pressure barrel question

[critty]

Sorry if this has been mentioned before. Working nights has mangled my brain and it hard to string a scentence together let alone think lol

I am planning on buying a pressure barrel, plastic 5 gallon, with a co2 injector. But how does the enjector actually work? Does a co2 buld decant the gas over time or does it inject all in one go? How often should consider charging the barrel with fresh co2?

I plan to drink my brews myself. Maybe at family gathering I will cart the barrel, allowing time to settle ect, but is it possible to decant into a bottle some of the brew and then cap it to drink that same day. Like if an unexpected bbq pops up and I fancy taking some of my own brew.

 

[Dave1970]

It depends on the type of injector.

If you get one with an S30 fitting that takes the larger type cylinders then you inject a burst of gas whenever you want to - usually when the flow is slowing down.

If you get one that takes the smaller Sparklets type bulbs then the whole bulb empties at once and then you use another one once the flow slows.

Partly for this reason the S30 cylinder works out cheaper in the med - long term

I notice that your sig says you're brewing lager, you're not going to get proper lager levels of fizz (carbonation) in a plastic barrel.

When you pour the beer it will get oxygen in it causing it to 'go off' however you would be fine decanting into a bottle that you're going to drink in the next few hours, it might be a bit flat but would be otherwise ok. The colder you can get it the better if you're wanting to do this.

 

[ricardo]

I had 3 pressure barrels at one time, I got rid of them all & went into swing top bottles.
You just cant get the level of carbonisation in a pressure barrel.
If you like 'flat' or non carbonated beers they are probably great but for lager lovers they
are useless.
Its either bottles or of course the 'corny keg' route :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
I have some cracking Mexican lager in bottles & also some 8.5% Diablo.....both
been in the bottles nearly 12 months tho !!

 

[Andyhull]

Instead of using a keg, why not use 2lt PET bottles, prime them with 4 tsp of sugar and store.
Just store them in the dark and you can take as many of them along as you like when you like.

 

[ScottM]

I made the mistake of going down the keg route right at the very start. I ruined 3 lager kits wondering what I was doing wrong as they were always flat, turns out I was doing nothing wrong and I had been sold a lemon. The advertising of what I bought was just plain false.

As has been said, plastic barrels are more suited to ales and the like. Totally useless for lager.

I'm really curious about the corny keg though, I'd love to get one of those setup

 

[critty]

I am not a lager drinker. I normally can't stand the stuff lol. It would be wheat beers and ales I would make. Thats why I was interested in the bressure barrels. I was curious as to how reliable they are in terms of hlding CO2 and how I needed to charge one up if it starts running out.

 

[BrotherMalice]

My 1st IPA went in a keg and I think I may have to get one or 2 as it was fine for the IPA and I only plan on brewing ales in the most part, will keep bottles for any ciders/wines that I make as I believe they will be in the minority.

 

[Pearlfisher]

I am not a lager drinker. I normally can't stand the stuff lol. It would be wheat beers and ales I would make. Thats why I was interested in the bressure barrels. I was curious as to how reliable they are in terms of hlding CO2 and how I needed to charge one up if it starts running out.

So far I've only used kegs and the tap a draft system. I've only brewed ales so far ,although I have ordered a Brupak west riding wheat to try next.

Kegs have been fine but you do have to be very careful with the seals.
They only usually need charging once with a CO2 soda stream capsule ,which cost about 40p each, when the keg is down to about 1/4 full.

I've a small beer fridge which I will start using now the weather's warming up , it's minimum temperature setting is 12 C , I'd have preferred slightly warmer ,but I was given the fridge.
My tap a draft just fits in it nicely.

 

[IOMMick]

I'm bumping this to get some other views on pressure barrels.

I've got my second ever fermentation on the go at the minute, which is a Burton Bridge Bitter. I was think of using my pressure barrel for this one (since all my bottles have gone to my first Lager). I've got a Co2 injector with the little soda stream capsules, and I believe that the barrel is airtight since it gave off a gassy noise when opening, after I stored my lager in it for bottling.

So would you recommend storing a bitter in one of these barrels, which should be kept rather cool in my garage?

 

[Fil]

yes ideal, prime with bout 80g of sugar and keep warm for a few weeks before letting it chill in the garage.

if u can chill a pb right down to temps like 4C if you check conditioning charts used by keggers who pressure condition the capacity of 10-12psi of a plastic barrel is enough to contain fairly high condition levels with a sufficiemtly low temp, the tricky bit is maintaining a cold temp in a bulky PB.

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

 

[IOMMick]

yes ideal, prime with bout 80g of sugar and keep warm for a few weeks before letting it chill in the garage.

if u can chill a pb right down to temps like 4C if you check conditioning charts used by keggers who pressure condition the capacity of 10-12psi of a plastic barrel is enough to contain fairly high condition levels with a sufficiemtly low temp, the tricky bit is maintaining a cold temp in a bulky PB.

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

Thank you, very helpful.

How do I check what the psi is inside the pb? (There may be a tool in my started kit that I'm not aware of).

 

[Titus A Duxass]

Just turn the tap on the bottom a little, you'll soon know if you have pressure. Have glass under the tap and you take a sample.

I would look at getting an soda stream co2 bottle and an S30 (I think) cap for cheaper and more controllable c02 system.

I've done about 6 brews in PBs and never needed a pressure indicator.

How's the sea level on the rock? A friend of mine lives in Castletown, it's quite high down there.

 

[IOMMick]

Just turn the tap on the bottom a little, you'll soon know if you have pressure. Have glass under the tap and you take a sample.

I would look at getting an soda stream co2 bottle and an S30 (I think) cap for cheaper and more controllable c02 system.

I've done about 6 brews in PBs and never needed a pressure indicator.

How's the sea level on the rock? A friend of mine lives in Castletown, it's quite high down there.

I'm in Douglas. The government tweeted that there was a 1 in 50 year flood going on - so I had a wander towards the sea during my lunch there, to catch a glimpse of this once-in-a-lifetime event. One of the bistros had a little bit of flooding and there are a few disappointed looking people standing around, waiting for something to happen.

 

[Titus A Duxass]

Just turn the tap on the bottom a little, you'll soon know if you have pressure. Have glass under the tap and you take a sample.

I would look at getting an soda stream co2 bottle and an S30 (I think) cap for cheaper and more controllable c02 system.

I've done about 6 brews in PBs and never needed a pressure indicator.

How's the sea level on the rock? A friend of mine lives in Castletown, it's quite high down there.

I'm in Douglas. The government tweeted that there was a 1 in 50 year flood going on - so I had a wander towards the sea during my lunch there, to catch a glimpse of this once-in-a-lifetime event. One of the bistros had a little bit of flooding and there are a few disappointed looking people standing around, waiting for something to happen.

Sounds like a touch of the granny state overkill.
My friend in Castletown stayed dry.

I used to live on the rock, nice place in the summer but can be a bit wild in the winter.

 

[Fil]

to monitor the pressure inside a pb many users have made the slight mod to add a tyrevalve which can then be used with a budget LCD pertol station tyre pressure guage

hope everyone keeps their feet and breweries dry..

 

[IOMMick]

I barreled my bitter last night and primed with 30 level teaspoons of (pre-dissolved) sugar in the 40 pints (I've no scales handy and thought I'd go less than the teaspoon I give a 500ml bottle).

This morning I could hear a little sound coming from the top of the pressure barrel, like a tick every few seconds, as if pressure was being released - could this be considered normal or do I have a leak?

 

[Tim84]

I barreled my bitter last night and primed with 30 level teaspoons of (pre-dissolved) sugar in the 40 pints (I've no scales handy and thought I'd go less than the teaspoon I give a 500ml bottle).

This morning I could hear a little sound coming from the top of the pressure barrel, like a tick every few seconds, as if pressure was being released - could this be considered normal or do I have a leak?

I have racked three brews into PB's in the last three months and not experienced this noise yet. Presumably you'd see the clear rubber band bit kind of expanding as it's releasing the pressure if it is indeed the pressure relief valve making the noise and therefore the band ticking?

My first PB has even distorted at the base due to the pressure yet none has been released through the valve.

In hindsight, I have no idea if what I just wrote was useful or not!

 

[IOMMick]

I barreled my bitter last night and primed with 30 level teaspoons of (pre-dissolved) sugar in the 40 pints (I've no scales handy and thought I'd go less than the teaspoon I give a 500ml bottle).

This morning I could hear a little sound coming from the top of the pressure barrel, like a tick every few seconds, as if pressure was being released - could this be considered normal or do I have a leak?

I have racked three brews into PB's in the last three months and not experienced this noise yet. Presumably you'd see the clear rubber band bit kind of expanding as it's releasing the pressure if it is indeed the pressure relief valve making the noise and therefore the band ticking?

My first PB has even distorted at the base due to the pressure yet none has been released through the valve.

In hindsight, I have no idea if what I just wrote was useful or not!

I don't know, the sound seems to have gone away now. I can barely see through the barrel, butt here appears to be a bit of a head which is also a worry. I'm off the beer until February as well, so I think I have a few weeks wait to find out if it's ok

 

[Tim84]

Is the 'bit of head' not just a sign of the secondary fermentation from the priming sugar? I'm new to home brew so could be wrong though...

 

[IOMMick]

Is the 'bit of head' not just a sign of the secondary fermentation from the priming sugar? I'm new to home brew so could be wrong though...

blind leading the blind :whistle: - I'm new too, but I assumed it should settle like a big bottled beer (which look almost dead because the high pressure layer of C02 in the head space prevents most bubbles from coming out of the beer).