What Went Wrong - Beer Grenades!

[Hammer]

Hello all,

I recently made a brewcraft kilkenny kit. This includes: Muntons YORKSHIRE BITTER + Brew Blend No. 20 - MALT PLUS BOOSTER + Muntons Gold Yeast + 5g Fuggles Hop Pellets and 10g Goldings Hop Pellets. I also added 200g of Lactose.

After approx 8 days I racked into a secondary fermenter. I am confident that I waited until fermtation was complete. The airlock had leveled out and I had the same FG reading two days apart. The wort also didn't show any signs of fermentation.

I bulk primed the mixture with 155g of light malt into another fermenter and bottled. The FG was 1.020. I forgot to take the OG.

My brew had been in bottles for nearly 1 month, when yesterday (xmas arvo) I hear a loud bang and one had exploded. I then decided to ditch the brew as I didn't want any more to go. When I opened them on the back lawn, there was heaps of pressure in each bottle etc.


My question is, what went wrong? This is the first time I racked to a secondary fermenter and also bulk primed. I am confident fermentation was complete. The higher FG was due to the lactose. I am guessing it was the amount of malt I used for bulk priming. Please help so I can learn from my mistakes!

Thank you.

 

[paulwin]

don't throw away the beer , carefully place them in a fridge to cool them down then realease the caps and let them sit for about 5 min or so to let the over gassed beer release some of it's co2 , then recap the bottles and place in the fridge to enjoy .
if you have ditched them all next time try this method it saves a lot of time brewing another batch.
cheers paul

 

[Tyred]

Sounds like fermentation my not have completed. It's possible that fermentation was restarted after racking and bulk priming.

I'm not too sure about the amount used when bulk priming, but with a higher FG you need to use less to prime with.

 

[Adamt]

200g of lactose is not going to push up the FG to 1.020. However it is odd that fermentation did not continue after racking to secondary.

Only things that stand out is your fermentation (primary and secondary) temperatures, and batch size. Too low fermentation temperatures can put the yeast "to sleep", which may have halted fermentation somewhere.

 

[Hammer]

it was hot weather, but i kept the brew at 18-20C. After I racked it to secondary, it did continue to ferment. There was sludge in the bottom to indicate that it did. I started with 20L of beer in the wort.

I have already gotten rid of the beer. I wont use those bottles again either (as a precaution). Probably a bit anal on this one but oh well.

 

[wobbly]

Had a similar problem with a Muntons Kilkeny some time ago. Eventually re read the instructions on the Muntons can very carefully and the carbonation sugar quanty quoted was something like 3 grams per litre rather then the "usual" 2 to 3 grams per stubbie often used and quoted by say Coopers. I think you just have over carbonated as I did.

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[Adamt]

155g of malt for 20 litres is definitely not overprimed.

 

[Hammer]

so if it is not over primed, it must be incomplete fermentation like you suggested.

It was very disappointing to say the least. If I am to make the kilkenny brew again, i would want to know what to do different.

 

[NRB]

Let it sit for a couple of weeks in the primary fermenter next time and check that the FG is stable for 4 days. I reckon you bottled this one too early - I wouldn't expect a FG of 1.020 with the ingredients you've listed. You didn't overprime.

 

[wobbly]

Reading the original post again I note that you stated you primed with DME and not sugar as I mentioned so yeh 155 grams of DME would be ok for 20 liters.

The lables on the Muntons tins (I have just read an old one) talk about a final gravity of 1008 so maybe for what ever reason your brew hadn't finished fermenting in spite of the fact that you had stable readings over two days

 

[winkle]

Muntons Gold Yeast is pretty voracious from memory. I'd expect that you had a stalled fermentation for some reason, then when you've primed the beer the yeast has revived & done it's level best to bring the SG down to 1008ish. Not good for bottles if its starting secondary fermentation from 1020.
If you get a stalled fermentation try stirring up the yeast or keep a satchel of a good neutral dry yeast and pitch it to get the SG down to your target level.

edit: spelling tard

 

[Hammer]

cheers for all the tips guys. i guess i thought that the higher FG was due tot he lactose.

oh well you learn something every day!

 

[staggalee]

Had a similar problem with a Muntons Kilkeny some time ago. Eventually re read the instructions on the Muntons can very carefully and the carbonation sugar quanty quoted was something like 3 grams per litre rather then the "usual" 2 to 3 grams per stubbie often used and quoted by say Coopers. I think you just have over carbonated as I did.

Cheers

Wobbly

3 grams per litre? Don`t be so bloody ridiculous

stagga.

 

[wobbly]

So OK I mixed Liters and Pints but remember I said I was working from memory.

The correct figure should have been "quote" from Muntons label - "half teaspoon per pint" which in my view is 3 grams per pint not per liter as I misquoted.

Cheers

wobbly

 

[Leigh]

Talking to my LHBS, he says that it's common to stall the ferment if you rack too early...he suggested not racking until 1014...read my "Secondary Fermentation" thread where I stalled fermentation by racking at about 1020

4 days after racking SG had only dropped a few points, so if I had have measured two days running it would have appeared as though it was steady!

All came good after a stir and 2 weeks! SG got down to 1010

 

[Hammer]

my home brew store suggested racking after 3 days and then 6 days. i did it after 8. it did ferment some more, but then i guess it stalled. when u say to give it a stir, is that a gentle stir where you dont stir up the crap at the bottom? or do you want to move that muck around a bit?

 

[Leigh]

After racking their wasn't much junk, but all I did was remove the airlock and swirl the whole fermenter (I didn't want to open it and risk infections). After another two weeks the SG had dropped and the small amount of trub had resettled