British Brewer

Tips and Tricks: Kegging Tip

I am due to keg my Brakespears clone this weekend and I am reminded of a tip I figured out a few months back. Now, the Brakespears has cleared really bright thanks to the Wyeast Special Thames Valley II Ales yeast but there always seems to be some trub left over that settles to the bottom of the keg. This trub can lead to cloudy kegged beer and annoying trub in the tap.

I have tried finings, longer periods in the secondary but the only tip I have found to really work is cutting an inch off the bottom of the out tube in the keg.  Works a charm.

On Tap (21st Dec 2009)

Nothing new in the fermenter this week but a couple of new brews are on deck (some Guinness for a friend, and a Wadworth 6x clone (the topic of a post later this week) waiting for a fermenter to become available.  Still nothing ready to drink, the Best Bitter still has another week to go before its ready but lots activity in the workshop so time for an “On Tap” update.

Primary

• Lord Fatbottom Ale (24 days) – fermentation is still going strong. Will be moving to a secondary this weekend

Secondary

• Abbots Special Ale (5 days) – this is my first attempt at a Greene King Abbot Ale clone. The final attenuation % of the yeast was under the minimum, so disappointed. Aroma was not what I wanted either, it tasted okay but not a Green King. Back to the drawing board with this one.  Will be destined for the keg around Christmas
• American Style IPA (3 days) – nice hoppy IPA, not quite an Imperial but its close. FG was on the money as was taste and aroma, its destined for the bottle this weekend and I am looking forward to cracking these open around my birthday
• Chiswick ESB (2 days) – version 1.0 of my Fullers ESB clone I covered in an earlier post. FG, colour and aroma were on the money, I am quietly optimistic this recipe is going to work and be the first to get promoted to the permanent recipes page.

Bottle Conditioning

• Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone – (1 month) 2 months to go
• Kentish Best Bitter (10 days) – Should be ready to try by christmas, but could definitely do with some aging.

Drinking

• Nothing 🙁 except for some red wine of course and some delicious 120 Minute IPA to warm the cockles on such a snowy day.

On Tap (6th Dec 2009)

A lot of activity in the workshop this week. Time for an “On Tap” update.

Primary

• Abbots Special Ale (1 day) – this is my first attempt at a Greene King Abbot Ale clone
• Lord Fatbottom Ale (9 days) – cannot believe the fermentation is still going strong, its going to be a strong brew

Secondary

• Kentish Best Bitter (3 days)

Bottle Conditioning

• Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (dry hopped in the secondary for 7 days, cold conditioned in fermenter for 7 days and then bottled for 3 months) – now 2 weeks in the bottle and I tried the test bottle to see if the priming sugar had worked. It had 🙂 The flavour was getting their but this beauty is going to definitely need at least 3 months to bring out the malt, the hop flavour is very prominent

Drinking

• British ESB in the keg (stored at 55°) served using BeerGas system
• Old Ale in the bottle (1 month in the secondary, 1 1/2 months bottle conditioned) only 5 left 🙁

On Tap (28th Nov 2009)

Completed two new brews this week. Time for an “On Tap” update.

Primary

• Kentish Best Bitter (3 days)
• Lord Fatbottom Ale (1 day)

Nothing in the Secondary

Bottle Conditioning

• Dogfish Head 90 min IPA clone (dry hopped in the secondary for 7 days, cold conditioned in fermenter for 2 months, 1 week in the bottle, expect to drink in February 2010)

Drinking

• British ESB in the keg (stored at 55°) served using BeerGas system
• Old Ale in the bottle (1 month in the secondary, 1 month bottle conditioned, can last up to 1 year in the bottle but that just won’t happen)