1st pressure barrel brew

[sc0ttie]

I am quite new to brewing, i have brewed about 4 kits so far, bottling every time.
A couple of weeks ago i bought the pressure barrel in wilkinsons. The coopers real ale i had in the FV had just finished so I transferred it to my new pressure barrel and added 90g of brewing sugar. All threads were vaselined and screwed on tightly.
Its been in the barrel for 2 weeks, usually my bottled beer is carbonated very well by now. I thought I would try a half pint of my beer but found only about 100ml came out when i turned the tap on and then trickled out extremely slow after that. The beer that came out is carbonated. But why is the beer not coming out of the tap as expected if it is carbonated?

 

[chastuck]

I am quite new to brewing, i have brewed about 4 kits so far, bottling every time.
A couple of weeks ago i bought the pressure barrel in wilkinsons. The coopers real ale i had in the FV had just finished so I transferred it to my new pressure barrel and added 90g of brewing sugar. All threads were vaselined and screwed on tightly.
Its been in the barrel for 2 weeks, usually my bottled beer is carbonated very well by now. I thought I would try a half pint of my beer but found only about 100ml came out when i turned the tap on and then trickled out extremely slow after that. The beer that came out is carbonated. But why is the beer not coming out of the tap as expected if it is carbonated?

Sounds like you have a pressure leak. The beer should be squirting out by now. Do you have a S30 valve in the lid or some other way of charging it with CO2? What I suggest is that you charge it with a squirt of gas and then put diluted washing up liquid around the lid edge and valves - use a pastry brush to apply it. Any growing bubbles will confirm a leak. Perhaps the silicon ring in the screw lid is not seated properly. It also helps to buy the lid locking levers so as to apply extra turning power when tightening the lid.

 

[beerhunter]

if you kept the barrel in the warm for at least a week, you should have a fair bit of pressure, sort the leak out before adding co2 or you will have to just keep on re-charging the barrel.

 

[Redron]

I would resist using the tool to tighten the lid, I did once and completely chewed up the 'o' ring after applying far too much pressure. Hand tight is more than enough. The tool is more for releasing the cap.

 

[sc0ttie]

It is just the standard wilkinsons pressure barrel. the lid has like a white piece sticking out the top of it which is covered in rubber. Is that an s30 valve? Sorry I thought the barrel would do the job as everything was nice and tightly screwed and the seals lubed. If the barrel is leaking, is it not fit for its purpose?

When i turned the tap on it initially gushed out but stopped to a trickle very quickly. The barrel has been indoors in the kitchen, which is room temperature and in mornings and evenings centrally heated when i am home.

 

[beerhunter]

the white plastic bit is a pressure relief doofrey, so you cant add co2, undo the lid, check the O ring isn't damaged, smear vasline on it, then finger tighten with an additional 1/8th turn is plenty. did your beer "glug"?

 

[sc0ttie]

It did glug a little bit yes. I will check the lid tonight and smear it again, although i did do this when i transfered from the FV as well. Thanks for all the replies, i am hoping my beer wont get ruined by this problem.

 

[Mr Lovebucket]

You've probably overtightened the cap and distorted the white o-ring/washer, a mistake that I have also made in the past. I have a Wherry in a Wilko barrel currently on which I purposely tightened the cap much less than usual; the result has been zero loss of pressure compared to previous occasions.

You can probably restore the white washer if it is distorted by removing it from the cap and leaving it in some boiling water for a few minutes; this has worked well for me in the past.

 

[sc0ttie]

I have tried attaching an image of the o-ring in the lid. Looks normal to me, the impression left in it from the previous tightening is causing a gas leak?

 

[Mr Lovebucket]

Doesn't look too bad but I guess that the slightest lack of seal will lose pressure. I would restore it with boiling water and replace with a smear of vaseline. Good luck!

 

[sc0ttie]

Hi I did restore it with boiling water and replaced it but tightened it a bit less this time. Now the lid has had to come off twice this week, once to take the pic and once to restore the seal. Is that going to make my beer go off, being exposed to oxygen like that? I have to say I am beginning to wonder if me buying the pressure barrel was a mistake. I had hoped to have had a few pints out of it by now and it doesn't look like that is going to be the case as I just tried to get another half from it but again only a little bit came out. I know its not been long since i resealed the lid though.
Is it likely that I am not going to be able to get all the beer out of it as it is in a couple of weeks?
would i be better off transferring it now to bottles to save the beer from going off?
excuse my questioning but I would not like to lose this beer, I have visitors next week for the whole week and this brew was meant to be for all of us to drink so I am slightly worried about not being able to access it in the pressure barrel.

 

[Featherhat]

You could invest in a replacement cap with a Co2 valve. You can get them, complete with a couple of 8g Co2 bulbs, for about £20. One bulb will, almost instantly, carbonate an entire keg, as long as you've sorted the leak.

 

[dollo12345]

Tesco s/markets are selling off co2 caps complete for £9.50 only in shops online £19-00 my local was still selling them today but thats in M/bro

 

[sc0ttie]

Unfortunately I cannot really afford to spend any more money on brewing this month. If I bottle the beer which is in the pressure barrel now, will it still be ok to drink in a week? The beer is almost flat now

 

[dollo12345]

I have had leaking on 2 barrels :wha: :wha: :wha:
Now very cautious and waste a co2 to check for leaks washing up liquid did not reveal .
So I took a strong bin liner put co2 gas on barrel and submerged it in the bin liner filled with water to reveal the leaks now okay :party: :party: :party:
Please do not try indoors it can be a bit wet if liner leaks.