flat beer bad taste

gers1

i started about 2 months ago making my own lager i was excited and got rite into it i fermented my first batch for 8 or 9 days and transferred to a pressure barrel left it there for about a month and poured my first pint it tasted more like a cider than a lager it had a head but was'nt clear smelled fine although it had a bitter watery taste with no real body im now doing my second batch and im gonna be using finings so that it becomes clear this time im going to bottle it can i put the lager in the pressure barrel then bottle it any other help would be appreciated regarding taste and clarity

thanks

HBO_Staff

There could be a couple of reasons for the first batch problems which are worth considering. Presumably the hydrometer readings were OK when it was transferred over into the barrel? It's a good sign that it had no bad smell to it, but it should have cleared, it's possible that quite a bit of sediment was transferred with the brew when you syphoned it over to the keg, or that the brew was stored in the barrel somewhere too warm, to help it clear it needs a few days somewhere warm to help secondary fermentation begin after priming the barrel with sugar or similar, and then move it to somewhere cooler to clear. The watery taste suggests the secondary fermentation may not have fully completed, as that is a possible reason for the taste, we suspect that the brew wasn't fully completed at one stage or another. We will add a few points for you to consider shortly....

gers1

cheers m8 would be appreciated maybe i stored the keg in a warm place too long to be honest

HBO_Staff

The lack of body and head might be caused by any residue of steriliser or other detergent in the barrel, or other equipment, so rinsing thoroughly with cold tap water makes sure this is avoided. With you next batch, it's probably just worth checking all the equipment is well sterilised and then well rinsed with clean water, ensure the primary fermentation is complete using a hydrometer after keeping the brew at or around the temperature the kit suggests, and then transfer into the bottles directly. If you transfer to a barrel first, it will allow more air to mix with the brew when it is transferred into bottles, so we recommend transferring from the fermenter straight into the bottles (using a device such as a 'little bottler' makes this easy) and priming them with sugar, carbonation drops or enhancer and then sealing them straight up. Leave them somewhere warm for a couple of days to help secondary fermentation start, and then move them to somewhere nice and cool (but not freezing) for a few weeks to let the carbonate and clear. If when making the brew, you use an enhancer instead of sugar, the lager will probably be better, it ferments more easily and sometimes quicker, and it can really help with adding body and improving head retention of the finished drink. We recommend trying an enhancer and you will notice the difference. If you can leave it for a few weeks in the bottles it will improve, the carbonation will be better too, as it conditions. The benefit of using bottles is that there is less chance of any air getting into the brew, if there is a leak on the barrel, from say around the thread, and air gets in this can shorten the life of the beer and make it go stale, whereas bottles once closed tend not to let air in. Finings will help it clear faster, but given time the brew will clear on it's own in most cases, helped by keeping it in the temperature range the manufacturers recomend on their instructions, as they are often specific to each style of kit

gers1

can i use a little bottler straight from a fermenting bucket because i was thinking of getting one

HBO_Staff

They are a great little device, and fit to a fermenting vessel. We supply fermenting vessels pre-drilled with a standard tap which can be replaced with the little bottler, or simply drill a 25mm hole in your existing vessel and the little bottler pushes in, and is secured with a nut on the inside