Doh, stupid barrel.

[DoubleBarrel]

Hi, we were having a go at our first batch, just a can kit of stout, it fermented perfectly in the bucket, then we transferred to the pressure barrel and it was on it's 7 days standing indoors before it's moved to a cooler location (as the kit says).....and it emptied itself

I went to move it away from the cupboard door to get a tablecloth and it was light as a feather. Apparently, the tap unscrewed itself and the beer disappeared between the floor boards. I am so upset.

So, what did I do wrong? it was a second hand barrel, it's a Boots barrel with the tap at the bottom, I hadn't pressurised it, I had vaselined the lid and the tap threads to seal it (read that on a forum) and I had done it up tightly but not excessively - I'm a girl, it wasn't like I screwed it on to destruction with big man hands or anything.

As this was a second hand barrel, we don't know what a new one comes with, we thought it was complete, it has a plastic white tap, and that tap has a rubber washer on the outside but just a screw thread hexagonal nut on the inside. Have we got everything we need or should there have been a second rubber washer? what do you think went wrong for this to happen? fermentation was complete, I checked the gravity before moving it so it wasn't blowing up, but the pressure safety valve is spring loaded so you can't tell if it was activated and has returned to it's rightful position.

I want to make a second load since the house drank the first but I am scared to lose another. Any advice?

 

[evanvine]

One possible explanation is that you didn't shut the tap tightly enough.
When you first filled the barrel there wouldn't be any pressure, so the tap held it.
As your beer matured it carried on working slowly and pressurised the barrel enough for it to leak past either the tap or the washer.
Your barrel is complete, just check the tightness of the nut inside and that the washer isn't damaged.
New tap assemblies are easy to come by.

 

[DoubleBarrel]

We were thinking to just replace the taps (we have two barrels, both second hand) but it was actually unscrewed flopping loose on the barrel rather than the tap actually being open, so sounds like the screw thread on the inside failed? that's what we guessed but we weren't sure if we were missing a bit that caused it. Thanks.

 

[hairybiker]

There are several different kinds of taps, some were slightly tapered designed to be screwed into barrels that has small tops (no way of getting your hand in) but which would seem to accept a nut, but I found that they just loosened under pressure releasing the contents...
I would recommend getting a proper W&D tap for it (something like this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Home-Brew-Pla...170487385012?pt=Home_Brew&hash=item27b1d70bb4) NOT like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Quick-Serve-T...320336305191?pt=Home_Brew&hash=item4a95881c27)

(The second one I have on my FV but don't like them on barrels :) )

 

[DoubleBarrel]

we already have that first kind of taps, not the quick serve one. I best just buy new ones, something went wrong. Thanks for replying.

I can't believe we consigned 40 pints of stout to the foundations, still, house is 121 years old, it probably enjoyed the mini impromptu party :lol:

 

[Tony]

Are you able to screw the tap back on? Is the thread stripped?

These things happen to us all .... get another brew on but check your taps first! :

 

[prolix]

Sleep drinking? :rofl:

 

[DoubleBarrel]

Sleep drinking :lol: but with that much beer, I though I would have found him asleep with the tap still in his mouth...? We got 3 bottles out of what was left in literally, the bottom of the barrel, I bottled it and it's sitting in the shed missing it's 37 friends I 'spect. Grr.

The threads didn't seem stripped before I put the beer in, I checked it all over while I was sterilizing and assembling it, but since then we have found that when you screw the nut on, it goes tight then clicks loose again with another turn - so something bad happened.

I'm going out for new taps and a second beer kit today, I didn't try the second barrel, but an £8 mistake is surely worth a £4 tap, I'll just replace them both - lets see if I am back here in a while saying horray. At least we still have the wine, that looks like a puddle that a kid's been jumping in right now, but I am hoping it will clear....

 

[evanvine]

but I am hoping it will clear....

Patience! :thumb:

 

[DoubleBarrel]

Well the wine cleared, yay!! I bottled that today.

About the stout.....did I mention I saved three bottles out of what was left in the barrel? yeah I did....well, holy cow how much alcohol is in that stuff?? I drank one last night at tea time, I was asleep by 8:30 :lol: husband drank one tonight - said he could feel the buzz!

We're making another batch tomorrow, we got new taps for both barrels, so it's all good. We just have to treat it with respect, that wasn't any 4% brew. The bitter we made before wasn't like this, I could drink two of those and carry on a conversation, this stuff is serious.
:drunk: