What's the damage?

[NoviceBrew]

NoviceBrew strikes again! I've committed the schoolboy error of over-tightening my barrel and forcing the rubber seal so no pressure has built up. Fortunately today is only day 5 (moving from warm room to cold garage). I actually suspected I'd done it so I tested it by drawing some beer through the tap and could hear air being pulled into the screw cap as it poured.

I did the first thing that came to mind which was wash and re-apply the cap with Vaseline around the seal (not as tight as before!) and injected a c02 bulb into the top - thankfully no hissing sound so my seal is good...finally.

I just want to know what damage I've done, if any, and whether there's anything else I can do to save my brew.

Thanks.

 

[dbg400]

I've had that happen a few times. As long as the barrel isn't being moved you should have a layer of CO2 sat on top of your beer, which being heavier than air should protect it sufficiently until you can get the seal sorted. Some PTFE tape around the thread of the barrel top should help give a good seal, though I also put a little Vaseline on the o-ring as you have done. So far it's never made a difference to the end result, though I now tend to bottle it so I can have more choice - three barrels is all I have room for, but I have bottle shelf space for quite a few more :)

 

[NoviceBrew]

Thanks for the reply, dbg, I feel a bit less stressed now :) I didn't move the barrel too much so hopefully it'll be ok. Cheers for the advice Re: PTFE, hadn't thought of that before and will definitely try next time. I'll let you know how it turns out :thumb: