Baron’s Kits

[PolishWineP]

When did you bottle the Cerveza?

 

[txclifton]

Hey masta....don't forget the limes!

 

[masta]

I bottled on 2/12 and another week will certainly help it.

 

[PolishWineP]

Thanks. We're hoping to sample some at Easter time. Out of town folks will appreciate it.

 

[PolishWineP]

Well, the beer is good!

I had a couple last week and they were on the sweet side. That is pretty well gone now and I think our weekend guests will be pleased! I would like to know how to kick up the carbonation a bit though. I'm 1/2 way through my second one of the night and haven't given a belch to the beer gods yet! What will they think?

Can I add more priming sugar on my next batch? If so, how much?

 

[masta]

How much priming sugar did you add? The standard I have always used is 1oz of Dextrose Corn sugar per gallon....so 6 oz for a 6 gallon batch is what I used when I made my batch of this beer.


I would say you could increase this to no more than 8 oz and still be within the safety zone of the bottles.


You said it tasted sweet...what was your SG at bottling?

 

[Grants wine]

I just started a Barons Canadian Lager, when I transfer it to the carboy the instructionsare to top the carboy up. Do I just add water or should I add some store bought beer?

 

[PolishWineP]

We used water when we topped up. We didn't have to add much. Keep us posted!

 

[masta]

Welcome, glad to have you aboard!


As PWP said you should not have to add much water if any after transferring from the primary to the secondary carboy. There should not be much sediment (trub when making beer) so if you started with 23L / 6gals then the carboy will be almost full. There is no need to completely fill the carboy to the neck as you would when stabilizing and fining a wine kit as the beer is still fermenting.

 

[Bert]

Welcome Grants wine:


I would just use water for top-up.....and how is the beer comeing along??

 

[Grants wine]

Thanks for the welcome! We transfered from the primary to the carboy today, now we wait two weeks to bottling.

 

[Leaky Spigot]

Just thought i'd report on my Baron's Canadian High Test that i started on April 29th.


I was hoping for a little advise as this was not the best kit i've made, and it may Not be the Fault of the Kit as a number of issues are in question. First i bought this Baron's Kit on sale, and i forgot to check the exp. date on the yeast, it could have been outdated


Anyways the Starting sg. 1.057 the f.g 1.015, and bottling date May 18th. Now the sediment on the bottom of the carboy never did compact well, it was about 1 1/2 or 2inches and the beer seemed cloudy. Maybe i should have waited longer before bottle time??


Well it's been 20days or so now in the bottle and the beer Doesn't keep it's head and goes kinda flat early. I don't wash my beer mugs in soap so i don't think that's the problem with a soap film on the glass.


I was just wondering if any of you that have made thisstyle of beerhad any advise that might help me next time.

 

[Dean]

Hi Leaky,

I find that with any beer kit, unless you add heading powder, trying to keep a beer head is almost impossible. You could also try to amp up the carbonation by adding another 1/4 to 1/2 cup of corn sugar at bottling time. Another thing to try is keep the beer warm at 72F for a full 2-3 weeks after bottling to make sure that all fermentable sugars are consumed for CO2 production. Then move to a cool dark place and wait for another month to have the yeast fall out of the beer and pack down good!

After all that, you should have a beer that is carbonated about 2/3 of what normal bottled beer is (which in North America is typically overcarbonated in my opinion) and should keep a nice head. Carbonation should remain in the glass for about 1 hour, but a glass of beer is only supposed to last 20 minutes or less right?

 

[geocorn]

Always save the date code from the top of the box. That way if there are any problems, we can get the kit replaced. This is true for wine kits and beer kits.

 

[DrtDoctor]

My basement is about 72 F right now. How long after I bottle should I move the beer to refrigeration? We refrigerated some about about 14 days and it was wonderful. We left some more another 10 days in the 72 F basement and when we refrigerated it and drank it a bitter aftertaste was noticible that wasn't there before. It's still very good but different now.

Any advice?

DrtDoctor

 

[masta]

You only need to leave the beer at room temp until it is carbonated and then move it to a cooler temp. From my experience this takes at least 2 weeks and some beers up to 5 weeks. The only way to know is take a bottle and chill it down and try it.


Once my beers are carbonated then go into the wine cellar which is at 56-57 degrees and keeps the beer good for quite a while and actually will improved many beers over time.

 

[Leaky Spigot]

THANKS FOLKS:


Dean


Thanks fer the good advise, and i went to my local wine and beer kit store, and asked for some Heading Powder, well sorry to say he didn't even know what i was talkin about, i think he's more into wine kits so i'll make a note of it, and next time i'm in a Big City i'll get me some of that stuff.


GEOCORN


Yes i should have known to look at the yeast package at least, but i just forgot i guess, and i know it is very important to have fresh yeast, this could have been part of my problem with this beer kit not turning out quite as good as the others i've done. thanks for the advise.





MASTA


From your post and this is very important to me because i have 9 kits either in the works or waiting for a carboy. I take it that you are sayin beer will last longer with cooler storage conditions??? Is this the same as Wine storage? I never realized this, with wine i did, but not beer. Thanks for the good advise as well.

My Coopers Pilsner i bottled on Monday and it looks real nice. Today i'm gonna bottle some Canadain Light.


OH one more Question!!! I'm using PET plastic bottles, and was just wondering if anyone else uses them? When i Bottle i squeeze the air out of them before screwing the cap down. In a couple of days the bottles look normal again.

 

[PolishWineP]

I don't think you should squeeze the bottles. I believe the carbonation uses it's energy to equalize the pressure between the inside and outside of the bottle. That could be killing off some of your carbonation. If you do the same to a soda bottle, that will cause it to go flat faster.

 

[Leaky Spigot]

I don't think you should squeeze the bottles. I believe the carbonation uses it's energy to equalize the pressure between the inside and outside of the bottle. That could be killing off some of your carbonation. If you do the same to a soda bottle, that will cause it to go flat faster.

I couldn't remember where i had heard this advice Polish, but i was bottling more beer today and it was there on my "Brewers Spring" kit instructions which is made by Vineco International www.vineco.on.ca


The Instruction say!


When capping PET bottles, gently squeeze out the Air in the neck of the bottle prior to sealing with the screw cap to Reduce the amount of air coming into contact with the beer.


Now i'm wondering if doin this makes by beer Not have enough CO2 for good carbination??


I picked up some Miller Draft bottles and was filling them today, but didn't have the Greatest time with those bottles. Outa 20 filled bottles my capper broke 6 bottles!! I'm not sure if it's the Bottles or my Double lever Hand Capper. So i poured out about 8 un-capped beer back to the bottling bucket and santized more PET bottles and carried on.

 

[PolishWineP]

Oh dear! Broken bottles are bad!

When we decided to make beer I talked George into ordering this really nice capper. He has it available, but there's no picture in the online catalog. It's the Colonna Bench Capper.


I love this thing!

I've never broken a bottle with it. We use it when we bottle wine in beer bottles, too.


You were using Miller Draft bottles? Aren't those for screw tops?