Flat beer

[butlerkit]

Hi, I've made 5lts of beer in a pressurised barrel but it's not got much fizz, could I put it in a bottle and use a soda stream to put in more? Or is this a different gas? any other method would be greatly appreciated as this happens quite a lot and is costly to just throw away
thanks

 

[terrym]

Are you sure your PB is not leaking? See here for more on that
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/guide-to-a-standard-home-brew-pressure-barrel.67042/
How much sugar did you use to prime? I use 95g per 20+litres and that can get me me down to the bottom of the PB on occasion.
If you are looking for highly carbed beer don't use a PB, bottles are better.
And if you decide to bottle from your PB first make sure the priming sugar in the PB has been used up (say by leaving the PB in the warm for 2 weeks) then transfer from your PB into the bottles and reprime, and start the carbing process again.
Cant say anything about using a sodastream, although the gas used is highly likely to be CO2.

 

[Duxuk]

I would expect that a sodastream would cause beer to overflow everywhere, like it does if you add a cordial before you add the gas to the bottle. As terrym says check for leaks then you can always add more sugar to get the fizz back.

 

[Dutto]

........ this happens quite a lot and is costly to just throw away
thanks

Okay, knock the idea of throwing something away on the head for a start!

If you transfer the brew to a sealable receptacle, add sugar at 3g per litre, seal it up and place it in a nice warm place for two weeks you will have carbonated brew.

If you don't then (in order of probability):

1. The receptacle is leaking. OR
2. The place the brew was stored wasn't warm enough. OR
3. You forgot to put the sugar in there. OR
4. All of the above!

"Yes." you can use a Sodastream System to carbonate a beer in a bottle but it must be one of the most expensive ways to do so and the carbonation level needs to be dropped below that normally associated with a carbonated soft drink.

I suggest that you check out the keg you are using. I've had kegs leak due to:

• perished seals,
• damaged sealing surfaces,
• poorly fitted "O rings,
• cross-threaded caps,
• etc etc

The only way to make sure that the keg is sealed is to check everything and then check it again, Normally, I expect a brew to start carbonating after 24 hours so I always check at least one bottle or take a sample from a tap within the first 36 hours so save being disappointed later when I go to drink it.

Enjoy, and banish all thoughts of dumping a brew. It takes a long time to make and if you don't solve the problem this time then it will probably recur with the next brew!

PS

Forgot to mention that after checking that all the sealing surfaces, "O" rings, seals etc are okay I smear a coating of Vaseline on everything to both lubricate and assist with the sealing.

 

[braziliain]

I have never used a pressure barrel, but could the issue be having 20L of headspace? That seems like an awful lot. As headspace increases you require more priming sugar?

 

[terrym]

I have never used a pressure barrel, but could the issue be having 20L of headspace? That seems like an awful lot. As headspace increases you require more priming sugar?

Well spotted . OP doesn't state PB size but if 25litres this may be important
I use 25litre/5gal PBs. If its 20+ litres of beer it gets 95g table sugar. But if I have to reprime for what ever reason (no CO2 injection on my PBs) it gets proportionally more. I have just reprimed about 10 litres and used 70g sugar.

 

[butlerkit]

thank you for the above information, I appreciate your experience, have been making for some time and they work most times than I get a flat brew! really annoying, have made a lovely cherry wine that uses
flat beer! and used others as slug traps!expensive way to get rid of slugs but hayho! think I'll get a soda stream as haven't got time to make another brew before Christmas, thank you for your help xx