Can I use a keg as secondary in fridge

[Amup]

You are correct I'm new to the game
In particular Lager
I've done a couple of stouts and a brown ale but I never used a hydrometer for those my air lock is still consistently bubbling every 20 seconds would that not mean it's still fermenting? I have attached 2 pics
One of a water reading at 20 degrees Celsius [ attachment=74706:ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1410220245.271036.jpg]the other is of the brew that I have drawn from the tap
I will follow your advice in regards to mixing with clean spoon and removing hops bag
I also had a taste and it tastes horrible
I appreciate the help cheers guys

 

[Amup]

Ok so I've removed hops bag
Given a gentle stir to raise yeast from the bottom ( with a sanitised spoon)
I have also attached photos of first reading day of mixing and today's reading three weeks later I should also mention the yeast I used was actually brew cellar European lager yeast

 

[Amup]

The third picture is how it looks after stir
Cheers guys

 

[TheWiggman]

Still bubbling = still fermenting or releasing some CO2 in solution.
If it was sitting at 1.040 (post #8 shows it was) it means it had a long way to go. It's a completely different reading to what you got above, which is roughly 1.015. Try not to let it touch the sides of the tube to get your reading.

Still do the stir, raise the temp to 18°C, and give it 2 days or wait until it stops bubbling. Take a reading, wait another day or two, and if the reading's the same it's probably finished.

Check this out: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/29655-kit-and-extract-beer-spreadsheet/?p=990422
Throw all your brew details in there and work out your FG. You'll find it very handy for future brews and it gives you a good indication of FG, which will tell you when it's finished and prevent bottle bombs.

Tastes bad? Hmm. Maybe because it was fermented very warm by lager standards? I have no idea what yeast you used though.

Kegs are PERFECT for lagering though so once it's done keg it and put it in the fridge for minimum 4 weeks. I give my lagers 8 weeks minimum from pitching the yeast and you will end up with a completely different beer after time. I don't think you should even worry about a secondary in this case.

ED: Oh the earlier photo was of the first mixing day? You said earlier "only just got this". That makes much more sense.

 

[Amup]

Yeah sorry Wiggman I should have made it clearer there's actually three weeks difference in those shots
I will buy a better tube for my readings to stop it from sticking to the side 3.3% is what my untrained guess is for the current reading which is slot less than I thought it would be
Between 4.6-5%

 

[Amup]

WooHoo it's just started bubbling flat out again from air lock after stirring
Approx every 5 seconds hopefully that's gonna give me a bit more oomph in the %
Thanks guys
Shall I just let it go until it stops bubbling then keg/ refrigerate it

 

[TheWiggman]

Don't look at the percentages, look at the gravity - 1000, 10, 20 etc. Your ABV% will be determined by the difference, whereas the percentage you are looking at assumes a starting gravity (1.040 by memory).

Enter the starting and finish gravities here: http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

According to what you've said was in the recipe, it should have started at 1.031 and finished at 1.007 using the spreadsheet above. With only 500g of DME/dextrose mix this will probably only be around 3.1% in the keg. Your initial reading was 1.038ish though so taking into account a finished gravity of 1.010 it's still going to be around 3.5%.

 

[angus_grant]

That tube is fine, you just need to balance it so your hydro sits in the middle and doesn't touch the side. Also give your hydro a twirl to dislodge any bubbles before taking a reading.

Can you expand on the horrible taste? It could be that the bag of hops is absolutely dominating the flavour or is just a bad combination with your sugary wort.

Plus "green" freshly fermented beer can taste bad. Conditioning time on beer can change from not nice at all to then what you'd normally expect a beer to taste like. Once you get around to bottling, leave them alone for 4 weeks at least. This gives you time to get your next batch on fermenting.

The only thing bubbling tells you is that it's bubbling. That hydro is your scientific tool to let you know how fermentation is going. If you don't get a seal on the fermentor properly then there can be no bubbling at all.
Believe your hydro, distrust the bubbling.
Bubbling, foam on top of wort, condensation on your lid are indicators that something's happening.
The hydro tells you exactly what is happening.

As I said before, the same hydro reading across 3 days is a sign that fermentation has stopped. Use this hydro reading to check against your estimated finishing gravity. If they are fairly close, fermentation is done.

Oh, and as you've stirred the beer, CO2 will be going out of solution and escaping through the air-lock. You might find the bubbling rate dropping as the CO2 levels reduce in the wort.

Once again, trust your hydro. It's Science, bitches!!

 

[Amup]

Lol thanks Angus
I'll continue to test it for the next couple of days
As for the bad taste I would describe it as sour but now the glass into which I've poured it has settled it actually tastes pretty damn good maybe a tad sweet but I've had that with my previous ale which after a few weeks in the bottle tastes great
So maybe I won't get the % I wanted but I think it's definitely gonna be drinkable
I will post the gravity readings over the next couple of days and if it stays the same i will keg it
Happy days
Cheers guys

 

[angus_grant]

The bad taste could be yeast or hop particles still floating around in solution. Hops are a very strong flavour when concentrated.

Some styles of beer require yeast to add flavours (yeast-driven beers like German Weizens or saisons), and some styles (like American pale ales or IPAs) require very little flavour from the yeast to let the hops and malt combination be the stars.

If you have temp-controlled fermentation, you might like to drop the temp right down to 2 or 3 degrees (called cold-crashing) for a few days once fermentation has completed to drop the yeast to the bottom and some of the hops particles from your hop bag. This will help clear your beer before placing into your keg.

The same thing will happen in your keg over time: main difference being you will end up drinking it as it gets sucked up through your keg into your glass.

 

[Amup]

Thanks Angus
I will cold crash it once I'm sure it's fermented
I also have a keg to keg filter with a
.45& 1 micron filter but will probably wait until my next lager to try out
Can anyone recommend a good link for lager recipes
Thanks for all the help guys
Amup

 

[beercus]

The recipes above:

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/index.php?app=recipes&style=7

Beercus

 

[Amup]

Is it to late to throw another. 250 grams of dextrose in it?

 

[antiphile]

Also, did you use the yeast supplied by coopers? If you did, it's actually an ale yeast, not a lager yeast (It is deceiving by name, the kit that is, but it's actually an ale yeast as per supplied).

It's a bit strange I know, but there are a variety of yeasts supplied with the Coopers kits. In general, most are a blend of both an ale and a lager yeast. There's also a few that come with a pure ale strain.

However there are two exceptions to this: the Euro Lager can and the Pilsener can. These come supplied with a pure lager strain of yeast. Confusing, but true!

 

[Amup]

I used the Coopers euro lager and was informed today by shop owner it had come with Brew Cellar European Lager Yeast he did also mention I needed to add another 250 grams of dextrose to bring it up to 5% and to let it wait for a final gravity under 1010
I am unsure if I can obtain that FG with the 500 gram light malt/ Dextrose bag that I used
Cheers guys

 

[nathanvonbeerenstein]

It's a bit strange I know, but there are a variety of yeasts supplied with the Coopers kits. In general, most are a blend of both an ale and a lager yeast. There's also a few that come with a pure ale strain.

However there are two exceptions to this: the Euro Lager can and the Pilsener can. These come supplied with a pure lager strain of yeast. Confusing, but true!

true that, on a bit of research, it appears the sachet of yeast under the lid of the European Lagers is S-189 Swiss Lager, and can produce some mighty fine beers, and to me, produces a bit of a cleaner profile over the other dry lager yeast's