Woodfordes Wherry leaking from barrel in fridge

[MrDeefs]

Hello,

Currently in the process of conditioning my first brew - Woodfordes Wherry.

Primary fermented at 22 degrees celcius for 9 days, then put in barrell and underwent secondary fermentation for 2 days at same temperature.

I transferred the barrell into the fridge, but 2 hours after this there is a small leak from the tap. I can feel gas/beer slowly spraying out from the bottom. What would be the reason for this??

Is the fridge the best place to condition the beer and to let the yeast settle out? Or would i be better to leave it in a less cool place?

Many thanks for all your help!!!!

 

[morethanworts]

Hi.

As regards the leak, it could just be the retaining nut needs tightening (usually inside the barrel), or the rubber seal needs replacing - impossible to know from here, though I'd imagine it's only likely to get worse from this point as pressure builds from the priming sugar.

Usually, it's recommended to keep warm for around 10 days after priming, before moving to the cool for at least another few weeks. Sounds like the leak is your immediate concern though.

Whatever you do, you want to avoid splashing or getting air into your brew at this stage. You may want to siphon it back into an FV, get it back up to around 20C (22 is a little hot,though it wont matter too much at this stage) and let the priming sugar ferment out for a day or two, fix the leak (or find other means to package the beer), reprime and go again. Test the empty barrel in the bath first, perhaps - stick some CO2 pressure in and see if you get any bubbles emerging. Then try with some water inside.

 

[Algernon]

Just a thought - did you check the rubber seals on the tap when you got the barrel? Also worth smoothing vaseline or similar on the rubber bits (said the actress to the bishop) so you can get a good tight seal.
Hope you manage to sort everything out - best of luck :-)

 

[rpt]

Just a thought - did you check the rubber seals on the tap when you got the barrel? Also worth smoothing vaseline or similar on the rubber bits (said the actress to the bishop) so you can get a good tight seal.
Hope you manage to sort everything out - best of luck :-)

I assume the rubber bits aren't actually rubber as the vaseline will melt rubber. This is why a careful bishop doesn't use vaseline.

 

[IPA]

It's a bit late now but often the moulding where the tap screws into the barrel is faulty and you cannot screw the tap in tightly because the end is touching a piece of plastic which needs to be cut out with a scapel or sharp knife. Take the barrel out of the fridge lay it on its side so that the tap is uppermost unscew it carefully and have a look if this is the case you can try to clear it or smear some vaseline on the thread and the washer and tighten it as much as possible. The next time the barrel is empty look inside to check that the tap thread end is clearly visible if not the obstruction needs to be removed as described

 

[winelight]

Laying the barrel on its back is what I've done and the beer has survived without a problem, but that only works if the tap screws into a thread in the barrel, and does not have a nut on the back.

I grease the rubber washer and the tap threads - it's important to do the threads as well, in my experience.

 

[morethanworts]

Presumably, any method that requires the cap off is going to undo 3 days of CO2 build up from secondary fermentation. You'd be guessing the remaining sugar left to ferment (though maybe you can, somehow?) unless you allow it to ferment out and reprime.

If you can fix the leak cleanly, with the beer still in the barrel, then I guess you can keep it warm, loosen the lid slightly, and allow the first sugar to ferment out before repriming with a known quantity.

 

[Kevin Wood]

What I have done in the past when a bottom tap barrel with a threaded insert inside the barrel has leaked, is to tip the barrel onto its' back, as advised, to make the tap the highest part. Open the tap to remove any pressure from the barrel, then unscrew and remove the tap.

If there's an obvious moulding fault in the barrel around where the washer seals it can sometimes be relieved with a scalpel / Stanley knife blade.

For good measure, or where there's no obvious cause of a leak, I've often wrapped the thread on the tap with a couple of layers of PTFE tape or clingfilm as extra insurance against the washer leaking.

Smear a little vaseline on the washer before reassembly and give it all a squirt of no-rinse sanitiser if you've got some to hand then screw the tap back in: not tight enough to cause the washer to distort and pop out of the groove in the barrel but tight enough to ensure it has seated firmly.

Pressurise with a sparklet bulb / S30 cylinder and check again for leaks. If you don't have these to hand you can just leave it in the warm for a few days to see if it'll condition. Could even add some boiled sugar solution through the hole before replacing the tap to make sure it conditions. The relief valve will prevent it overpressurising so no need to worry if the previous priming sugar is still active.

While the barrel is on its' back you should still have a CO2 blanket over the beer so it shouldn't spoil. Just avoid splashing it around too much when handling it.