National Homebrew Club Ireland

General Discussions => Introductions => Topic started by: John the Gardener on December 01, 2020, 10:29:59 PM

Title: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 01, 2020, 10:29:59 PM
Hi, my name is John from Dublin 15.  New to this site.  I brewed Coopers Irish Stout recently and followed the instructions very carefully.  Bottled it on 24 October and left in in the room for 2 weeks then moved it to my garden shed.  Last Friday 27 November I brought a few bottles indoors and when i opened them the stout poured flat.  I have tried opening the swing tops briefly and popping a Coopers Carbonation Drop into each bottle hoping that might work.  It tastes OK except it has no creamy head.  I am planning to brew a different Coopers Kit ( devil's Half Ruby Porter ) when my 40 bottles are freed up.  I was hoping I might get some idea as to why the Irish Stout does not have a head when poured.
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: Sorcerers Apprentice on December 02, 2020, 08:21:35 AM
Hi John and welcome, I suspect that the bottles weren't warm enough constantly to carbonate properly , although a lot of guides just say leave at room temperature for two weeks, winter nighttime temperatures will be a lot lower than whats required to carbonate properly , generally you need a constant temperature of around 18deg C for two weeks. I'd say bring them back in from the shed somewhere warm for a couple of weeks , you could try a bottle eack week to see how they're progressing before moving them to somewhere cold to store, when you're happy that they've carbonated. Some lads fill a pet (plastic ) bottle as a tester bottle while bottling, as a means of checking the carbonation progress, when the carbonation increases the bottle gets stiffer

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Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: Sorcerers Apprentice on December 02, 2020, 08:42:32 AM
PS In the event that you can't maintain a constant 18 Deg C , the carbonation process will pause when the temperature drops , and will pick up again when it's warm enough, so it will take longer than two weeks if there's fluctuations

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Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 02, 2020, 05:01:23 PM
Hi, thanks for your replies.   Just to clarify, I had the bottles in the bedroom ( where stout was brewed) for 13 days before bringing them out to the shed.  The instructions stated to leave them in the same environment for about 2 weeks then move them to a cooler place ( they actually specified a garden shed ) to condition.  Anyway I have them back in the original bedroom now since Monday and will be checking daily.  In fairness it tastes ok, and I am using a 5ml syringe to boost it in the glass as I am drinking it. Hopefully it will improve as time goes by.  I actually popped open each swing top very briefly last night and added a carbonation drop ( I know I let out pressure ) so it will be interesting to see if that makes a difference.  I am using 500ml glass bottles and the Coopers Carbonation drops.  I am using ONE drop per bottle but to do the maths properly a 500ml bottle should be getting 1.5 drops at bottling time.  So I thought that may have been the problem. For my next batch I will cut drops in half and add 1.5 drops to each bottle when filling.
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: DEMPSEY on December 02, 2020, 06:51:25 PM
Watch out for bottle bombs as the extra sugar added will eventually ferment  ???
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: johnrm on December 02, 2020, 07:14:59 PM
Hi John and welcome!

When you tasted the stout, did you perceive a sweetness?
If you did, this is an indication that the sugar used for carbonation has not fermented fully.

Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 02, 2020, 09:28:06 PM
Yes, a sweetness like a mild chocolate taste but that was what was promoted in the sales pitch as being one of the positives.  Not a sickly sugary sweetness
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 02, 2020, 09:33:18 PM
Regarding the bottle bombs, I have heard of them all right.  I think mine will be ok as I am sure that plenty of pressure escaped as I briefly opened the tops to drop in the extra Carbonation Drop.  So considering I should have used 1.5 per bottle at the start, I am guessing that the release of pressure as I added the second carbonation drop yesterday will balance out a bit and not cause any bomb issues.  Fingers crossed as I type this though lol
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 02, 2020, 09:51:25 PM
So far , after just a few days, I can see the benefits of joining this group.  I now know I have so many experienced brewers willing to share their expertise and advice with a novice like myself.  Thanks so much
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: Mudder on December 02, 2020, 09:58:56 PM
Hi John, what did you do originally to prime the bottles?
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 03, 2020, 12:28:37 AM
Hi, when I bottled on 24 October I added one Coopers carbonated drop per 500ml. glass bottle.  The instructions call for one drop for a 350 ml. bottle and 2 drops for a 750 ml. bottle so ideally i should have used 1.5 drops for each 500 mil bottle.  I looked online and a good few contributors suggested to just use 1 drop rather than go to the bother of splitting them in half to get 1.5 drops.
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 03, 2020, 12:37:03 AM
Following the various comments here i checked the room temperature.  I just presumed that as I had heating on each evening for about 6 hours that the bedrooms would be 20 or more.  I checked tonight and it was less than 20 even though it felt quite warm in the room.  It depends on where I was positioned.  So I found a heat tray that was once used for 2 demijohns and I have 10 bottles sitting on this heated pad overnight.  Maybe it was the drop in temperature after midnight that slowed the carbonation / conditioning process.
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: Sorcerers Apprentice on December 03, 2020, 08:51:49 AM
Be careful with those heat trays John, they have no heat control and could get the bottles too hot and kill off the yeast in the bottles

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Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 03, 2020, 12:08:56 PM
Regarding the heat tray, I have a timer fitted to the supply and it comes on for 1 hour, off for 1 hour and continues like that so every second hour it is either on or off.
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: DEMPSEY on December 03, 2020, 07:57:31 PM
For future reference you could get an stc1000, they are cheap as chips. Wire it up to the power supply of you heat tray and put the probe into a matching sized bottle filled with water. That way the stc will toggle on and off the heat tray to regulate the temperature.
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 04, 2020, 12:05:45 AM
Thanks for your advice. Firstly I googled the product.  Then I looked at the article on this site about wiring etc. and it seems a lot of effort for an amateur like me.  I understand the diagrams, but I cannot see myself getting to the stage of having a fridge acting as a cooler etc. I just want to brew beer/stout, bottle it and enjoy it.  All I need is to ensure I keep it at the right temperature so that it carbonates properly and that the finished product looks, pours and tastes like the  product advertised if I follow the instructions carefully.  I apologise if this sounds simplistic, and I am certainly not being dismissive, far from it, I appreciate all the hints and advice I get,  but I am new to the hobby and maybe with time I might get more professional and adventurous about how I brew. 
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: Mudder on December 04, 2020, 09:32:51 AM
"but I cannot see myself getting to the stage of having a fridge acting as a cooler etc" Famous last words of John the Gardener, fast forward to 2022
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/2415/piIZfp.jpg)
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: mick02 on December 04, 2020, 09:34:06 AM
Quote from: Mudder on December 04, 2020, 09:32:51 AM"but I cannot see myself getting to the stage of having a fridge acting as a cooler etc" Famous last words of John the Gardener, fast forward to 2022
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/2415/piIZfp.jpg)

I was going to say the same myself!  ;D
Title: Re: New member from Clonsilla, Dublin 15 with a query
Post by: John the Gardener on December 04, 2020, 09:31:37 PM
 :)  :)