Newbie questions :)

[pedronedved]

Hello guys!
I've been following this website/forum for at least a month and this is my first post.
Ok I have several questions I would like to ask.

I have just finished my 3rd batch of Kit beers.
First I have done was a Muntons Connoisseur Wheat beer, that I have done per the instructions, just replaced the sugar with beer kit enhancer and did a priming solution of the sugar mentioned in 200ml of water. What happens with this one is that it has a lot of carbonation, very difficult to drink and loads of foam. I need to pour it and leave it for 5/10m before I can drink it. Plus it has a weird (I believe it a yeast) flavor. Do you know what could have gone bad on this?

My second beer was a traditional draught by coopers and also replaced the sugar with DME and beer kit enhancer... At this one I havent done a priming solution but poured the sugar into the beer fermenter (after fermentation finished) stir and bottle it. I have used the quantities stated on the can. Happens that this one as very low, close to no carbonation at all. Also has a yeasty taste in the end. I can't even classify this beer. It looks like an ale, but I am not sure (maybe a bad choice of Kit).

Today I have bottled my Brewferm Oud Vlaams Bruin 12L kit. replaced most of the sugar with Dark DME. Left it on the fermenter for almost 20 days (it said on the instructions to leave it for 10 days). Took the FG and it was 1.020 where it should have been 1.010. Can anyone explain also why it didnt go down to 1.010?

Another thing, I bought Candy Sugar Crystals bag from Brupaks but I am not sure how to use it either for the cooking and/or for priming? Am I supposed to dissolve those crystals in water or throw them straight away like that into the worth or into the bottles (when priming?)

Would love if you could answer some of my doubts.

And yeah keep up all your good work. I think for now I am gonna stop brewing until I drink all this messed up beer, and I hope that in 7/8 weeks this Brewfer Old brown beer will be a lot better than the other 2 beers. I am just worried that by not being at 1.010 gravity, and being at 1.020 can mess up this batch as well.

By the way my fermentation was all the time done at around 18/20 degrees Celsius.

Thanks for helping.

 

[amfukuda]

How long are you chilling the bottles before opening them

 

[pedronedved]

How long are you chilling the bottles before opening them

Hi,
The first beer I bottled it on the 29/09. stayed 2 weeks on a cool place and 3/4 days in the fridge.
The second one I bottled it on the 10/10. 1 week on a cool place and 2 days on the fridge before opening.
I have been opening once a day beers from my first batch, and they keep tasting the same or even worse :/
Actually the 2nd batch despite not having much carbonation has a little bit better taste.

Thanks.

 

[brent77]

When you just poured the sugar into the fermenter it is probably under carbed because the sugar wont completely disolve at room temperature. It has to be dissolved in hot water, and then cooled before mixing into the beer.

as far as the gravity not going down to 1010, most people will tell you that extract kits do not attenuate as much as they are supposed to. DME and Table Sugar (if thats what you were replacing?) are not going to have the same amount of sugar content. Table sugar will go a lot lower.

 

[Battles4Seattle]

Okay so for the first batch, did you check the final gravity to make sure it was complete before bottling? You either bottled too early or added to much sugar.

Second batch like the poster above said, the sugar should be dissolved in boiling water and chilled but it also should be in the bottle for 2 or more weeks at room temperature. The beer will not carbonate when cold because the little amount of yeast will be dormant. Also you should chill it in the fridge for a couple days so the CO2 will be absorbed.

 

[shawnbou]

Welcome!

1st beer overcarbonating could be due to too much priming sugar. But it could also be an infection eating up extra sugar and overcarbonating ... if it's an infection, be careful because those bottles may end up as gushers or bottle bombs before too long. I don't want to alarm you, just stating a possibility. What kind of "weird" flavor? Sour? Vinegar? Barnyard/dirty diaper? If so, could be infected.

2nd beer undercarbonating is most likely because the priming sugar did not mix in enough, as brent77 already said. For bulk priming you really do want to dissolve the sugar in boiling water first to sanitize it and make it easier to mix into the beer.

3rd beer not attenuating all the way down (stopping at 1.020) - brent77 is right on. 1.020 is a common FG for extract beers to stop at, and the instructions you read were based on adding table sugar which is more fermentable, not DME which is less fermentable.

Candy Sugar Crystals - This is a sugar you would add to the boil in a Belgian-type beer (also called candi sugar) to make a more fermentable wort. You can add them directly to the boil on brew day. I personally wouldn't use these for priming, because I don't know what the sugar content in a single crystal is. You might end up with flat beer or with bottle bombs. Stick to bulk priming with dextrose powder, or with carbonation tablets made for priming (Coopers, Muntons, etc.).

Hope this helps. Stick with it! Every beer you make will be better than the last as you keep on learning. You'll be knocking them out of the park in no time.

 

[pedronedved]

Hi, Yep for the 2nd batch I did that way cause the first one was over carbonated, not sure why (i followed instructions). The first one and this one i bottle today I have dissolved the sugar in hot water and let it cool down. Than I put the sugar dissolved in water in my bottling vessel and syphoned the beer to it, mixed it and bottled it.

This last kit asked for 830g of table sugar. I have replaced it with 500gr of Dark DME and 330gr of dextrose.

Regarding the candy sugar cristals. What should I do? Always dissolve it in hot water or drop them as they are. I have tried researching online and there is nothing I can find.

Thanks

 

[unionrdr]

Well,first of all DME & sugar do not replace each other 1:1. Here's a handy conversion chart for that; http://www.jaysbrewing.com/2011/11/17/lazy-chart-for-converting-dme-lme-grain/
And boil 2C of water a couple minutes,& stir the weighed amount of priming sugar into it off the heat till the water turns clear again. cover & cool before adding to rising column of beer racking into bottling bucket,. Here's a priming sugar calculator too; http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html
Basically make sure you allow it to ferment in primary till it gets down to a stable FG. Then give it another 3-7 days to clean up any by products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty. Then bottle. Otherwise it'll be cloudy & possible off flavors going into the bottles.

 

[pedronedved]

The weird flavour I mean is not vinegar and not dirty diaper. I would say it's more like a yeasty flavour if you know what I mean. It's clearly not infected as it doesn't taste like it... Well but I never know, as it was my first batch.

Yep regarding the second, I think you guys are right, maybe the sugar did not dissolve and that is the reason it is undercarbonated...

Re the cristals yeah... I will do that on my next batch. So you think I could replace the value of table sugar with the candy sugar crystals? or do i need to put less or more, because it's a different sugar?

I have the coopers carbonation drops at home, but they are for 375ml or 750ml I think and here in the UK i use bottles with 330ml, 500ml or 1L so I havent used them yet. I am planning to do so. I know one drop of those coopers are for a 375ml bottle. I normally use 500ml bottles, you reckon I could use 1 and half ( i would need to break them in halves)?

Thank you for your help guys!
x

 

[unionrdr]

For 12-16oz bottles,use one Cooper's carb drop per bottle. for the Cooper's 740mL (25.16oz) bottles,use 2 carb drops per bottle. Candy sugar is more for adding after fermentation has started in Belgian beers. The priming calculator I gave you gives amounts for dextrose,sucrose (table sugar),& different DME's. And a small digital scale is needed,as the piriming sugar amounts are given by weight,not volume.

 

[pedronedved]

For 12-16oz bottles,use one Cooper's carb drop per bottle. for the Cooper's 740mL (25.16oz) bottles,use 2 carb drops per bottle. Candy sugar is more for adding after fermentation has started in Belgian beers. The priming calculator I gave you gives amounts for dextrose,sucrose (table sugar),& different DME's. And a small digital scale is needed,as the piriming sugar amounts are given by weight,not volume.

unionrdr, thanks for this mate. I will need to transcode all of that to grams and liters as here in Europe we use metric system and its quiet confusing for me to read ounces, cups, and etc... i have already bookmarked these websites for when I do my next batch, which will be sometime next week.

so you say i should add the candy sugar after fermentation started? so not really when I am doing my wort right? what sould I do? open the fermentation vessel after fermentation finished and add the candy sugar?

thank you so much once more.

 

[unionrdr]

You can add it towards the end of the boil. But some high gravity Belgians add it some time after fermentation starts. I'd mix it in a small amount of boiled water personally if I was adding it to the fermenter.

 

[pedronedved]

You can add it towards the end of the boil. But some high gravity Belgians add it some time after fermentation starts. I'd mix it in a small amount of boiled water personally if I was adding it to the fermenter.

The only problem is that I am starting out. I am doing Kit beers at the moment. So I just open the tin pour it in the fermentation vessel, add water and sugar (DME, dextrose or beer kit enhancer).

I think my next batch I will boil some water and try to dissolve the candy sugar crystals on it and than add it to the wort