Brilliant advice and thanks. All i can do now is sit and wait and hope for the best i guess. Out of curiosity, what would happen if i added the hops after i’d decanted into the pressure barrel and carbonation had commenced?

Help!!! I think i’ve just messed my brew up :(:(:( I waited the full two weeks as per instructions, took a gravity reading (see photo) then in my haste i decanted the brew into the barrel with the sugar provided for carbonation. Unfortunately i’ve skipped a step, adding the hops :(:(:(

I don’t think i have the facility to play with pressures, basically what i have is just basic kit (for now) I’ve probably misled you when i said keg, i meant pressure barrel as in the most basic type with C02 cartridge that sits on top with a tap on the bottom.

I just don’t have any confidence in this bucket that i’m using, it feels flimsy at best and although it isn’t a major issue, the gases produced during fermentation are obviously leaking from the lid as there’s still no activity in the air lock.

Great advice and thanks. I will definitely be waiting the full two weeks as per instructions that came with the kit before checking the gravity. Although patience isn’t one of my strongest virtues, i want to get this right so am in no hurry and won’t be cutting any corners. Once the...

To be honest i’m not that keen on this bucket so will be looking to replace it with a screw top fermentation vessel for my next batch.

I’m assuming that once fermentation has stopped, all the kruasen will have disappeared? Is that a good indication that fermentation has stopped?

It’s not starsan, but yes i have the sanitiser that came with the kit mixed very weakly i must say with boiled water.

Started the brew last Saturday, and prior to the photo I removed the plastic wrap whichsort of disturbed whatever was going on inside and loads of bubbles came out of the air trap

Here you go

Thanks, the brew temp is now at a steady 18-19 degrees which i guess is OK, this is mainly due to the ambient temps in my area. The krausen is still present and there’s a bulge on the fermenter lid as if there’s pressure from within, but still no air lock activity.

Ahh!!! Understood. But basically no, I rinsed all equipment prior to starting the brew and haven’t done anything since other than apply plastic wrap. I haven’t had a chance to check this morning yet as the brew is stored in an out building and it’s tonking down with rain so will have to wait...

No, was i supposed to? I thought it best not to disturb anything as everything looked set up correctly so all i did was make sure the lid was sealed firmly, which it was, then checked the bung and airlock seals were ok. All appeared to be fine so all io did was wrap the lid seal with plastic...

I’ll try the plastic wrap to see if that works although the lid is, or appears to be firmly sealed as is the air trap and bung.

Brilliant, thanks, i was a wee bit concerned.

Just checked and it’s US West Coast Yeast

Update, and hopefully answer a few of the comments above. After thoroughly scrubbing and cleaning all the equipment using boiled water and a food grade detergent, i then sanitised all equipment using ‘Youngs’ sanitiser. I then rinsed everything, again using boiled, cooled water. At 13:00...

Not sure, it came with the kit

Ooops, that should have been 18 - 22 degrees

The instructions don’t actually specify a max temperature, they only give a range of 188 - 22 degrees as being ideal.