Yeast Too Cold?!

[Philthy79]

I put down a pretty much exact copy of this recipe (below) last night, using 20g EK Goldings Flowers and Proculture Pro 11 Yeast (English Ale). Filled to 21 litres, and pitched at 17 degrees.

My only concern is when i checked my brew fridge (which is kept cool with frozen pet bottles) this morning, the fermenter was at 12 degrees. Have I gone too low for this yeast, or am I just being paranoid, and it'll spark back into action when it gets back up to 15 degrees? ( I know this definately aint a problem with lagers..but...)

If you are looking for a UK style paler pub bitter from a kit, you know what, I would personally use a very bland pale kit such as Coopers Lager as a base then flavour, colour and hop it with English style ingredients and use a UK yeast.

Suggest:
Coopers lager or pale ale tin
500g light dried malt extract or 750 for a more robust beer
500g dextrose

300g medium crystal malt steeped in a litre or two of hot water for an hour
strain into a pan and Boil the runnings with 20 g of East Kent Goldings pellets OR 20 g Fuggles flowers for 30 mins

Strain into the fermenter

Add the other ingredients, dissolve in a couple of kettles of boiling water

Top up, cool to below 20 and ferment with a UK ale yeast such as Nottingham.

For a more hoppy bitter, chuck a further 20 g EKG pellets straight into the fermenter after 4 days.


Happy Brewing

My other question is how does this work? Do I keg as per normal (but with less CO2) then use the syringe?

View attachment 25295

In order to emulate this in the newer 'keg' beers, most UK breweries now do a nitro keg version of their bitters gassed with a combination of CO2 and nitrogen that gives smaller tighter bubbles. They usually have the name 'smooth' or 'creamflow' attached to them. If you want to try a smooth, just get a pint of guinness at your pub or club and that's classic nitro keg.

You can easily emulate this at home by priming the beer lightly - say two thirds of what you would normally carb a kit brew.
Then on serving, take a 20ml syringe from the chemist (no needle required h34r: ), draw up about 10ml of beer then forcibly squirt it back into the glass. Bingo, instant Guinness-effect. It will take you a few goes to get it right so try it in the sink first.

What you end up with is almost identical to a pint of UK bitter pumped through a tight sparkler.

View attachment 25294

Thanks to Buttersd70 for the original idea, he may still also have his photos and post them.

Thanks in advance!

Phil

 

[cdbrown]

For the 2nd question - yes. Keg as normal, if you can lower the pressure then good (remember you will also need a shorter beer line otherwise it will just trickle out) if not then it's not the end of the world. Use the syringe to give the tight head.

 

[buttersd70]

Not familiar with that yeast, but if it's an english strain, then even 15 would definately be too cold. Raise to 18, or even 20C. If it's fermented cool, it will be too 'clean' (I hate that term...it should be changed to 'flavour-neutral'). Part of the reason for using English yeast in the first place is to give the character associated with them, and for the most part, that involves esters. You won't get much of that character coming through at 15C imo.

It should kick back in OK when warmed.

As for the second, go to the balancing link in my sig. Balance your system for 1.8vol CO2. The syringe trick is handy for bottled beer, or for systems that are not properly balanced for the low pressure (ie, pouring too slow, and not forcing a head on properly as a consequence); with kegs, depending on the amount of resistance at the tap, you might not even need to do it. Alternate version for keg systems is to just pour as normal, and knock a head on at the end by manipulating the tap.

 

[Philthy79]

Butters, cdbrown, Cheers. :icon_cheers:

Ultimately I want to get a hand pump, but in the mean time i'll try the syringe, and playing around with the tap. (I worked in bars for years so i know not to mess around too much! - nice link butters)

I'll get it upto 18 this arfternoon when I get home and keep it around 18 -20 while it ferments.

Cheers guys, I can't get over how helpful this forum is still!!

 

[cdbrown]

Ultimately I want to get a hand pump, but in the mean time i'll try the syringe, and playing around with the tap. (I worked in bars for years so i know not to mess around too much! - nice link butters)

Good luck - go to the uk for a holiday and get one from there. I got mine from there last year and just not got around to using them yet. I think in a couple of brews time I'll have a nice ESB or something that will force me to get the beer engines set up.

 

[Philthy79]

Good luck - go to the uk for a holiday and get one from there. I got mine from there last year and just not got around to using them yet.

Brilliant! Am thinking of when of the rellies come out next from the UK "Do you want anything brought back?" :huh:


Cheers