Urgent help needed!!

[Mike1981]

Hi all, Brewed meself some coopers lager from kit a few weeks ago. I barreled it into a budget barrell, left in warm for a week then its been in my garage for a few weeks. I just poured myself 3 pints but its all flat :cry: . Ive Tried putting some co2 in through the s30 valve but all that seems to do is give it a head but no fizz...I did put dextrose powder and not normal sugar in to prime the barrell...is this the problem????? If so can any be salvaged or is it drain fodder now? Needless to say im Gutted! :sick:

 

[hairybiker]

If it tastes ok but is flat then you may have a leak in your barrel. When you "gas it up" does it stay gassed up the next day? Or does it need more gas to get any beer to flow?

 

[Mike1981]

Hi thanks for reply, no the gas seems to go fairly quickly but not as much as i can hear it from anywhere. Ive vaselined the seal on the cap and the threads like crazy. i even put a little too much gas in at one point ant the pressure relief valve opened so its not leaking anywhere obvious. all i want is a little fizz :?

 

[hairybiker]

You need to search using a washing up liquid/water solution and a brush. Cover the bottom of the gas inlet and safety valve with some solution and gas it up. If you see any bubbles then that is your leak, same with the cap seal.

You can't gas the beer using a standard barrel as they can't take that much pressure. but if you find your leak you can re-add some sugar for another go.

 

[Mike1981]

Thanks alot hairybiker, ill have a look and see what i find...at least all is not lost...yet :pray:

 

[bigdave]

There is a very obvious reason why your lager is flat..... You barreled it! Regardless of whether your barrel is leaking or not barrels cant cope with the pressures needed to carbonate a lager & so the pressure release valve will blow off the excess gas, leaving just enough to force the beer out of the barrel when the tap is opened. To make carbonated lager you need to bottle it with around 150g sugar per 40 pints (3.3g per 500ml bottle).

 

[Kyral210]

Ah, I see your problem, you used a Coopers kit...

 

[Grumpy Jack]

Ah, I see your problem, you used a Coopers kit...

Never had any problem with Coopers myself, I think that it's the barrelling that is the problem, you want fizz, sorry, bigdave above is absolutely right...

 

[Aleman]

As the amount of carbonation that is retained by a beer is dependant on pressure AND TEMPERATURE it is more than possible to 'carbonate' a lager in a pressure barrel to quite high levels . . . If you drop the temperature of the beer down to about 2C and then apply 10 PSI (Or a quick burst of gas from an s30 until the PRV rubber lifts and repeat this over a couple of days the beer will carbonate . . . of course it will be difficult to dispense with a standard drum / lever tap though

 

[Stone Cold]

nothing wrong with flat beer,
Its probably not to late to bottle, find some pop bottles fill and prime again back in the warm, christmas day hay-presto fizzy beer party on.