Flat Kaiser Weissen

[cleaninglady]

Hi All

I made the Kaiser Weissen recipe from Brewing Crafts and bottled on the 26 March.

I bulk primed with Corn Sugar straight into the primary just before bottling.

I forgot to take it inside after I bottled and it got a few cool nights in the shed but nothing extreme (maybe down to 16C).

I'm wondering if it is a bit early to expect carbonation ? There is a very , very slight amount that is hard to see and barely detectable in the mouthfeel.


I pitched Danstar Munich Yeast which was very sedate and i thought had failed but it made it to S.G. OK.

Made it on a very hot day in a rush so pitched a little hot

Recipe and method attached , (apologies for Amateurish notes)

View attachment Brew___0003.rtf

View attachment Brew___0003.rtf

 

[manticle]

Could be a couple of things.

First, and most likely - it may be too early. Is it completely flat or just flatter than you'd like? Any hint of fizz at all?

Second - bulk priming in primary is fine (I do it often) but because you are not getting the benefit of the racking swirl, you need to stir gently and let settle/dissolve for 30-60 minutes.

Third - did you dissolve the sugar first in boiling water or just throw it straight in? Straight in and bottling straight away may be problematic. Sugar in solution will diffuse much more easily than a pile of dex on the surface.

Fourth - does the beer taste slightly sweeter than you'd expect? If the priming sugar was evenly distributed and hasn't fermented out yet for whatever reason, the beer will be a touch sweeter.

Like your other beer, 'wait and see' is the best interim solution but I would expect at least a touch of fizz by now. Maybe ring one inside and put it in a warm place just to see what to expect. There are methods of ressurection in case it's never going to get better but leave that for a bit later.

 

[cleaninglady]

Could be a couple of things.

First, and most likely - it may be too early. Is it completely flat or just flatter than you'd like? Any hint of fizz at all?

Second - bulk priming in primary is fine (I do it often) but because you are not getting the benefit of the racking swirl, you need to stir gently and let settle/dissolve for 30-60 minutes.

Third - did you dissolve the sugar first in boiling water or just throw it straight in? Straight in and bottling straight away may be problematic. Sugar in solution will diffuse much more easily than a pile of dex on the surface.

Fourth - does the beer taste slightly sweeter than you'd expect? If the priming sugar was evenly distributed and hasn't fermented out yet for whatever reason, the beer will be a touch sweeter.

Like your other beer, 'wait and see' is the best interim solution but I would expect at least a touch of fizz by now. Maybe ring one inside and put it in a warm place just to see what to expect. There are methods of ressurection in case it's never going to get better but leave that for a bit later.

Hi Manticle

I always dissolve in boiled water and cool before chucking it in but have never stirred as yet (have used this method for all my 5 beers so far.

There is just the slightest hint of carbonation and visually almost not there , no head even when poured vigourously (bubble head for a little while)

It is a little sweeter than i might like but saying that , i've still been drinking it.

Last week i discovered that an empty wardobe in the room where our water heater is was about 22C fairly constantly so I put all my brews in there April 5th and will take them out in about a week.

I was hoping this one would be the drinker as i wanted the IPA and the Imp. Stout to be the maturing batches to have from Winter onwards.
This is why i'm in high production so early on ; just want to get a stockpile so i can brew and not wait too long to drink !

cheers for the reply again , must sleeep...

cL

 

[RetsamHsam]

I've read both of your threads now. As you probably already know by the amount of reading you have done, ferment temp and yeast health are very important. You really shouldn't be pitching @ 30C especially with high OG beers you will just end up with heaps of Fusel Alcohols and Esters.

I don't think the bottle conditioning temp is your problem as I fermented (Primary) with Nottingham at temps as low as 15C and have heard of others fermenting lower again.

If you don't get any carbonation after a week with the water heater try shaking each bottle a little to rouse the yeast and then pop them back in the cupboard for another week.

 

[manticle]

The fact that you have a little carb and slightly sweet taste suggests to me that carbonation is just happening slower than you like. Retsham's advice on shaking is good.

Have you bottled in PET or in glass and how sure are you about the seals? If it's PET you should get an indication of carb level by squeezing - hard = carbonation.

If it's glass you can get an indication by turning a bottle upside down one and watching inside the neck to see if bubble rise up and how many. This will stir up a bit of sediment so let that one rest again before opening. This will save you opening to check and drinking flat beer.

Finally - are your bottles longnecks or stubbies. I have noticed the same brew struggle to carbonate in 500mL bottles when it's fine and fizzy in 750mL. Not sure why - maybe something to do with larger volumes.

 

[cleaninglady]

Hi Manticle

I always use glass.

Actually this was the first brew i put into stubbies and i don't intend doing it again , extra capping work i don't need.

I use a bench capper and always give it an extra bit of a clamp down after the cap is on.

@Retsam

Thanks , i'll give the rousing a go if i don't get improvement in a week.

P.S.

Does anyone from this Forum ever meet up for a Beer on Fridays ?

I usually get along to the Mountain Goat , The Royston and sometimes The Taphouse on Friday arvos.

 

[manticle]

In my experience the stubbies take a bit longer.

People sometimes meet for beer on Fridays. Mrs parma's is one place.

Been meaning to get to the MG brewery one day.

 

[brettprevans]

mants is spot on. longnecks seem to take a couple weeks.
good practice to always bottle at least with 1 PET so you can use it as a measuring gague (ie once hard its carbed). so much easier to squeeze it rather than periodically open bottles and have to drink uncarbonated contents.

and yup Mrs P's is the place in the cbd we usually meet unless its a big Friday post work session and then its on for young and old. mind you we havent had one of those in a while.

 

[cleaninglady]

In my experience the stubbies take a bit longer.

People sometimes meet for beer on Fridays. Mrs parma's is one place.

Been meaning to get to the MG brewery one day.

I'm definately sticking to Longnecks in the future !

r.e. Fridays

MG is good sometimes depends on what is on.

The Royston is really worth a look , they get stuff i see nowhere else. It on the corner of the same street as MG.

I used to go to Ms.Parmas but it's limited choice wise , they still get good stuff occasionally though.

I ride a yellow bike and usually park it in the stairwell if i'm at Ms. Parmas so if you see me round , say hi.

thanks again for the help , i'm sure it's not going to be the last time.

cL

 

[brettprevans]

I ride a yellow bike and usually park it in the stairwell if i'm at Ms. Parmas so if you see me round , say hi.
cL

bike as in motorcycle or push bike. if your a fellow motorcyclist, welcome to the club. there's a few of us on AHB. check out rhe motorbike thread in the off topic section

 

[cleaninglady]

bike as in motorcycle or push bike. if your a fellow motorcyclist, welcome to the club. there's a few of us on AHB. check out rhe motorbike thread in the off topic section

pushbike !

 

[manticle]

How will we know if it's you if you're not riding it at the time (presuming you don't ride it to the table). Do you have a mop or some disinfectant in spray bottles?

 

[cleaninglady]

bike as in motorcycle or push bike. if your a fellow motorcyclist, welcome to the club. there's a few of us on AHB. check out rhe motorbike thread in the off topic section

@morgue

Just curious about your Pliny Clone ; did it end up very expensive ? That's a heap of hops !

cL

 

[brettprevans]

@morgue

Just curious about your Pliny Clone ; did it end up very expensive ? That's a heap of hops !

cL

just checked promash....44L batch, 14.87kg grain, 280g hops. most of the hops used were bought in bulk so that greatly reduced the cost, otherwise yeah it would have been bloody expensive. here's the hop schedule

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
60.00 g. Chinook Pellet 11.10 44.5 60 min.
60.00 g. Magnum Pellet 16.10 64.5 60 min.
35.00 g. Amarillo Gold Pellet 10.00 21.0 45 min.
30.00 g. Columbus Pellet 13.70 14.0 30 min.
65.00 g. Centennial Pellet 9.40 6.8 5 min.
30.00 g. Amarillo Gold Pellet 10.00 3.3 2 min.