Barrel It! Kegging and Secondary Fermentation

I never use bottles. It's too much like hard work for one thing, and I prefer draught beer anyway.

The barrelling process begins once primary fermentation is complete. I first run off about a pint of beer from the fermenter; I will add priming sugar and finings to this.

Then I run the bulk of the beer into a pressure barrel. This is done through a piece of siphon tubing fitted to the fermenter tap, to exclude air and prevent the beer foaming up as it runs into the barrel.

Meanwhile, I heat up the beer which I ran off earlier, and add 2oz of white sugar.....

..and a sachet of gelatine. The gelatine helps the yeast to settle into a firm deposit in the barrel, reducing the risk of clouding when the beer is run off during use.

The beer containing the sugar and gelatine is mixed into the beer in the barrel, which is then sealed.

During the first week or so, secondary fermentation converts the added sugar, producing enough carbon dioxide gas to create condition and promote head formation.

The beer will not be ready to drink straight away, though; first it needs to mature.

The maturation process takes at least 4 weeks, but I prefer to leave it for six weeks or more. The flavour improves during maturation, as some of the undesirable yeast by-products from primary fermentation break down over time.

Now here's the reward!

Enjoy.....

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