IRISH RED ALE

wow, that looks perfect! My Droid is taking care of the Original Pilsner and up next is the Irish Red which I was already looking forward to, looks like it's going to be an absolute ripper...

Paddy

Was it from a bottle or Brewflo?

Edited February 10, 2017 by Gibbo

From the Brewflo.  The first couple were a little heady but quickly settled down and poured well for the remainder of the keg. 

I have had Red Ale and Weissbier give me nothing but problems. 

Do you use a keg caddy?

Yes, I do use the keg caddy.  I have not used the Weissbier, however, I could not fault the Irish Red!!

Thanks Big Pop.

I am thinking that maybe the keg caddy is a must have, rather than an option.

Gibbo, At this stage I am not really qualified to say whether or not the caddy is an absolute necessity.  Can you be a bit more specific regarding your experienced problems?  I am sure that the keg caddy issue is a relevant consideration for most BrewArt punters!

The best I can ascertain is limited knowledge derived from the 101 videos and FAQ 15 under the BeerFlo heading.  It seems to be the preferred kegging method at the brewery to minimise foaming and enable a more even fill of the keg liner.

Are you getting a full 5 litres in your keg liners using your current bottom up filling method ? If you are then the existence of any additional foaming created by your current method is hardly hampering the process.

Perhaps the BrewArt Team could enlighten us further!

My filling experience is inline with all of the 101 videos and Brewart team information.

That being said, I am not enjoying the benefits of a Brewflo, in the way the other users are. All I am pouring is foam. You can see the foam coming straight out of the keg, through the beer line and into the glass. 

Before we go too far. Temperature and pouring technique is not the problem.

I did get some success with my first brew, an APA. Each time I would go for a drink, I would have half a glass of head and then it would pour properly. Not ideal but understandable and I was able to enjoy a drink.

I am talking to the Brewart techs at the moment and trying to find out why I am having troubles and where the shortfalls could be.

My current suspicion is that despite filling the keg to its perceived maximum (as documented with Brewart tech faqs and 101's), maybe I am perhaps half a litre shy of truly full. Maybe leads to over carbonation for the volume of fluid available. Maybe too great an air gap is allowed to be created inside the keg which fills with foam, but maybe this should clear in the first couple of glasses.

There are a whole lot of 'maybes' at the moment and I am searching for what may be the cause of my problem. I have wasted around half a keg of the Weissbier and Red Ale, trying out different pouring techniques and pressure levels inside the keg.

This has made me quite gun shy about doing another keg, until I can pin down the cause.

Apparently the keg caddy does improve the filling and this seems to be the missing piece of the equation for me when compared to other brewers.

Open to any advice and help as there is a considerable investment of time and money at stake and I am not too precious to find out I forgot to stand on one foot  when pouring, as this makes all of the difference.

I am about a month away from having another beer ready for the keg, so plenty of time to chew over the issues.

Gibbo,

For what it is worth I am getting at least a third to half a glass of froth each time I pour a single glass from my first keg of Thomas Cooper's Celeb Ale.  If I pour two or more glasses at a time the second subsequent glasses contain much less head and are almost perfect pours.  In the case of a single glass pour I just sit the glass on the drip tray for a minute and then incrementally top it off.  A bit like a barman does at the pub when initially pouring and then later topping off a Kilkenny or a Guinness.  Quite quickly the majority of the initial froth settles into liquid can then be topped up.  Nothing is wasted down the sink and the beer tastes great.  However,  reading your last response I can see where you are coming from.

This was much less of an issue with my only other keg (Irish Red) consumed thus far.  Both the Irish Red & The Celeb Ale were kegged using the caddy.

 

Thanks Big Pop. If was experiencing the same as yourself, I would not consider it a problem. However half a keg at 100% froth, means something is wrong.

Interesting that the red was less of a problem. I was going to look to the TCCA for my next try, but I really want to go with a seemingly foolproof brew. Weissbier has been troublesome for many others, so I dont want to do that one again.

Will start a new thread as I have kind of hijacked this one

 

Gibbo, I will watch the new tread with interest.  You have my limited experience with both the Irish Red and the Thomas Cooper's Celeb Ale which are the only two I have had in the BeerFlo thus far.

By the way I would not be in the least concerned about "hijacking" any thread.  The whole point of the community forum is to learn from and share our collective ups and downs with the new (and expensive $) BrewArt product.  Good Luck.

That looks like a really nice beer to try. I have one in stock so I am looking forward to brewing this next.

Is it similar to Kilkenny? I had a Kilkenny the other day and really enjoyed it.

How one did yours take to ferment?

Out of the four beers I've had in my brewflo. I found the calafornia steam ale was the beat one so for.

I will put that one on my shopping list, Patrick.

Deeks,  The TCC Ale is similar to Kilkenny in texture (very smooth) and pours quite heady.  The head is thick and creamy which also reminded me of a Kilkenny and quickly settles down to then be topped up for a strong malt taste.  The taste is obviously quite different and is typical of a dark ale whereas the Kilkenny is a more amber flavour type.  It definitely suits my taste buds and whilst my Brewprint experience is very limited I would definitely purchase it again.

Fermentation time was 5 days.  My first keg has been conditioning for 4 weeks. I intend to leave the second conditioning for at least another 2 weeks if not longer.

I drank my last Irish red on the weekend, it poured great and tasted good.  Would still prefer a little more 'body' to the taste.

Are there any brew prints that come close to a cascade stout?