Coopers (Un)real Ale?

[LlewBru]

Aaaaargh! Did the whole bit - just over4 days in the FV, batch carbonated into the secondary for 10 days with 200gm (Les Smiths' calculator) of castor sugar, syphoned the lot off & tried 2 'test' bottles today. Smelt ok, looked ok, tasted not bad but - Flat as pancakes .This must be the biggest let down since.... we won't go there! Wot the blazes has gone wrong???

[Beer O'Clock]

Transfering to secondary and batch carbonating are two separate processes.
Do you mean that you transfered to a secondary FV after 4 days ? Then after 10 days bulk primed with 200gm of sugar then bottled ?

If not, then all you have done is lost any carbonation to the FV before getting it into a sealed bottle.

[LlewBru]

Yup, I have just found out that I got the whole thing a-about-kettle! In defence I must also say that before starting this process I visited many sites to find out about it & all the info was not that clear - very loosely stated it led me to think (stupidly, I admit) that you just plonk the sugar into the secondary & then bottle after a few days. Ah, well not all is lost except the 200gms of the SWAMBO's castor sugar. I will just have to open all the bottles & then re-prime them. I have tried one already & it seems to work. Definitely NOT gonna dump 23L of beer!

[LlewBru]

Tested one today - nada! It appears that one that I filled from the dregs (maybe still got some yeast in?) is going to be ok. I will try it tomorrow. What about using a sodastream? Remembering that I do not have a keg or anything resembling one - will I be able to gas directly into the bottle ? Has anyone tried it?

[crafty john]

Yep I use a soda stream to make sparkling wine, you just need to change the way you do it. fill your bottle to the required mark, give lots of short bursts till it just starts to hiss slightly from the top then leave it alone till there is no sign of any bubbles or froth on the top and gently unscrew the bottle, get ready for it to spray everywhere if you suspect it's going to believe me you can tell, just tighten the bottle again and wait. I usually leave my wine about 15 or 20 minutes to settle and it's fine. However for beer you probably won't want to gas it as much as I do for wine, just experiment to get the right level of carbonation to suit your taste.

[LlewBru]

Thanks John, will the soda-stream take any size bottle? I don't have one at the moment but will try & get one tomorrow.

[crafty john]

No you get a plastic 1 litre bottle, I think I got two with mine a special offer or something, don't go for the expensive one just buy the basic model, however if you are going to buy a soda stream you are probably better off buying a budget keg with an s30 valve cos soda streams aren't cheap unless you get one on promotion, jut a thought.

[LlewBru]

Again, thanks but I don't think we have a supplier of budget kegs here. never seen one yet & most kegging is hellishly expensive! So I guess it will have to be a Soda Stream & 23 bottles!

[crafty john]

You can't use any old bottle with a soda stream, the ones they supply have quite a wide neck and they are expensive. Unless you can get different ones over there.

Good Luck

[blue eyes]

I am just starting this kit too.Am putting it into a 25l Fv with 1kg of BKE.Will leave it until the recommended gravity reading,then I am going to transfer it to a KingKeg with 200g of brewing sugar.Will keep the brew belt on for another 5 days,then remove and transfer to the pantry to cool,this is where the keg will be kept from then on.Will let you know the results.

[crafty john]

200 g of brewing sugar is far too much for a keg, I only use between 80 g and 100g depending on the style of beer, if you use 200 g and your pressure release valve isn't working properly, which is usually the case you will build up far too much pressure during secondary fermentation and damage your keg, for coopers real ale I would use 85 grams max.

[blue eyes]

Cheers Crafty John.I read somewhere 200g was right??

[Timo]

As John said, if I use sugar I go with 80g for ales and 100g to 120g lagers but it depends what I prime with here is a calculator for different options http://www.brewheads.com/priming.php

I quite like to prime with 100g to 120g of Golden Syrup but its a pain to measure out of the can, if anyone has any tips on this I'm all ears! (doh just thought as writing this I could try warming up the can in some hot water hmm might give it a go)

[LlewBru]

Tears to Laughter!! DUmped the whole Soda Stream thing, uncapped, re-primed with cane sugar (absolute Pain Inna Ass) stuck it back in storage, bought a few commercial beers to keep me going & opened one yesterday - BINGO!! Damn good Stuff!!

Thanks for all the help guy's.