OK – so the issues are being worked out. And I had one Doggie Claws last night and it was infanticide, loverly but really under carbonated and cloudy. It struck me like a homebrew that I popped at two weeks rather than waiting for five to pass before I invaded its space.
As a result, we are going to work on a little experiment. In the lower box are 18 Doggie Claws under the drywall board which are under 12 Freds which is under drywall boards which are under 8 litres of water. So all in all there is about 30 pounds of weight on the lower beer and 20 on the upper. That should assist in keeping the caps in place and the seals secure.
Aside from those hibernating 30 beer, there are still seven Doggie Claw left without the weights and, after a little sharing and a little more tasting, the Fred has six unweighted bottles left some of which have very low fill lines. The best of these remaining bottles may get a wax seal to see if that can increase the carbonation or at least stop air getting in and spoiling the brew.
Click for a bigger view.
Update: An update on Project Salvation after eight months. Had a Fred last night and the yeast held up, keeping the air out at the start and the weights on top of the caps has maintained a thin line of cap to glass contact. And the beer is still quite wonderful.
[Original comments…]
Paul of Kingston [11:25 AM December 24, 2006]
If you still have plenty of yeasty residue in the bottles perhaps you could try recapping a few and seeing if they come back to life.
Apologies for recent typing mayhem – new wireless keyboard is a dead loss – it can’t even keep up with my three fingered style.
Alan [10:58 AM March 10, 2007]
I popped one of the Fred’s last night and there may well have been an increased carbonation, an extended pfft!. It was in good shape.