pressure barrel/keg needed

[terrym]

And. Someone comes round your house and you say "Do you want to try some of my beer?" (Don't say homebrew, not yet). You lead them into the place wherever it is your wife lets you keep your barrel and they go "Oh, my dad had one of them. He still wakes up screaming sometimes." You open up that white plastic tap and out comes that lovely, lovely gushing frothing sputtering seething pint of foam.

Or you get nothing because it leaked all the pressure overnight, and then it bubbles back through the tap. No pressure to drive out the beer, and n litres of potentially spoiling beer to drink quickly before it goes off.
Been there, done that

 

[BridgeBrew]

Is changing the tap easy as the new Wilko kegs have a funny type of tap thread?

No Clint same size thread, but the KK tap needs the threaded shaft cutting down, by about 5mm they are slightly to long.

 

[Clint]

Ah..I thought there was something.. thanks!

 

[itbrvilla]

not going through a body breaking bottling session again so looking to stick the currently fermenting brew into a pressure barrel/keg.
i'f like to spend £50 or less if possible. this one from wilko has been mentioned a couple if times. if that's a good buy then what CO2 setup would i require? are there any better combinations out there for the money?
thanks wise folk.

Where about are you based I'm planning on selling mine. Never got round to using them after buying them years ago from Britvic via the Malt Miller

 

[lupinehorror]

Where about are you based I'm planning on selling mine. Never got round to using them after buying them years ago from Britvic via the Malt Miller

thanks for the offer but sadly i just hit the buy button on one of these 5 minutes prior to seeing your message.

 

[Crappyfish]

Corny kegs really aren't that expensive. You can get a reconditioned Grade A for £57 delivered. The disconnects I got were £1.60 each. 6.35kg gas bottle cost me £18.99. Couple of john guest fittings and a party tap, call it £90 - but after that you're just including the cost of a keg each time.

Plastic pressure barrels - if you manage to get one of the better ones that left the factory not already on fire then it's how many brews until it ruins a batch of beer? Two, three?

You need to use sugar to prime it which costs you extra conditioning time and wastes beer. Of course you get the bonus of those lovely vitamin fortified final pints that you'd better drink on a Friday or Saturday because your guts certainly won't handle a commute, oh no no no. Or you could just consider it a sacrifice to the demon that comes free inside every pressure barrel.

Those little sparklet bulbs to top up that - let's face it : flaccid beer - £4.50 for 80g of gas. Let's see, how much would that work out to for the same I get in my £18.99 cylinder... oh £357.19.

And those replacement rubbers for the s30, a mere snip at £4.95 a set. Hope they're not a horror to put on. Certainly haven't stabbed myself or everyone else in the vicinity with screwdrivers trying to get them on and off. No sir-eeee! How much for a set of corny replacements? Oh £1.60 - or 3 sets delivered for £5.99. I haven't managed to stab anyone with the little spanner used to take off the posts yet. I've tried, mind.

And. Someone comes round your house and you say "Do you want to try some of my beer?" (Don't say homebrew, not yet). You lead them into the place wherever it is your wife lets you keep your barrel and they go "Oh, my dad had one of them. He still wakes up screaming sometimes." You open up that white plastic tap and out comes that lovely, lovely gushing frothing sputtering seething pint of foam. Keep smiling, bit of eye contact to assure them it's ok. "It'll settle in a minute..." Yay! Fifteen minutes later they've got a whole 8mm of beer.

Somebody comes round and you show them a corny keg and they think you're selling secrets to the Russians and wonder what lever in the room opens a secret panel or starts the elevator to your underground bunker.

It's your choice, of course. I wouldn't want to influence you.

I think you are leaning towards recommending a Corny keg over a PB.

 

[Buffers brewery]

thanks for the offer but sadly i just hit the buy button on one of these 5 minutes prior to seeing your message.

That’s not a King Keg

 

[lupinehorror]

That’s not a King Keg

i realise that but it's what i had to go with at the moment. if it's a disaster then i'll only be blaming myself

 

[terrym]

i realise that but it's what i had to go with at the moment. if it's a disaster then i'll only be blaming myself

As its a budget PB you very definitely need to read and undertake the guide recommendations in post 14 regarding pre-service checks before you commit beer to the PB. After you have checked everything is tight etc carry out a pressure test by filling the PB with about 23 litres of water then very very carefully add CO2 from your cylinder a step at a time to pressurise. Then go round all the joints and the shell with soapy water. Any leaks should be evident, as will any leaks below the water line. Then leave it at least 24 hoursto see if the pressure has dropped.

 

[lupinehorror]

As its a budget PB you very definitely need to read and undertake the guide recommendations in post 14 regarding pre-service checks before you commit beer to the PB. After you have checked everything is tight etc carry out a pressure test by filling the PB with about 23 litres of water then very very carefully add CO2 from your cylinder a step at a time to pressurise. Then go round all the joints and the shell with soapy water. Any leaks should be evident, as will any leaks below the water line. Then leave it at least 24 hoursto see if the pressure has dropped.

i plan to do that thanks. will be taking my time with it.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Then leave it at least 24 hoursto see if the pressure has dropped.

I can guarantee that using CO2 over water to pressurise your barrel and leaving it for 24 hours WILL result in a pressure drop with NO leaks.

 

[terrym]

I can guarantee that using CO2 over water to pressurise your barrel and leaving it for 24 hours WILL result in a pressure drop with NO leaks.

You are right. Good job someone is on the ball
I had forgotten about CO2 absorption.
So unless you pressurise an empty PB you can only short term check over water with soapy water etc then that's it, unless you pressurise an empty PB and leave it.

 

[lupinehorror]

barrel tested fine and is now housing 17L of my latest brew. primed with disolved sugar but heatpad can't get it up to 19-20C. thinking it must be the shape of the bottom. inkbird was keeping the 25L FV at 20C no problem. just hitting 13C with the PB using exactly the same set up (including insulation wrap).

 

[obscure]

barrel tested fine and is now housing 17L of my latest brew. primed with disolved sugar but heatpad can't get it up to 19-20C. thinking it must be the shape of the bottom. inkbird was keeping the 25L FV at 20C no problem. just hitting 13C with the PB using exactly the same set up (including insulation wrap).

I think part of the problem is that active fermentation is exothermic so it always takes less effort to keep a fermentor warm.

 

[lupinehorror]

I think part of the problem is that active fermentation is exothermic so it always takes less effort to keep a fermentor warm.

hadn't taken that into consideration, thanks. it's probably 10C in my kitchen (exhaled breath just showing). guess 13C is better than that but i can't imagine much carbonation happening within 2 weeks. it'll be getting chanked around the christmas period regardless

 

[terrym]

hadn't taken that into consideration, thanks. it's probably 10C in my kitchen (exhaled breath just showing). guess 13C is better than that but i can't imagine much carbonation happening within 2 weeks. it'll be getting chanked around the christmas period regardless

Your problem may be that the PB has slightly raised 'feet' which could be preventing direct contact between the mat and the base of the PB. Plus there no contact at all in the dome so you are relying solely on any convection.
Try putting a sealed bag of damp sand under the PB in the dome void so it fills it and is in contact with both the PB and the mat and something similar as a thin layer elsewhere on the base so the the mat directly touches the base. Sooner or later the sandwich(es) will warm up and because the sand is damp you should get better heat conduction. It might work, it might not, but worth a try perhaps?

 

[lupinehorror]

Your problem may be that the PB has slightly raised 'feet' which could be preventing direct contact between the mat and the base of the PB. Plus there no contact at all in the dome so you are relying solely on any convection.
Try putting a sealed bag of damp sand under the PB in the dome void so it fills it and is in contact with both the PB and the mat and something similar as a thin layer elsewhere on the base so the the mat directly touches the base. Sooner or later the sandwich(es) will warm up and because the sand is damp you should get better heat conduction. It might work, it might not, but worth a try perhaps?

that was my initial thought that the base had little contact area with the pad. damp sand i had not thought of cheers

 

[Buffers brewery]

Why not try one of @terrym infamous water baths?

 

[venkman100]

I think pressure barrels are a bit pot luck. I had two king kegs years ago. Used petrolium jelly on all seals and had no problems. I now have cornys which are brilliant. But I also have a Wilco's barrel which again treated right is 3 brews in and no leaks....

 

[lupinehorror]

Why not try one of @terrym infamous water baths?

i have checked out @terrym 's guide previously and haven't ruled it out but it isn't happening for this brew.

I think pressure barrels are a bit pot luck. I had two king kegs years ago. Used petrolium jelly on all seals and had no problems. I now have cornys which are brilliant. But I also have a Wilco's barrel which again treated right is 3 brews in and no leaks....

used plenty of petroleum jelly on anything that sealed and it appears to be fine. i was aiming for low carb in the first place with this one. if it ends up no carb i still won't be chucking it out.