Ageing in A Carboy?

[vansrv7a]

Hey Guys,

I just started home brewing and this is my first post. I don't think that I'll ever take my brewing as far as some of you guys I think I'll stick to the "brew in a box" method.

With that being said I have 46 litres of Brew House Canadian Light Lager in 2 carboys at the moment. It is on day number 14 in total and 9 days (out of 10-15 days) in the carboys, Can I leave this in the carboys for longer than the suggested 10-15 days? I age my home made wine this way and wondering if I can do the same with beer? I must add that the dextrose is not added at this time. I'm going to add the 2 carboys to my 58 litre sanke keg for force carbonation.

I've also noticed "floaties" in my beer in the carboys. Can I filter this using my wine plate filtering system? I've read conflicting articles on the Net reference filtering.

Does anyone on here use 58 litre sanke kegs for storage? If so how do you force carnonate your beer? I'm assuming that it is the same as force carbonating with a corny keg?

I have 1 sanke keg at the moment. I'm looking for a second so that I always have one on standby to go in the fridge. Anyone have a spare sanke that they are looking to unload?

Cheers

Chris

[mr x]

You're fine leaving the beer in the carboys for a few weeks, but i would keep it in the coolest place I can find. I used one of the plate filters once, and it was a total shitstorm. It's been sitting in my basement ever since.

[GAM]

Don't filter and process (bottle/keg/drink) ASAP.

It does not hurt to keep in a carboy under air lock but I find empty gear "inspires" me to brew more.

I am looking at a 58l "storage" tank for some styles.

Sandy

[Timothy Doane]

Hello,

I've been using the plate filter system for years with no problem, it is slow and does require patience. You will find that your beer will become crystal clear.

Tim

[Tony L]

What type of plate filter are you guys using?

I used a Euro filter once for beer and I found it oxidized it. It was OK for the wine until it broke. I then bought a used Vino filter
off a fellow Hb er in NB and am just using it now to filter a wine I made for a buddy with it. I can't imagine using it to filter beer with.
I think, if I were ever to filter my beer I would use a water filter type and push with CO2 to reduce oxidation.

I find time clears my beers very well along with cold crashing... if I'm patient enough that is. Sometimes I drink them a bit murky
but it is only yeast and yeast is good for you.... keeps that gas flowing....

[mr x]

I used the euro-style too. Anybody wanna buy it? It was great for wine.

[Timothy Doane]

Hi,

The filter I use I got @ Noble Grape - I do a keg to keg filter process. It's a 3 piece red plastic unit.

Tim

[chalmers]

Welcome Chris!

As noted above, no problem leaving the beer in carboys for a while. The idea is that there is a little bit of yeast and sugar left, even after primary fermentation, so the headspace above the beer should fill with CO2, and push/dilute the air out. As long as your airlock/whatever is nice and tight (and everything was clean going in), no worries!


As for filtering, most of us don't do that. A combination of time and cold crashing help to remove most yeast and other flocculating material. Did you add any dry hops to the kit? How much crud is floating around?

The plan to add the dextrose and have the yeast carb in the keg is just fine. There shouldn't be anything different from a small keg to a large one, keep in mind when adding more sugar, you'll probably have some yeast multiplication, so even if the beer was fairly clear going into the keg, it could develop some more bugs that will get in suspension, and so will need time/cold crashing to flocc. Be prepared to have your first few pints a bit cloudy as you pick up that stuff.

[know1]

I used the euro-style too. Anybody wanna buy it? It was great for wine.

How much are you looking for it? I could use a replacement, mine has a hairline crack that's a PITA, (for wine).

[Tony L]

I used the euro-style too. Anybody wanna buy it? It was great for wine.

How much are you looking for it? I could use a replacement, mine has a hairline crack that's a PITA, (for wine).

A crack on where Jeramy?

I have the three piece one that has the nipples on the two outer pieces broken, but the shell is OK along with the inner piece.
You can have the three pieces free if you want. I can give it to Chris to bring back if it's any good to you.

[mr x]

Way to screw me out of a sale.

[vansrv7a]

Welcome Chris!

As noted above, no problem leaving the beer in carboys for a while. The idea is that there is a little bit of yeast and sugar left, even after primary fermentation, so the headspace above the beer should fill with CO2, and push/dilute the air out. As long as your airlock/whatever is nice and tight (and everything was clean going in), no worries!


As for filtering, most of us don't do that. A combination of time and cold crashing help to remove most yeast and other flocculating material. Did you add any dry hops to the kit? How much crud is floating around?

The plan to add the dextrose and have the yeast carb in the keg is just fine. There shouldn't be anything different from a small keg to a large one, keep in mind when adding more sugar, you'll probably have some yeast multiplication, so even if the beer was fairly clear going into the keg, it could develop some more bugs that will get in suspension, and so will need time/cold crashing to flocc. Be prepared to have your first few pints a bit cloudy as you pick up that stuff.

Thanks Chris,

I didn't add any dry hops to the kit. It is the standard "brew in a bag" kit that you can get at any wine store. There isn't a lot of crud floating around, just enough to know that I don't want to drink the crud I'm assuming that you need the yeast in the beer to induce carbonation when you add the dextrose. If you filter your beer, do you filter the yeast out thus not allowing carbonation to take place? For those who use the plate filter system what type of filter pad do you use? How long would you typically cold crash for? I have the Danby Kegerator that you can buy from Costco. Fits a 58 litre keg just nicely!

Cheers

Chris

[Tony L]

Way to screw me out of a sale.

Never even took note of that post, sorry.

[mr x]

There isn't a lot of crud floating around, just enough to know that I don't want to drink the crud

Most of that falls to the bottom of the keg after racking or stays behind. Just dump the first couple pours from the keg.

[know1]

I used the euro-style too. Anybody wanna buy it? It was great for wine.

How much are you looking for it? I could use a replacement, mine has a hairline crack that's a PITA, (for wine).

A crack on where Jeramy?

I have the three piece one that has the nipples on the two outer pieces broken, but the shell is OK along with the inner piece.
You can have the three pieces free if you want. I can give it to Chris to bring back if it's any good to you.

Mine is cracked at the base of an outer nipple. I epoxied it but being the clear polycarbonate style I'm not confident it wont crack again.

Thanks for the offer Tony, greatly appreciated however I don't think it will put me any further ahead.

[mr x]

I think a used one is worth $25 maybe? I can bring it up this weekend if you want it.