Home brew? Homebrew? Winemaking

Weirdly as my surname is Cooper I've always thought about quitting the present job and becoming a Cooper.

However as the whisky industry buys the barrels from the US and the beer breweries do the same there isn't much demand for wood barrels in the UK now.

Only one English Master Cooper left apparently.

Last Master Cooper

Wondering if anyone has come across this before. I've had a St Peters stout in bottles for about a month. It's the 3rd time I've made this particular kit over the past few years as it's a goodun. This time I added extra muscavado plus sugar when making up the kit, as well as some extra yeast (last kit's trub) to battle the extra fermentables. I started about 1052 and ended up about 1018. Not as low as I'd hoped but it had definitely finished so bottled up. The beer tastes great, and isn't heavily carbonated, I didn't add much priming sugar due to it being a stout, but as soon as I open each bottle it blows the slurry right through the beer and out of the top whereupon it goes everywhere. As I say it isn't heavily carbonated, as it would be if it had started to go again in the bottle, but I can't work out why else it would be blowing so heavily. I've yet to try cooling a bottle to see if it's more settled but obviously don't want to drink very cold stout! Even bottles that are filled to just below the rim, which would usually be much more stable, are blowing. Anyone come across this? I did intend to do a secondary before bottling but didn't get round to it so there's more slurry in the bottle than there otherwise would be.

If you are having an explosion when you uncap a bottle it's over carbonated.

Either through secondary fermentation and/or too much sugars in the bottle. Or seems that the extra sugar and yeast may be the problem.

Although if you are using yeast from previous beer you might have a wild yeast contamination?

None of the usual signs of high carbonation though. Not much fizz and the mouth feel is just about right for a stout.

Adding extra sugar and yeast to this kit is pretty common as it at peters only send them out with about 6g which is never enough.

I'm tempted to cool a bottle and see how it does then.

Maybe you needed to leave more headroom in the bottles. Did you use a bottling wand ? I usually use a wand ,fill to the rim and when you remove the bottle there is room at the top.

Yeah I tend to use a wand. Being a stout in dark bottles some of these were slightly fuller than usual but most have about 2-3cm headspace.

The only thing I can think of was that it was higher (1018 as opposed sto about 1014) than I usually bottle, although it had had over 2 weeks in the primary, first week around 20c. I'm wondering if I didn't add enough extra yeast to counteract the extra sugar although if have thought that would lead to extra fizz in the bottle.

When I bottle I'll get it just to the crown cap point. When you withdraw the wand it takes the liquid just at the 'neck' of the bottle.

@byjoshuawilliams you might have to let secondary fermentation wait a little more before bottling. Stouts definitely need at least a month to condition. Still wondering if you had a wild yeast if you are using bottled yeast to make the starter?

It's possible. I'd doubt if because the yeast was always in a sanitised bottle with a airlock but it is definitely more likely than if I'd just used the packet. As I say St Peters don't provide enough. I'll buy a tub of extra next time instead of risking it.

Well sometimes beer doesn't always work out how you hoped. We rely on nature after all.

Could of had a bad batch of yeast?

I've said it before but we make Wort. Yeast makes Beer.

Are they screw tops? Could you burp them off then give it another couple of weeks?

An Antipodean brew today.

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Saw this on the homebrew forum and thought someone on here might get themselves a bargain: https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/leaving-hobby-all-equipement-to-go-south-london.93251/

Going to finally keg a beer on the weekend after 4 years of bottling ! It's a coffee stout around 7%.
Anyone got any tips ideas for a first time kegger ?

Soda Crystals are a cheap way to clean them and I use Videne Red as a no-rinse sanitiser.

Purge the oxygen in the keg with CO2 and make the transfer from the fermentor to the keg via the Beer Out post.

After its conditioned chill the beer as it helps with the force carbonation if you are going down that route.

I haven't got the bits for that , was going to fill and then purge the O2 after. It will go straight in the fridge after.

Are you using a racking cane to transfer?

I usually transfer through a hop spider into a bottling bucket, so I'll let it settle in the bucket then transfer to the keg.
Once the keg is full I'll purge the O2 then leave it on gas in the fridge for a week.

Where is the Queen of the thread BTW?

@Kat_Balou I summon you!

You called?

I've only kegged by running no rinse Star San through the keg and lines, purge and then used the method you said to transfer the beer to the keg. I used the shake and bake quick method to carbonate from Pete Brissenden who used to work for Camden, which is basically this:

https://www.homebrewing.org/Cornelius-Keg-Quick-Carbonation-Method_ep_29-1.html

I did it as I was using a beer gun to bottle from the keg. If you ever do that, make sure everything (lines, gun, bottles, keg) are chilled beforehand or you'll just get foam.

Weirdly I just brewed an Old Beer today. In two minds to keep it in the corny after conditioning or use the beer gun I 'inherited' when I bought the kit.

If you bottle it via a beer gun will it keep as long as bottle conditioned beer?

Yeah should do, there's a purge trigger on the gun so you purge the bottles first then fill. Mills Brewery fill all their bottles with a beer gun.

Thanks. Wasn't sure that keg beer and Bottle CO2 was as good as sugar and bottling bucket.

Still. You never really know until you do it... Looking forward to your next blog. 👍

Also, kind of like that summoning works...

Had a fridge problem so haven't kegged yet , spare fridge isn't big enough, so if I can't get it sorted I'll have to bottle it all 🤦‍♂️