ScottyDoesntKnow
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 2/12/15
- Messages
- 187
- Reaction score
- 55
Hey, my first attempt at home brewing earlier this year didn't go exactly to plan. I bought a kit and tried to keep things simple to start with. Against all the advice here, I used the kit yeast and justified it to myself saying things like "it's my first go" and " well I already have it here". Anyway, after weeks in the fermenter and several identical hydrometer readings, I still was a fair bit away from the expected final gravity. This was when I first started to worry that maybe the kit yeast had given up early. I called the home brew shop for advice and they said not to worry and go ahead and bottle.
I bottled into 355ml stubbies, the sugar measure was 330ml, 500 or 700. Not wanting to risk bottle bombs I chose the 330ml sugar measure and made sure each one was heaped up over the top of the measure before going into bottles. Fast forward 5 months of sitting in 18-20 degrees to now and these beers are still not properly carbonated. They taste ok and cracking the seal releases a promising sound but that's where it ends. Hardly any fizz and if poured into a glass there is zero head. Again I think back to the yeast, was there just not enough healthy cells to properly carbonate? It's a shame because while this beer was nothing amazing, with proper carbonation it would be easily drinkable. Instead I find myself living in hope, trying one every 2 weeks and tipping it out.
Luckily it hasn't turned me off brewing, if anything it's been the opposite. I'm about to give BIAB a go, using real yeast this time! But now I'm not sure how to go about carbonating. I was set on bulk priming however it's a bit more gear to buy and I'm only doing a small batch this time. Maybe I should find a 375ml sugar measure and try that instead
I bottled into 355ml stubbies, the sugar measure was 330ml, 500 or 700. Not wanting to risk bottle bombs I chose the 330ml sugar measure and made sure each one was heaped up over the top of the measure before going into bottles. Fast forward 5 months of sitting in 18-20 degrees to now and these beers are still not properly carbonated. They taste ok and cracking the seal releases a promising sound but that's where it ends. Hardly any fizz and if poured into a glass there is zero head. Again I think back to the yeast, was there just not enough healthy cells to properly carbonate? It's a shame because while this beer was nothing amazing, with proper carbonation it would be easily drinkable. Instead I find myself living in hope, trying one every 2 weeks and tipping it out.
Luckily it hasn't turned me off brewing, if anything it's been the opposite. I'm about to give BIAB a go, using real yeast this time! But now I'm not sure how to go about carbonating. I was set on bulk priming however it's a bit more gear to buy and I'm only doing a small batch this time. Maybe I should find a 375ml sugar measure and try that instead