Kegging in the fermenting barrel?

[That_Steve]

Hi there!

Apologies if this isn't strictly the right place for this.

I was gifted a pressure barrel so I thought I'd use it to brew in (my first homebrew). The brew is currently fermenting in the barrel - fingers crossed I haven't cocked it up!

Anyway, my question is, at the end of the fermentation, can I prime the brew in the barrel or do I need to decant it and keg it away from the brew sediment?

 

[terrym]

Hi there!

Apologies if this isn't strictly the right place for this.

I was gifted a pressure barrel so I thought I'd use it to brew in (my first homebrew). The brew is currently fermenting in the barrel - fingers crossed I haven't cocked it up!

Anyway, my question is, at the end of the fermentation, can I prime the brew in the barrel or do I need to decant it and keg it away from the brew sediment?

I would decant it off the sediment.
For your next brew I would invest in a 25 litre FV and with perhaps an airlock. You will find it is much easier to manage your brewing.
And if you intend to use your PB 'downstream' I suggest you read this
Guide to a Standard Home Brew Pressure Barrel

 

[That_Steve]

Thanks!

I have an airlock fitted in the lid I'm currently using (I have another without).

Do you reckon I'll get away with it for this brew? Just wondering if it's worth the hassle to try and siphon it into another container, clean the barrel and siphon it back? I imagine that would result in a fair bit of undesirable aeration!

 

[simon12]

For this brew I suggest you follow Terry's advice, ie when fermentations done decant it into a bucket or whatever you have and you can sterilise clean the barrel and add it back with priming sugar. It would be interesting to know if you can ferment in a pressure barrel and if theres enough space for all the sediment in the bottom to not have to decant. @terrym should he leave the lid loose or is the pressure relief valve good enough?

 

[terrym]

@That_Steve
I would not recommend leaving your beer on the trub, so in my view you should you separate beer from trub in some way.
But as I see it the main problem with siphoning from a PB to take the beer off the trub is that you can't see the trub in the bottom of the PB (like you can with a plastic FV) and so you are more likely to remove more of the trub away with the beer you have taken the trouble to clarify. So you either put up with that or siphon higher and that means you leave some clear beer behind, which is wasted. The alternative is to use the PB tap to empty the PB but then you risk introducing O2 into your beer unless you can rig up some tubing from the tap to the next container.
As a far as O2 during siphoning is concerned if you are careful with the position of the siphon tube and keep the discharge end as submerged as you can, and certainly avoid splashing and a lot of turbulence in the surface of the beer, you should be OKish.
And my advice again is to buy an FV, preferably with an airlock, which avoids many of the problems you have encountered.
@simon12
OP has an airlock fitted to the lid for the primary. And whether the s/h PB RV is any good 'I couldn't possibly comment'.

 

[That_Steve]

Great advice - thank you both!