Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

I have bought 3 tins from a brew shop and followed the instructions ... the taste is ok but it does not hold a head and goes flat very quick after opening. I put 3 carbonation tablets in each bottle as instructed and does not do the job. Am I expecting too much from these tins or should I be using a keg over bottling. I wish I had someone to do a brew with to learn as it’s exoenside to try... I can see these 3 tins will go down the drain.... it’s drinkable but goes flat way too fast.

Any ideas ?

I have tried beer a couple of times never been happy with carbonation level. Not much help but you aint alone..

A lot if it us to do with the type of sugar you mix it with, white sugar makes alcohol but the result is a beer that has little head and low carbonation. If you use dry or liquid malt you get a better taste and better head retention. How long since you bottled it? If its only been a week of two leave it a bit longer. Also 3 drops is a bit excessive may get bottle bombs, I only ever used 2 and I got good results.

I bought the commercial tin... It was a great northern knock off... Bought water up to 28c I think and added the tin... Was like a thick honey..l then added the extra stuff as per the packet and then the yeast. Let it ferment for about 7 days then bottled with 2 tablets ..... I bought thr larger glass bottles with the lever action rubber top bit... Those bottles I dropped 3 tables in..... Still very little head (there is a line here) and no bubbles....after bottling I leave it for 2 weeks then chill down and crack one.... Taste is ok but virtually flat within a minute... Very poor

I bought a tap a draft system used it twice and its been stored ever since. Just not happy with carbonation..

At least you don’t have the problem I had when I first started bottling my own. I’d filled about 4 cartons of long necks across about 2 weeks and stored them under my bed. I was dropping dextrose into the bottles but not using measuring spoons, and our tea spoons apparently are bigger. So after not quite 2 weeks, fast asleep one night, BANG BANG. Certainly woke me up quick as they were fucking loud. Grabbed a pillow and grabbed each carton and took them out side. Luckily I didn’t cop a bottle top in the face, but within minutes of being moved they all started exploding. Some bottles exploded leaving glass everywhere others popped a top and shot beer 6 feet in the air. Fuck it was funny. But talking from experience, there is a fine line between well carbonated and over carbonated. I eventually worked out through a lot of trial and error, but I found dextrose worked best for me and the quantity used in each bottle varied heaps depending on type of beer, like lathers needed more dextrose than wheat beers. There’s no hard and fast rule but try and try again. Biggest tip, write down everything you do, makes finding the sweet spot easier.

Not too late to distill it!?!?!


Beer is just Whisky that hasn’t reached its full potential! :teasing-neener:

Are the bottles sealing properly ? Put up a picture of the bottles.
I find that 2 weeks bottle conditioning is not long enough, leave them for 4 weeks.
Also shake/invert the bottles a couple of times during the first 2 weeks.
Are you using something like coopers brew enhancer in addition to the brew kit?

Hey mate,
I am mad on making beer, started 3 years ago and is what brought me interested in other fermentation and finally to spirits and here.
I have gone from tins to AG, and PET->Glass->Kegs.
I still make tins, and i still bottle, as once the practices are right they have a place even with AG & Kegs.
As long as your swing tops have a seal they should be fine, a quick test is to fill with fresh soft drink and shake the crap out of it, if they hold that release of CO2 they will be fine for bottle fermentation, if not look at capping, i use regular stubbies with no issue.
I also batch prime for convenience (with dextrose), gives you much great control on carbonation.

My first advise is if you dont already, try the Coopers Kits, and check out the Coopers Recipes & Coopers Forum, same concepts as this site, a family business supporting a hobby group, great advise, and tried and tested recipes and methods, no offense to FSD, but as far as family business go they have a few more resources.

A few of my recommendations
1) Only use malt for your fermentable, liquid or dry to suit recipe.
2) Patience & temp control throughout, my beer is in the fermenter for 3 weeks, 1 week primary, 1 week secondary (with dry hop), 1 week cold crash. Bottle condition for 4 weeks altleast. I am at the point where i have 4 temp control fridges in my shed, 2x for fermenting, 1x for cold crash, 1x "cellar" so my conditioning beer doesnt see over 20deg, then of course also have my beer fridge with 4x kegs, (which has somehow found a bourbon and cola tap this month).
3) Stock, try get 2-3 brews ahead of your drinking schedule, with the above steps you will find issues with head and retention will sort themselves out.

Short band aid fix while you implement the above controls, try using wheat malt (liquid is easier), is renown for conditioning quicker and producing thicker and longer head.

I could keep rambling but will stop there.

What brew tins did you buy the cheap ones are crap stick to a proven brand and if you do bottle have to wait long enough for the beer to be ready and when its ready put in the fridge for a week it does make a difference.
Did an experiment bottled in stubbies and drank one a day and after about 10 days noticed big improvement from the previous day was not planned but had no beer ready to drink.If you can put some away for a couple of months it does improve,

I agree with everyone, 2 weeks is not enough, give it more time

Pist n broke wrote: Bought water up to 28c I think and added the tin...

You'll have better results brewing with ale yeasts at 20 degrees (lagers 12 degrees). It will take longer to ferment but will taste a lot better. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I bought the morgans beer brewing starter pack.... And thr tins were Mangrove Jacks brand.

Would a keg be better for carbonation ?

Cant stand those mangrove jacks especially the new plastic bag ones. Funny taste like clowns c**k.
Stick with coopers as they may be basic (some of them) but they cant go wrong when you're learning.
I like Canadian blonde and always use the number 2 booster pack. (also from coopers). The number 1 pack is foul.
It adds head but don't expect it to be as good as a commercial or all grain beer. It some of the unfermentables in those that add to the head. Also sugar is fine as a carbonation as you don't taste it in the 6 grams or so per longneck anyway. I use a measure spoon and not carb drops.
Also stick with glass. Beer from plastic bottles is not only wrong they taste wrong too as its porous.

Couple of things to look for mate.
1. Fermentation should be a minimum of 2 weeks. If you have a hygrometer, you should get an FG (final Gravity) reading somewhere between 1004-1010. Anything higher than that let it go. Won't hurt it.
2. Fermentation temperature is critical. If you're doing an ale, then 20C is your target. Lager can go down to 12C, then crash it to 2C. If you're a beginner, stay well away from lagers - they're a pain in the arse when you're learning and you will inevitably fuck them up.
3. Sanitary is next to godliness. Unlike spirits, beer brewers need to be anal about sterilising absolutely everything that comes in contact with your wort (even your hand holding the stirrer etc.). No shortcuts or you will fuck it up.
4. Ditch those sugar drops, they're crap. Buy some dextrose from your HBS (about $3/500gms). Rack the wort off the fermenter into a bottling bucket (I use another fermenter), make sure you leave the trub in the first fermenter. Pre-prime the bottling bucket with 7-8gm/litre of dextrose (140 - 160gms for a 20L batch) (dissolve it first in a small container of boiling water). Tip that into your bottling bucket, stir it in very gently and you're ready to bottle.
5. If all that fails, turn it into spirit as Ezy said.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Lowie

bluess57 wrote:Are the bottles sealing properly ? Put up a picture of the bottles.
I find that 2 weeks bottle conditioning is not long enough, leave them for 4 weeks.
Also shake/invert the bottles a couple of times during the first 2 weeks.
Are you using something like coopers brew enhancer in addition to the brew kit?

Whilst I half agree with your theory on bottle conditioning - 2 weeks is fine, longer is better of course, I would definitely not advocate for shaking those bottles whilst they are secondary fermenting. That's a bang looking for trouble IMHO.

username wrote:Hey mate,
I am mad on making beer, started 3 years ago and is what brought me interested in other fermentation and finally to spirits and here.
I have gone from tins to AG, and PET->Glass->Kegs.
I still make tins, and i still bottle, as once the practices are right they have a place even with AG & Kegs.
As long as your swing tops have a seal they should be fine, a quick test is to fill with fresh soft drink and shake the crap out of it, if they hold that release of CO2 they will be fine for bottle fermentation, if not look at capping, i use regular stubbies with no issue.
I also batch prime for convenience (with dextrose), gives you much great control on carbonation.

My first advise is if you dont already, try the Coopers Kits, and check out the Coopers Recipes & Coopers Forum, same concepts as this site, a family business supporting a hobby group, great advise, and tried and tested recipes and methods, no offense to FSD, but as far as family business go they have a few more resources.

A few of my recommendations
1) Only use malt for your fermentable, liquid or dry to suit recipe.
2) Patience & temp control throughout, my beer is in the fermenter for 3 weeks, 1 week primary, 1 week secondary (with dry hop), 1 week cold crash. Bottle condition for 4 weeks altleast. I am at the point where i have 4 temp control fridges in my shed, 2x for fermenting, 1x for cold crash, 1x "cellar" so my conditioning beer doesnt see over 20deg, then of course also have my beer fridge with 4x kegs, (which has somehow found a bourbon and cola tap this month).
3) Stock, try get 2-3 brews ahead of your drinking schedule, with the above steps you will find issues with head and retention will sort themselves out.

Short band aid fix while you implement the above controls, try using wheat malt (liquid is easier), is renown for conditioning quicker and producing thicker and longer head.

I could keep rambling but will stop there.

:text-+1:
Four fridges - you capitalist bastard! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Let me get this straight... If the last three beer brews go to shit I can distill it into spirits...? Is that right...?

It's a shame to pour it down the drain.... Does anyone live round the Northside of Brisbane as I would love to meet some people and watch and learn as they do a run..

Pist n broke wrote:Let me get this straight... If the last three beer brews go to shit I can distill it into spirits...? Is that right...?

It's a shame to pour it down the drain.... Does anyone live round the Northside of Brisbane as I would love to meet some people and watch and learn as they do a run..

Correctamundo mate. Don't chuck anything, you might be surprised what you get when you run it through your still. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Will I just get vodka.... I have a t500..

Hoppy beers don't distill well.

And 2 weeks is tight for carbonation. I normally try and leave it a month or more. I haven't made a lot beer in a long time though. All grain all the way.