Do you use pressure barrels or bottles for your home-brewed BEER?

[kelper]

The gaps will release pressure before the cap can actually shoot off. They are a safety precaution, designed to protect the manufacturer/retailer But if you unscrew ordinary caps carefully, you will be fine.

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

Cheers - hope Nidger sees this. Im still searching for the thread as well (sure there was a photo)

Cheers Kelper - I wont be resposible for bottle bombs now LOL

 

[Nidger]

Cheers, I bought ten bottles from Morrison's,
I didn't realise 5 were still water out of the two flavours i bought until i got home.
Both bottles looked the same apart from colour.
(Blue tint or clear) so i figured they were generic and have used 4 of each.

 

[terrym]

Been swapping PMs with Nidger re Morrisons PET Bottles and I am sure I read on here and cant find it using search that the bottles to use for Beer / Lager / Cider etc should have vertical gaps in the Threads

Can someone confirm that pls - as I dont want to have misremembered - and they should be without gaps in the screw threads

Cheers Wp

I have been using mostly 'repurposed' PET bottles for my beer for over 5 years and that's the first time I have heard that one. All l require is that it have previously held a fizzy drink. I have never had one lose pressure and I have reused some bottles several times, and afew hav ehad beer in them for 12 months. But if/when they get slightly bashed up for whatever reason they get replaced. And since they are clear they get stored out of the light when full.

 

[terrym]

The gaps will release pressure before the cap can actually shoot off. They are a safety precaution, designed to protect the manufacturer/retailer But if you unscrew ordinary caps carefully, you will be fine.

Spot on.
I was told today by someone in the industry that the interrupted threads (as I found out they are called) were a direct response by the PET bottle industry to a small number of accidents that had occurred where caps had been blown off by high internal pressure as they were being unscrewed caused injury.

Edit in italics

 

[Nidger]

Quick question please and not sure where to ask it.
I am just considering a coopers bitter or lager to brew.
Then I thought i could get both on the go.
One in my flat lid 25ltr bucket,
The other in my 25ltr wine carboy.
I plan to bottle the lager and put the bitter in my pressure barrel.

Will the wine carboy be ok to ferment one in and would it suit one or tuther ?

Thanks

@terrym

 

[foxy]

Complete waste of money, if you want a cask ale with gravity pour get a cube, cheap as chips, easy to use and carb up. I would still like to hear back from the guy who used a franger to keep the pressure in the barrel with the bicycle pump.

The bloke with the franger never posted back, maybe his wife found them.
The cubes I have pressure tested to 26 PSI easy to make a purpose built dispensing unit and cost $7.

 

[Nidger]

Quick question please and not sure where to ask it.
I am just considering a coopers bitter or lager to brew.
Then I thought i could get both on the go.
One in my flat lid 25ltr bucket,
The other in my 25ltr wine carboy.
I plan to bottle the lager and put the bitter in my pressure barrel.

Will the wine carboy be ok to ferment one in and would it suit one or tuther ?

Thanks

@terrym

No replies,
Sanitised and capable of fermentation I cracked on and got a coopers bitter and a coopers Australian lager on the go.
Lager in the wine carboy .

 

[Nidger]

Note to self, do not brew whilst pished. Especially two brews.
I just noticed I never used the yeast for one and don't know if ive mixed them up
Probably similar or same yeast anyway.
Oh well

Edit, checked this morning.
Lid on bucket with the bitter is bulging,
Airlock on lager is dead.
I think I put both yeasts on the bitter

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

I would like a couple of the cubes like Foxy posted - are these available in the uk with provision to fit a tap? Only ones I’ve seen are the solid hdpe containers without a tap boss.

 

[starseeker]

Note to self, do not brew whilst pished. Especially two brews.
I just noticed I never used the yeast for one and don't know if ive mixed them up
Probably similar or same yeast anyway.
Oh well

Edit, checked this morning.
Lid on bucket with the bitter is bulging,
Airlock on lager is dead.
I think I put both yeasts on the bitter

Opps

 

[foxy]

I would like a couple of the cubes like Foxy posted - are these available in the uk with provision to fit a tap? Only ones I’ve seen are the solid hdpe containers without a tap boss.

Don't let not being able to get a cube with a tap at the bottom deter you if you want to knock up a ghetto PB.
Drill 2 holes close as possible to the cap, make sure where you drill is relatively flat and the same distance from either side of the cap. Fit a BSP male thread and barb through the holes. If using 1/4 BSP make it a nice snug clearance hole. Bend a cheap ring spanner, bent to an angle so that it is parallel to the holes drilled. Super glue a washer on the underside of the spanner so you can drop the BSP nut into the socket, balance a silicone washer on the top of the nut, with a steady hand maneuver into position below the male thread of the barb. Screw the barbed thread onto the nut. If you look at the pic I posted I put a washer either side of the cube.
Thats the tricky part done, now drill another hole in the cap, dead centre, same again a male barb through the top, but this time a female barb onto the male, the female being under the cap. Fit a floating dip tube to the underside of the cap and a picnic tap onto the top of the cap.
The 2 barbs on the top of the cube fit a short length of silicone tube both with JG taps, one will be for the gas in the other a pressure relief valve. I used an inline gas control valve, you can buy these preset at different PSI and they are 100% accurate, so if you get say 8 PSI valve that is what it will release the pressure at.
Might sound like a lot of work, once you have the spanner bent to the right angle its a piece of cake. Less than 20 minutes and make sure the BSP threads are parallel threads not tapered.

 

[Didge]

I've had a king keg for years, never had any issues with it at all. Nowadays I only use it for session beers when my bottles are being used for other brews.

I mostly use transparent 1 Litre PET bottles, they are stored in the dark so no light spoilage.
I prefer these as I can squeeze out the air, monitor yeast floculation and avoid getting the yeast in my glass while pouring. I also get quite a buzz from the achievement of seeing 22 bottles of beer lined-up after bottling, together with the satisfaction of squeezing a carbonated bottle.
I prefer quality over quantity so I find 1 litre of beer does me for an evening, plus fewer bottles equals less cleaning.

Bottles are also useful for building-up a collection of past brews. I always try to save a few from each batch, but sometimes the urge to drink them gets the better of me.

 

[RockTKaz]

I used a PB to start with because t because of the pressure limitations found all beers a bit “Samey” I now use the PB as my bottling bucket with a wand in the tap. Works a treat (until I build a keezer£