Force Carbonation: Pressure Barrel

D4W5ON · Jan 23, 2015

Hi guys!

I recently brewed the Razorback IPA kit, but when I transferred it to my pressure barrel with the priming sugar, after a month its still flat! Guessing there's a leak :x

Is there any way to force carbonate with a pressure barrel, or is my beer ruined? Any ideas or tips would be helpful.

Thanks, Chris

Grumpydev · Jan 23, 2015

Assuming you mean a plastic pressure barrel, no, you can't force carb with that, they don't hold enough pressure. As for whether it's ruined, it depends on whether it's oxidised - hopefully not though as there still should be a layer of CO2 on top.

Are you sure the lid was on properly? Try taking it off, soaking the seal in hot water, then re-prime and put it back together with some vaseline on the seal and don't overtighten it. If you think the barrel is totally gone, like if it has a split somewhere, you could buy some cheap PET bottles and prime those (or batch prime again) and syphon from the barrel into the bottles.

D4W5ON · Jan 23, 2015

Yeah it's a plastic pressure barrel. There's still a layer of CO2 yes, so I'll probably try batch prime and bottle it. Thanks for your help :thumb:

stesmi · Jan 23, 2015

Hi

It's pretty hard to force carb in a PB, but if you have a means of refrigerating the PB it can be possible. Prime as normal and after a week refrigerate it, after it's down to 4 or 5 degrees then squirt your s30 co2 (if that's your valve attachment?) until the pressure release valve whistles at 10psi (this is how much pressure a PB holds). This'll get you to a 2.25 carb level, which is the low end for lager and some ales.

Or if you're feeling brave, stick an elastic band around the release valve. This will increase pressure to 15psi(ish), but test this first before bottling. You wouldn't want an accident :-/

First though check for leaks. Submerge it when full of co2 ;-)

Dads_Ale · Jan 23, 2015

Looks like you have a leak from your PB.
As you say batch prime then bottle your current brew then test out the PB by pressurising and dunking in the bath to check for leaks.

D4W5ON · Jan 25, 2015

stesmi said:
Hi

It's pretty hard to force carb in a PB, but if you have a means of refrigerating the PB it can be possible. Prime as normal and after a week refrigerate it, after it's down to 4 or 5 degrees then squirt your s30 co2 (if that's your valve attachment?) until the pressure release valve whistles at 10psi (this is how much pressure a PB holds). This'll get you to a 2.25 carb level, which is the low end for lager and some ales.

Or if you're feeling brave, stick an elastic band around the release valve. This will increase pressure to 15psi(ish), but test this first before bottling. You wouldn't want an accident :-/

First though check for leaks. Submerge it when full of co2 ;-)

This was actually my first thought, and I have the barrel in a refrigerator at the moment. Yeah I do have the valve attachment, do you know how long I would have to wait for it to carbonate?

stesmi · Jan 26, 2015

I'd give it a week. Crank up the co2 until it whistles and keep on doing this each day for the week. The colder the fridge the better.
At 5c and 10psi (barrel max) you'll get carb level 2.25 which is the low end for lager, but at 2c you'll get 2.5 carbonation level which is perfect.

backwoodsgolduk · Jan 26, 2015

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Force Carbonation: Pressure Barrel

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