Newbie-ish Gassing Kegs

[paulez22se]

Hi

I have recently returned to home brewing after a period of absence.

A lot of my old equipment was retrieved from the loft (and seals replaced) and some bought new.

I have now done a few brews (from kits of varying quality) and after reading much information on this forum have some questions.

One thing I have noticed is that people seem to barrel their beer, add a small amount of sugar (50g) and then pressurise the barrel with CO2. I have always just added sugar and let the barrel naturally pressurise. What are the pros and cons of each method?

Also I seem to have a major job keeping the barrel pressure tight. I recently bought a new barrel and when I came to try my beer found it was completely flat. I have used vaseline around the seals but it still leaked. How do other people keep thier barrels pressure tight. I suppose adding CO2 at first exposes any leaks.

Finally I always seem to end up with that homebrew 'twang' to my brew (except on one occasion). It does not seem to be there at the end of the fermenting cycle as far as I can tell so I presume it develops during maturation in the barrel (or bottle). I make sure everything is cleaned and rinsed and am now trying things like dechlorinating the brewing water with campden tablets. I realise this is a big topic but wondered if pre-gassing the barrel would also help to reduce this.

Great forum.

Paul

 

[cask is best]

Hi Paulea22se.

The barrel should hold pressure and should not need to be gassed up until it gets to at least half way down the brew. One mistake i made was i tightened the top of the cap to tight and it made the seal inside the cap warp and made the barrel leak. Only hand tighten the cap and that should do it.

Sorry don't have an answer to the home brew twang, are you leaving it long enough after transporting from fv to barrel. Leave it a week in the warmth and then 2 weeks min in a cool place to mature

 

[carl_saint]

The twang usually comes if it's fermented at too high a temperature. You want to try and keep it constant at around 18-21 c for 2 weeks then leave for at least a month to condition. Kit brews are very good but you may find you get the taste in every kit. The only way to Truely eliminate is to go all grain!

 

[paulez22se]

Thanks

I think some experimentation is in order. I must admit I do not leave very long to mature after fermenting as finished as I am trying to build up a stock so want to get the next brew going as soon as possible (only 1 bucket).

I am still confused about gassing when the beer goes in the barrel or letting it gas naturally.

I recently did some work for a large brewer (begins with H ends in ken!) and it was interesting how they do thier brews. Obviously its all much bigger but basically its 4/5 days ferment, 4 days mature then filter and carbonate. They brew to about 8% then cut it to retail strength. Lagers are the same but have up to 30 days maturation cycle.

Also in the old days the brew took on the taste from the local water. Now they use reverse osmosis water (it is not really water as it has no taste) then add the minerals during the wort cycle to give the required taste. That way they can brew anywhere. All local differences are lost. Sad really.

Paul