoughts on whether this is the right move would be appreciated.

Is there a way of monitoring the pressure inside my keg?? I was thinking of modifying a CO2 injector with a pressure gauge attached; this way I could check the pressure inside my keg when I felt the need.. being new to all this and unsure of the pressures involved, I'm a little nervous as to what to expect.

When I transfer the lager from my fermentation tank to the keg, the instructions say to sugar it and to put it in a warm place for 2-3 days; then after this period keep the keg cool for a further 14 days; because of the high temperatures, should I place the keg in my refrigerator for the remaining time...???

Also, should I put my Young's fining's in my keg or fermentation tank?? I was thinking that if I put the fining's in my fermentation tank, then I would be able to syphon off clear lager to my keg.. but of coarse greater minds than mine have already worked this one out and I was wondering what was the best way to approach this to achieve best practice.

Thanks in advance.

Staaue.

[MightyMouth]

The beer should be fine, the kit most likely uses an ale yeast anyway though you may get some fruity esters at higher fermentation temperatures it will still be drinkable.

For a Lager I would add about 80 or 90 grams of sugar for priming. Basically draw off about 1/2 pint of the beer from the fermenter, into a clean measuring just, add the sugar and and bring to the boil in a microwave or in the stove top then cover with cling film and allow to cool to 30c or less then gently mix back into the fermenter along with the finings then rack off to the keg from there.

After a week in the warm then move to the cool for a week, a fridge is fine if you can fit the keg in.

[Staaue]

Thanks for the response. I transferred my fermented brew to my keg this afternoon.

Yes DaaB and MightMouth I was thinking it is going to be a strong brew, which isn't really what I'm after, lager for me is about the flavour; thought my better half seems more interested in the alcohol content of her beverages.

As long as I get a drinkable lager for my first attempt, then that is what is important for me.... Doesn't need to be great, just a drinkable bevvy that I brewed.

I have not made any mistakes until today when I poured my boiling sugar solution straight into my brew.... Doh.. I think the heat's getting to me. I'll not make that mistake again.

Everything seems OK though; my keg is bubbling away nicely showing me that secondary fermentation is under-way, which leads me onto my next issue.

I can't figure out how my lager's going to be carbonated correctly if the lid on my keg releases the gas??? I filled the recess in the lid with some water to show any gas escaping, and it is busily popping bubbles at a rate of one bubble every two seconds.

Unscrewing the lid gives no indication to pressure inside the keg, there is no noticeable "Psssssst" as the lid is unscrewed!!

Shouldn't I be using a sealed keg that will keep the pressure contained...


Please advise.

[MightyMouth]

I am not sure what kind of keg you have but it shouldn't release any gas. The rubber band thing should hold the pressure back until it gets beyond a safe pressure. The band should cover the whole.

[Staaue]

I bought it from Wilkinson's.

Wilkinson only seem to do Young's home brewing stuff, I'm going to assume it's a Young's Keg. But don't quote me on that.

Several times this evening I've waited until I can see bubbles escaping from the lids vent, and then I've carefully unscrewed the lid to see if there is a sizeable about of pressure in the keg. There isn't.

Maybe I've got a duff lid and the seal isn't putting enough pressure to hold in the gas??

Oh dear, what do I do... I was thinking about getting a second keg, this would allow me to answer the question of is this current lid faulty in some way. I find this unlikely as the rubber band is on damn tight...

Thanks for your speedy replies.

Regards.

[Staaue]

This is the lid shown here. http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... pares.html

Please look down the list of items until you get to the white lid with the Ref: 100797.

I'm thinking of adding a safety release valve to my kegs to ensure good safe pressures... I'm kind of wishing I'd paid a few more quid on some decent kegs.

[youreds91]

This is the lid shown here. http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... pares.html

Please look down the list of items until you get to the white lid with the Ref: 100797.

I'm thinking of adding a safety release valve to my kegs to ensure good safe pressures... I'm kind of wishing I'd paid a few more quid on some decent kegs.

I sent my missus on a car boot mission yesterday & she came back with a barrel with one of these lids, price 50p, no tap though.
Anyway, that lid has a safety valve in it. That bubbling is the excess pressure, but from what you say it sounds faulty. You can't really take it back as it's full of beer. I'd suggest drilling out the lid & fitting an injection/safety valve that takes the Hambleton Bard cylinder, items 101418/9 on that site should do the trick, although that recess may be tricky when it comes to tightening. I have a spare empty clyliner you can have for the cost of postage, HB shops will do you a refill.

[Staaue]

Thanks for replying youreds91, I was looking at these valves yesterday and was wondering if I could use them; the only problem is the terminology used is unfamiliar to me. I'm looking for a safety pressure valve like the one on my compressor that releases pressure at a certain PSI/Bar, is and are there other names for the same valve????

Kricky.. what a dodgy subject this is.

Thanks for the offer of the spare cylinder, but I think my best bet will be to phone the chaps at the shop in my above link, see if they can help with the correct part.

Kind Regards.

[Staaue]

Ah. all is well.

Just spoke to a chap at The Home Brew Shop, he told me that basically I should really have my lager bottled for best results.

Thankfully, I already have the correct valve which is Ref: 101418 on the above website.

Thanks to everyone for your advice, you've been a great help..

[Staaue]

I have a follow on question from my previous posts that I'd appreciate a little guidance on

My query is that I just poured a small sample from the keg to see how things are going with my first lager, and it is still really quite flat and cloudy. I still have a week or two to go, but was wondering if this sounds ok. It smells great, but tastes quite sweet and fragrant!!

I know I'm being hasty as my lager is only entering its second week of secondary fermentation in my fridge. As far as I can tell, everything is going well except for the issue with the hot weather.

Oh, I put Young's finings into the keg and left it a few days for the secondary fermentation; it bubbled nicely during this period and then I placed the Keg in my fridge where it has been for the past week.

Kind Regards.