Youngs Harvest Pilsner - problem

[jamier1501]

I'm a novice home brewer, I successfully brewed a 40 pint batch a few years ago but then I was recently given a Youngs Pilner kit so after carefully sterilising everything off I went

I followed the instructions to the letter but when I finally got to try the finished product it was obvious something was wrong, there was no pressure in my barrel so no CO2 I guess, which in turn means no secondary fermentation?

Not to be defeated I bought another kit for the same beer - but had exactly the same result! When I open the tap on the barrel it starts taking air in because there's no pressure in the barrel

Anyone got any idea where I might be going wrong?

thanks

Jamie

 

[EskiBrew]

Welcome to the forum Jamie - I moved your post because I don't think the problem you have is related to the kit your have been brewing, more likely you have a leak so the CO2 that is produced is leaking away.

What sort of barrel have you got? - let's go from there...

 

[eggman]

As EB said you've most likely got a leak somewhere, probably from the washer inside the lid. What type of keg is it?
Did you put a smear of Vaseline on the washer before sealing it up? Most of the time leaks on the lid are due to over tightening which cause the washer to slip or distort, I use my thumb and forefinger to tighten it gently. Be careful not to overdo it.
If the lid has a gas valve then another possibility is that either the valve itself is not fully tightened (check the nut inside the lid) or that one of the rubbers on the valve are out of place (check they are seated correctly).
When I keg up a brew I usually check it after about 24hrs to see if it's holding pressure, to do this I give the rubber on the gas relief valve a tweak to see if any gas hisses out.
:

 

[jamier1501]

Well you were right, it was a problem with the seal on the screw top to the barrel, it had just got a bit hard and didn't create an effective seal ..... a new O ring seal did the trick!

 

[eggman]

Nice one glad it's all sorted :party: :