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

[kelper]

The poll should have had some extra options.
* I use pressure barrels and have never had problems with them.
* I use pressure barrels and am happy to tinker with them because they tend to need it.
* I have barrels, sort of hate them but I tinker with them.
* I have Stockholm Syndrome with my barrels. Their behaviour could be likened to that of an abusive partner but I'm going to stay with them for just a while longer because they might change, or maybe I can change them.... 8 years later and your head sags as you reach for the mop again and later order another box of co2 bulbs whose bodies stud a rubbish tip somewhere like the maggots crawling through the corpse of your relationship with that plastic *******.

Please start your own poll! It's not easy to find the correct questions while trying to include weird opinions.
My poll suggests that very few people have used PBs and given up. Only 4% say they stopped using kingkegs.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

K he answered at the end of the last page

kelper said:

Well write your own poll!

Oh damn, this is the wrong thread. My post was meant to be annoying somewhere else.

 

[Drunkula]

K he answered at the end of the last page

I need a secretary that works on very short notice between the hours of 1.30 and 5am and understands the non-binary language of absolute drunken tripe and can just delete things as soon as I've fallen asleep. I also need Twitter and Whatsapp to shut down about 12.10am like the telly used to do in the old days. I've got a load of people I love that think I'm an absolute ********. I *am* a ******** but not in the way that they think!

 

[Nidger]

Food for thought here.
@terrym has already slightly put me off using my old boots PB for the lager I have fermenting although i have bought a box of Co2 capsules
I read an old thread earlier suggesting using cheap 17p (maybe more now) Lidl/Aldi etc lemonade bottles.

The well over 100 bottles of corona i have i was thinking of making a Wilko cerveza kit brewed in my 25ltr wine FV, racking to the brew bucket i have the lager in now (obviously after I've bottled it ) then utilising my bottling wand for all them bottles as it has a tap..

The PB I thought I could use for something less gassy like a bitter or IPA (I did say i was just going to stick to wine and cider ffs ) actually do you carbonate bitter/IPA ?

Feedback and criticism most welcome

 

[kelper]

I prime my PB with 85 to 100g of sugar for beers/ales. Remember too, that hundreds of happy, pressure-barrel users generally don't post about their PBs, you only hear from people who have had problems. I do like to verify, occasionally, that the hole and rubber band have not got gummed up with sugary wort. If the relief 'valve' doesn't work, a PB might over pressurise and split. My PBs are fitted with Schrader valves and I pressure test them with a car-tyre-pump. The relief goes off at about 10psi.

 

[AdeDunn]

My poll suggests that very few people have used PBs and given up. Only 4% say they stopped using kingkegs.

Not actually true. I answered that I mostly or always bottle my beer, because I do. However I tried cheaper pressure barrels when I entered the hobby, and gave up on them as the seams were prone to leaking on them, so I moved to bottling..... That and I like most of my beers to have a bit more life in them than you can do in a PB as well. As to KingKegs, never tried them as they seemed expensive for what they are.

I also realised that there was no way we could drink such a large volume of beer quickly enough to make PBs workable, even if we got one that worked well.... Heck, I'm even moving over to 330mls bottles from 500mls.

 

[terrym]

Food for thought here.
@terrym has already slightly put me off using my old boots PB for the lager I have fermenting although i have bought a box of Co2 capsules
I read an old thread earlier suggesting using cheap 17p (maybe more now) Lidl/Aldi etc lemonade bottles.

The well over 100 bottles of corona i have i was thinking of making a Wilko cerveza kit brewed in my 25ltr wine FV, racking to the brew bucket i have the lager in now (obviously after I've bottled it ) then utilising my bottling wand for all them bottles as it has a tap..

The PB I thought I could use for something less gassy like a bitter or IPA (I did say i was just going to stick to wine and cider ffs ) actually do you carbonate bitter/IPA ?

Feedback and criticism most welcome

When I restarted brewing I used 2 litre ex fizzy water bottles. They are fine for holding the beer, and in spite of what folks tell you in my experience like all PET bottlesd hold their pressure and dont allow your beer to oxidise. However they suffer from the disadvantages that ideally you need to use the 2 litres all at once to maintain the carbonation, but that often means the yeast at the bottom clouds up since it takes time to pour out the bottle into a suitable container. So the compromise is to pour out a litre into a serving jug and reseal, and then allow the beer to settle, and accept that the carbing level of the second litre will be down a little. And the beer will keep for a couple of days, but its advisable to leave it no longer.
However what I have done now is to move to one litre PET bottles (ex tonic water) which are more manageable and I can empty them in one go.
As far as my frequent comments about PBs, they are really to alert those who are thinking of buying one that they may not be trouble free. So read about the pros and cons before you decide to buy one. However if you already have a PB use it. I certainly would. But if its being returned to service change all the seals if you can and pressure test test before you put beer into it. And you are right not to use your PB for lagers. Lagers require higher carbonation than ales and are not best suited to a PB due to pressure limits, but are fine for ales and stouts. Plus lagers are best served cold and its much more convenient to keep a few bottles in the fridge and not have fridge space taken up by a PB.

 

[kelper]

I Also realised that there was no way we could drink such a large volume of beer quickly enough to make PBs workable, even if we got one that worked well.... Heck, I'm even moving over to 330mls bottles from 500mls.

Beer lasts as long in a barrel as a bottle??

 

[terrym]

Remember too, that hundreds of happy, pressure-barrel users generally don't post about their PBs, you only hear from people who have had problems.

And conversely there might be hundreds of unhappy PB owners who have given up on them for the widely publicised reasons on this forum, i.e. they leak and some require a lot of TLC to keep them going, but aren't members of this forum and so are less likely to have access to the information on here about how to use a PB to its best advantage.
But that's speculation, just like your comment about hundreds of happy PB owners.

 

[kelper]

Not actually true. I answered that I mostly or always bottle my beer, because I do.

Well, you had the option to choose more than one answer so you could have voted 'I no longer user cheaper brands of pressure barrel due to leaks'

 

[kelper]

And conversely there might be hundreds of unhappy PB owners who have given up on them for the widely publicised reasons on this forum, i.e. they leak and some require a lot of TLC to keep them going, but aren't members of this forum and so are less likely to have access to the information on here about how to use a PB to its best advantage.
But that's speculation, just like your comment about hundreds of happy PB owners.

There might be but my scenario is much more likely. People use forums to solve problems!

 

[terrym]

People use forums to solve problems!

Indeed they do. Hence the many Qs and As on here regarding on 'how to fix your PB'

 

[Nidger]

When I restarted brewing I used 2 litre ex fizzy water bottles. They are fine for holding the beer, and in spite of what folks tell you in my experience like all PET bottlesd hold their pressure and dont allow your beer to oxidise. However they suffer from the disadvantages that ideally you need to use the 2 litres all at once to maintain the carbonation, but that often means the yeast at the bottom clouds up since it takes time to pour out the bottle into a suitable container. So the compromise is to pour out a litre into a serving jug and reseal, and then allow the beer to settle, and accept that the carbing level of the second litre will be down a little. And the beer will keep for a couple of days, but its advisable to leave it no longer.
However what I have done now is to move to one litre PET bottles (ex tonic water) which are more manageable and I can empty them in one go.
As far as my frequent comments about PBs, they are really to alert those who are thinking of buying one that they may not be trouble free. So read about the pros and cons before you decide to buy one. However if you already have a PB use it. I certainly would. But if its being returned to service change all the seals if you can and pressure test test before you put beer into it. And you are right not to use your PB for lagers. Lagers require higher carbonation than ales and are not best suited to a PB due to pressure limits, but are fine for ales and stouts. Plus lagers are best served cold and its much more convenient to keep a few in the fridge and not have fridge space taken up by a PB.

Thanks Terry,
Yes i did consider the bottles in the fridge bit
Being old, the boots barrel im hoping is better quality/thicker than new stuff. . And yes, new seals are on the list.
I've noticed the tap one cracking.
No intention of buying a new PB.
I have read yours and others posts on them

I'll have no trouble drinking 2lts at a sitting as long as it's palatable, and i don't mind a bit of yeast

Although I need to get a new syphon tube with yeast trap as my trap is missing and my first two brews pulled too much yeast

 

[kelper]

Indeed they do. Hence the many Qs and As on here regarding on 'how to fix your PB'

Exactly, you've made my point for me!

 

[Xeno]

Dark Farm 10Ltr kegs with absolutely no regrets. Tried everything else and just ended up getting frustrated with faults or the tedium of bottling.
Even chucked in the cornie kegs due to faffiing with big bottles of gas.
These things are perfect for me 1 16g bulb per keg as I don’t do fizzy pop.

 

[Buffers brewery]

much more convenient to keep a few bottles in the fridge and not have fridge space taken up by a PB.

Oooops, sorry @terrym!

 

[Buffers brewery]

I also realised that there was no way we could drink such a large volume of beer quickly enough to make PBs workable, even if we got one that worked well.... Heck, I'm even moving over to 330mls bottles from 500mls.

Hi @AdeDunn , I use King Kegs and drink 5-6 pints a week so a barrel lasts 7-8 weeks. Interestingly, I find the beer improves as I get towards the end of the barrel not worse. Longer conditioning time I guess. I also put 4-6 bottles in the “library” on transfer for later

 

[terrym]

View attachment 34111
Oooops, sorry @terrym!

Yes. That's fine for you and others.
But that's not the point I was making, no doubt as well you know.
Many of the higher carbed beers aren't really suitable for PBs anyway due to the pressure limits, and just as likely they need to be served chilled, so its probably more convenient to store a few bottles to satisfy short term needs.
And not everybody has the luxury of space to have a large fridge dedicated to storing two PBs and bottles and cans. All I have a small larder type beer fridge in my garage, and if I had put a PB in it I would have had little space for anything else.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Yes. That's fine for you and others.
But that's not the point I was making, no doubt as well you know.
Many of the higher carbed beers aren't really suitable for PBs anyway due to the pressure limits, and just as likely they need to be served chilled, so its probably more convenient to store a few bottles to satisfy short term needs.
And not everybody has the luxury of space to have a large fridge dedicated to storing two PBs and bottles and cans. All I have a small larder type beer fridge in my garage, and if I had put a PB in it I would have had little space for anything else.

I understood your point totally @terrym was just making a lighthearted comment on a small excerpt of your post. Sorry if it rubbed you up the wrong way.

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

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