(expletive deleted)

[gillonstewart]

Gave the pear cider its first taste last night after a month or so maturing. Rather nice if I don't say so myself. Not quite carbonated enough but a nice deep flavour, almost scrumpy-like. Very nice.

I got the new caps to use the capsules with so I let the pressure out of the barrel and swapped lids and the hallway filled with the smell of cider.

When I went to bed I thought the smell was still quite strong but didn't think too much of it and this morning I woke up to this.

A half empty barrel and a squelchy carpet.

That's a brand new pressure barrel. The tap clearly didn't get the to message about the pressure part. I couldn't care less about the carpet, although it's starting to get a bit vinegary but I'm really pissed off about the multiple gallons of delicious cider I've lost.

I've decided I need to drink it as fast as possible.. I'm halfway down pint two tonight and I'm steaming.... This is the 11% ABV oops-a-daisy batch

 

[DocAnna]

Ouch, oh dear and eek be careful - in that order .
carpets and brewing things don’t seem a good mix on the whole x.

 

[sifty]

I had carpet in the brewery/garage until the inevitable spills meant mould underneath. Replaced by spongy rubber mats on bare concrete which are comfortable to stand on and can be lifted outside for a hosedown...

 

[gillonstewart]

Unfortunately, my house is tiny. It's a 300+ year old farm bothy. This also means freezing cold and already an inch thick with mould and slime.

I'll try cleaning the carpet butost likely I'll rip it up and skip it. The advantage of such a small house is an off it will be big enough to redo the hall haha.

I'm pretty peeved that I've lost all that cider though, especially from a brand new barrel that I'll never be able to trust again. I'll try fitting a different type of tap once I've emptied the barrel. Won't be the easiest through the 2" cap though! Any beer brews in future will be bottle conditioned though I think.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Looks like you might have the rubber tap washer outside the barrel rather than on the inside - could be the cause of the leak.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The little bottler tap washer goes on the outside is it not the same for all taps?

 

[Tanglefoot]

Yes your right Chippy, not sure what I was thinking - my excuse is I've not used my barrels since I started kegging and my memory obviously not what it used to be !

 

[Goldthirst]

I had one that leaked on the tap. I found it was the the flash from the drilled hole that didn't form a seal. Once I cleaned that away, it was fine. I tend to use corny kegs for beer these days though as they are more reliable.

 

[gillonstewart]

I hung a 5 litre plastic bottle over the tap last night to stop the carpet getting any more soaked. When I got back from work this evening, there was maybe 100ml max in the bottle but around half a gallon more missing from the barrel (). Looks like it's leaking from the washer as well as the tap. I've tightened it up as much as I can but I think it may well be flash as Goldthirst says.

Meanwhile I'm trying to drink it as fast as possible so as not to waste it. I managed just over two pints last night before I woke up to the OH trying to wake me up off the living room floor . I can happily polish off a bottle of whisky in an evening without a problem bit this stuff seems to hit hard haha

 

[Wulfserc]

I had a similar thing happen to me a couple of years ago, luckily it leaked in the utility room which has lino flooring.
Whack some vaseline on the tap thread, that solved my leak issue although I've since moved on to corny kegs.

 

[gyurmaember]

I have carpets as well, i using tomato growing trays underneath the fermenters, and also use an another one for the keg when transferring. And also, i can remove the bag and the filter from the wet&dry vacuum in record time, no matter how drunk I am.