This guide covers the standard 'budget' home brew '5 gallon' pressure barrel (PB) widely available in homebrew shops and on-line, typically for about£25 to £35. It might be of use to people thinking about buying one or new owners who want to get the best out of it. It does not cover the more expensive PBs like King Kegs although some of the principles are the same.
Standard PBs are usually designed for 15psig and this may be stamped on the shell itself, although some older designs are only designed for 10psig. Barrels sold as 'cider barrels' are not normally designed for any internal pressure and so should not be used to hold pressurised beer.
What You Will Get
a moulded food grade plastic shell with openings for a cap at the top and a dispensing tap at the bottom
- a screw threaded cap usually or diameter and fitted with a pressure relief device (see later) and optionally a valve suitable for either CO2 injection by one shot bulbs or controlled flow from a larger S30 type cylinder; sometimes caps are fitted with a pressure gauge or provision to measure the internal pressure using a tyre pressure gauge or similar; note that you cannot get a hand inside a PB with a 2ââ¬Â cap e.g. to clean it, whereas you can with a 4 cap PB
- a round sealing gasket which fits inside the cap and which mates with the PB cap opening rim
- a dispensing tap with seal gasket(s); these are usually tapered thread (certainly for fitting to a 2 cap type PB), or alternatively perhaps, a tap with a backing nut (for 4¬cap PBs only)
If you have acquired a second hand PB you might consider replacing the cap and tap with new.
Your New PB
]Prior to first time use it is advisable to
- check as far as possible all the cap valve fittings are fully tightened
- check the rim of the PB top opening (where the cap gasket locates) is completely flat and has no high spots; if not, very carefully remove any high spots with a fine file making sure you keep the mating surface entirely flat
]- for tapered taps remove the tap, put a smear of Vaseline on the gasket and refit using a few turns of PTFE tape on the thread
- for backing nut taps put a smear of Vaseline on the gaskets and refit
- clean the barrel inside with soapy water, rinse thoroughly with clean water and then completely fill with water or better still very dilute bleach solution and leave it for 24 hours, this should remove any plastic smells/taste which may taint your beer
optional]; prior to first use with beer it is a good idea to pressure test your PB; one cheap and easy method can be done by filling the PB with 23 litres water, adding 90g sugar, adding some yeast, and then placing in a warm place for a few days which duplicates the carbonation cycle of a brew; if the PB and fittings are leaktight, within a few days you should be able to dispense carbonated water under pressure and have no liquid leaks from the tap or the PB shell (particularly along the manufacturing seals); (some may prefer to test their PB with CO2 injection rather than by the sugar carbonation method above)
Using with Beer
inspect cap sealing gasket for damage or excessive marking from previous use; sometimes some of the original shape can be recovered by leaving the gasket in off-the-boil water for a few minutes; if in doubt replace with new
- ensure PB inside and cap is clean and sanitised
- ensure tap is in closed position (note the lever type tap is fully closed when at 90* to tap hole, not when fully pushed round)
- fill with beer and priming sugar as required
]- ensure seal is correctly placed inside cap, then lightly smear Vaseline on mating surfaces of gasket and PB cap opening rim
]- screw on cap to position of resistance then one quarter turn; more and the seal may distort and the joint may leak
- inject with CO2 as required if that's how you intend to pressurise your PB
]- that's it, done except.
Tips and Troubleshooting
the safest way to release pressure from a pressurised PB is to put the PB on its side and release the pressure through the tap; do not try to unscrew the cap since you have no control over the cap under pressure and it could go anywhere
- if, after a few days after filling and priming and keeping in a warm place to allow the yeast to carbonate the beer, the beer is flat, it is likely that the cap is leaking; in that case you will need to inspect the cap, so release the pressure, check all fittings for leak tightness, clean up the gasket and refit as above; reprime as required
-after you have drawn off some beer from the PB do not allow falling internal pressure to get to the point where, as you dispense beer, air glugs through the tap; this may spoil your beer; always reprime or add CO2 before this happens]optional[/B][/I]; some users purge the headspace of the PB with a CO2 shot after filling to lower the oxygen content; this is done by a squirt of CO2 or discharge of a CO2 bulb then venting the headspace gas
]Priming and PB Pressure
Standard PBs are usually designed for 15psig and this may be stamped on the shell itself, although some older designs are only designed for 10psig. Normal recommended sugar priming rate is about 90g table sugar (or equivalent) for 23 litres. If you add more sugar there is a small chance you will pressure stress the PB, even more and the pressure relief will vent the excess CO2 protecting the PB (and you) from catastrophic failure. In any case carbonation of 90g table sugar will allow the PB to be emptied to a fairly low level before repriming or CO2 injection is required. Additionally, dispensing highly overcarbonated beer from a PB tap requires a degree of patience
Standard PBs are usually designed for 15psig and this may be stamped on the shell itself, although some older designs are only designed for 10psig. Barrels sold as 'cider barrels' are not normally designed for any internal pressure and so should not be used to hold pressurised beer.
What You Will Get
a moulded food grade plastic shell with openings for a cap at the top and a dispensing tap at the bottom
- a screw threaded cap usually or diameter and fitted with a pressure relief device (see later) and optionally a valve suitable for either CO2 injection by one shot bulbs or controlled flow from a larger S30 type cylinder; sometimes caps are fitted with a pressure gauge or provision to measure the internal pressure using a tyre pressure gauge or similar; note that you cannot get a hand inside a PB with a 2ââ¬Â cap e.g. to clean it, whereas you can with a 4 cap PB
- a round sealing gasket which fits inside the cap and which mates with the PB cap opening rim
- a dispensing tap with seal gasket(s); these are usually tapered thread (certainly for fitting to a 2 cap type PB), or alternatively perhaps, a tap with a backing nut (for 4¬cap PBs only)
If you have acquired a second hand PB you might consider replacing the cap and tap with new.
Your New PB
]Prior to first time use it is advisable to
- check as far as possible all the cap valve fittings are fully tightened
- check the rim of the PB top opening (where the cap gasket locates) is completely flat and has no high spots; if not, very carefully remove any high spots with a fine file making sure you keep the mating surface entirely flat
]- for tapered taps remove the tap, put a smear of Vaseline on the gasket and refit using a few turns of PTFE tape on the thread
- for backing nut taps put a smear of Vaseline on the gaskets and refit
- clean the barrel inside with soapy water, rinse thoroughly with clean water and then completely fill with water or better still very dilute bleach solution and leave it for 24 hours, this should remove any plastic smells/taste which may taint your beer
optional]; prior to first use with beer it is a good idea to pressure test your PB; one cheap and easy method can be done by filling the PB with 23 litres water, adding 90g sugar, adding some yeast, and then placing in a warm place for a few days which duplicates the carbonation cycle of a brew; if the PB and fittings are leaktight, within a few days you should be able to dispense carbonated water under pressure and have no liquid leaks from the tap or the PB shell (particularly along the manufacturing seals); (some may prefer to test their PB with CO2 injection rather than by the sugar carbonation method above)
Using with Beer
inspect cap sealing gasket for damage or excessive marking from previous use; sometimes some of the original shape can be recovered by leaving the gasket in off-the-boil water for a few minutes; if in doubt replace with new
- ensure PB inside and cap is clean and sanitised
- ensure tap is in closed position (note the lever type tap is fully closed when at 90* to tap hole, not when fully pushed round)
- fill with beer and priming sugar as required
]- ensure seal is correctly placed inside cap, then lightly smear Vaseline on mating surfaces of gasket and PB cap opening rim
]- screw on cap to position of resistance then one quarter turn; more and the seal may distort and the joint may leak
- inject with CO2 as required if that's how you intend to pressurise your PB
]- that's it, done except.
Tips and Troubleshooting
the safest way to release pressure from a pressurised PB is to put the PB on its side and release the pressure through the tap; do not try to unscrew the cap since you have no control over the cap under pressure and it could go anywhere
- if, after a few days after filling and priming and keeping in a warm place to allow the yeast to carbonate the beer, the beer is flat, it is likely that the cap is leaking; in that case you will need to inspect the cap, so release the pressure, check all fittings for leak tightness, clean up the gasket and refit as above; reprime as required
-after you have drawn off some beer from the PB do not allow falling internal pressure to get to the point where, as you dispense beer, air glugs through the tap; this may spoil your beer; always reprime or add CO2 before this happens]optional[/B][/I]; some users purge the headspace of the PB with a CO2 shot after filling to lower the oxygen content; this is done by a squirt of CO2 or discharge of a CO2 bulb then venting the headspace gas
]Priming and PB Pressure
Standard PBs are usually designed for 15psig and this may be stamped on the shell itself, although some older designs are only designed for 10psig. Normal recommended sugar priming rate is about 90g table sugar (or equivalent) for 23 litres. If you add more sugar there is a small chance you will pressure stress the PB, even more and the pressure relief will vent the excess CO2 protecting the PB (and you) from catastrophic failure. In any case carbonation of 90g table sugar will allow the PB to be emptied to a fairly low level before repriming or CO2 injection is required. Additionally, dispensing highly overcarbonated beer from a PB tap requires a degree of patience
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