22 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

Brewed a batch of beer and worked around the house all day cutting the grass and a hundred other things.  Went to chill a little bit and grab a beer.  Started tapping a glass of Cabana Lager and it looked so clear and smooth and I was saying, Please.  Stick around.  Don't blow.  Don't blow....  and then KKKKKKSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!  

[Steve Urquell]

I blew keg 5 of 6 last night. The partial one left is a Blue Moon clone I brewed for my wifes Christmas party and I don't care for it.
I cleaned one empty and kegged my CZ amber today so I'll have some beer in a couple weeks. Still need to clean the 4 empty kegs in the fridge.

[Area Man]

I’ve got a keg of helles that I’ve been expecting to blow for a couple weeks now. I can’t believe it’s still with us.

[LeftyMPfrmDE]

Similarly, i had a co2 tank empty out last night- it lasted 30 kegs of beer, with some purging for bottle fills and kegs for testing for leaks. Its all a matter of time before i have to head to the welding shop for topping off my 3 tanks (5#).

[Big Nake]

I’ve got a keg of helles that I’ve been expecting to blow for a couple weeks now. I can’t believe it’s still with us.

I had one of those too.  It just kept pouring well after I thought it was going to blow.

 

 

Similarly, i had a co2 tank empty out last night- it lasted 30 kegs of beer, with some purging for bottle fills and kegs for testing for leaks. Its all a matter of time before i have to head to the welding shop for topping off my 3 tanks (5#).

Yeah, that always happens at the wrong time.  I have one 10-lb tank to serve one fridge (2 kegs) and two 5-lb tanks that might rotate for the other fridge (2 more kegs) and that way when one goes down I have a spare.  Ah, the things we do for beer. 

[positiveContact]

I had one of those too.  It just kept pouring well after I thought it was going to blow.

 

 

Yeah, that always happens at the wrong time.  I have one 10-lb tank to serve one fridge (2 kegs) and two 5-lb tanks that might rotate for the other fridge (2 more kegs) and that way when one goes down I have a spare.  Ah, the things we do for beer. 

 

always have a plan b.  always.

[djinkc]

You guys don't plan ahead enough.  2x20, 1x10, 1x5 for CO2 and only 2 in use at a time.  Usually 10 - 13 kegs cold and carbed beer in them

[Big Nake]

When this keg blew I replaced it with a similar pale lager batch.  That batch was brewed with 940 after it sat in a flask in the fridge for 5-6 weeks.  I made the batch and just pitched the 940 slurry into the batch and I got quick fermentation which smelled lovely during primary.  When the beer was done, chilled, kegged, carbed, etc. I sampled it and it tasted great.  But on Saturday when I pulled the first pint the beer was loaded with diacetyl which surprised the hell out of me.  My guess is that the yeast was not in the best of health and either created more diacetyl or else it didn't have the mojo to clean it up.  As a result I took the keg out of the fridge and let it warm up.  I'll leave it there for a bit and see if it improves.  Also as a result, I am going to retire the 940 slurry I currently have saved and I'm also going to retire this 2124 that is currently in a primary of helles (this was the 2124 I harvested from a keg and made a 'vitality starter' for).  On Tuesday or Wednesday this week I'll make a starter for the Bayern that I have and on Friday or Saturday I'll make the first batch with Bayern but I'm not sure what I'll make yet.  With that yeast I'll probably make a standard gold lager, a festbier,a vienna and a pilsner (maybe a dunkel too).  

[Poptop]

Wo. This has me concerned with using 4th Bayern based on time in the mason jar between batches ~ 5 weeks...... Perhaps not chance it and use a couple packs of 34/70. I believe in mojo, or lack thereof. Maybe do the vitality thingy...

[Bklmt2000]

On the other side of the coin from the OP, I had a keg blow yesterday that I thought would never blow, a keg of 2-Hearted Ale clone that was off.

 

It wasn't horrible, per se, but definitely did not turn out like most of the other batches I've made of this beer over the years.

 

If it was any worse, I would've dumped it sooner, but it was enough of a failure that I made it a point to finish the keg, as a life lesson.

 

Not sure what that lesson is, except perhaps, "don't let this happen again."

[Big Nake]

Wo. This has me concerned with using 4th Bayern based on time in the mason jar between batches ~ 5 weeks...... Perhaps not chance it and use a couple packs of 34/70. I believe in mojo, or lack thereof. Maybe do the vitality thingy...

 
I don't typically "store" yeast for long periods like that.  I had used it three times but then the calendar was a bit of a cluster and I was unable to brew.  The yeast slurry was in a flask with sanitized foil over it and stored around 40°.  It smelled fine and the primary fermentation smelled okay too.  Since I don't save yeast very often I assumed it would be okay so I just pitched the slurry.  It's possible that this keg will be just fine once the yeast cleans up the diacetyl... or maybe not.  With the 2124 (harvested from the keg), I did do the vitality starter but that's only about 1-2 hours of contact time with the yeast so I have no real way of knowing how helpful that really was.  All of it suggests that I just stop with the 940 and 2124 right now in favor of the Bayern and stop gambling.  On one hand, I want to use the Bayern but OTOH, I like having active & fresh slurry available so I can just brew without making starters, etc.  If you think your Bayern is suspect, retire it or at the very least leave it in the primary at a warmer temp (after the majority of fermentation is done) so it can clean up after itself.  One issue may be that I've been rushing beers to kegs lately and I may not have left the 940 in the primary long enough on this diacetyl batch.  If I had gone the standard 3 weeks or so... it may have cleaned itself up and I would have never noticed.  

[Poptop]

All good points. The sniff test will be the first indicator. Your comment about rushing to keg is so me. From my first lager to date I've done the quick method with great results. But time is always on the side of a good ferment. If it weren't for the lack of beer in my fridge I wouldn't feel this gotta-brew-urge. We'll see what the nose thinks as the week progresses and I do my mis-en-place.

[Big Nake]

All good points. The sniff test will be the first indicator. Your comment about rushing to keg is so me. From my first lager to date I've done the quick method with great results. But time is always on the side of a good ferment. If it weren't for the lack of beer in my fridge I wouldn't feel this gotta-brew-urge. We'll see what the nose thinks as the week progresses and I do my mis-en-place.

You and me eye-to-eye.  Lately I have been brewing on say, a Friday.  That beer will sit in the fridge for 4-5 days and then "rest" on the basement floor for another week or so.  On a Thursday (now 13 days since brewing) I'll transfer that beer to a keg & harvest the yeast to use the next day.  The beer will be chilled & carbed and may sit on the on-deck fridge for a bit but if there is an opening in the draft fridges (a very common occurrence lately) then that beer might be pressed into action right away.  So it's common for a beer to go from grain to glass in as little as 17-20 days lately and that is SOOOO not me.  But I will rebuild.  Mark my words.  Don't bet against me.  Take it to the bank.  I'm going to... Oh you get the point. 

[Poptop]

Oh I got your point man...

[Big Nake]

First off, I am making a Bayern starter right now... almost done and I'm excited to have it up & running for a few batches.  Second, does anyone have any tips to share about the diacetyl I have in this one keg?  My original thought was to warm it up so I took it out of the fridge and sat it on the basement floor on Saturday.  On Monday I sampled and could still detect it (which I thought I would) so I moved it upstairs to the dining room where it's warmer.  Is it enough to just warm it?  Some things online have suggested that you have to add yeast and other threads I read said that in some cases the D will age out but in other cases it will not (I forget the details).  I plan to leave it warm like this until maybe Friday and then sample it warm again.  Any other suggestions?  Cheers and thanks.

[Bklmt2000]

Letting it warm up and getting the yeast active again ought to be all you need to get rid of the diacetyl.

 

When you tapped the keg noticed it was diacetyl-y, was it still cloudy/clearing up, or was it relatively clear?

[Big Nake]

Letting it warm up and getting the yeast active again ought to be all you need to get rid of the diacetyl.

 

When you tapped the keg noticed it was diacetyl-y, was it still cloudy/clearing up, or was it relatively clear?

I had taken a sample a couple weeks ago when it was done carbing and my guess is that I pulled a decent-sized slug of yeast out of the keg at that time.  When I sampled it this past week I would call it "hazy".  I'm sure there's still yeast in there but it may not be much and what *IS* in there may not be in very good shape.  I'm just going to let it go until the weekend (supposed to be very warm here starting tomorrow) and then test it again.  Worst case is that I let it go until NEXT weekend, I still detect diacetyl and just punt it.  I can't imagine it taking more than 2 weeks and if it does... the yeast is not up to the task of cleaning this up.

[Big Nake]

I was starting to have my doubts about this process of warming a keg to remove the diacetyl but I just sampled this warm & foamy beer and it appears to have worked.  For reference, the keg has been out of the fridge for one week and sat on the basement floor for 2 days and then upstairs where it's warmer for about 4-5 days.  I'm going to leave it warm until tomorrow and then throw it into the draft fridge to chill it.  Not sure if I'll have to hit it with a gel solution again.  This is very good news because I have been trying to catch up in the brewery and having a full keg turn out to be a dud would really bite it.  Cheers peeps.

[Bklmt2000]

I was starting to have my doubts about this process of warming a keg to remove the diacetyl but I just sampled this warm & foamy beer and it appears to have worked.  For reference, the keg has been out of the fridge for one week and sat on the basement floor for 2 days and then upstairs where it's warmer for about 4-5 days.  I'm going to leave it warm until tomorrow and then throw it into the draft fridge to chill it.  Not sure if I'll have to hit it with a gel solution again.  This is very good news because I have been trying to catch up in the brewery and having a full keg turn out to be a dud would really bite it.  Cheers peeps.

 

Good news, mang.  Always nice when a potential dud turns out to be a keeper.

[Deerslyr]

Killed 2 kegs at the family reunion yesterday.