Polypin Management

[arturobandini]

Ok. I'll sanitise another pin and tube it over into a new keg with 40 grams sucrose.

Any benefit in dropping a bit of a pack of so4 in?

Thanks for the guidance Dennis. I blame this liquid fullers, my porter turned volcanic on 80g

[Dennis King]

Think it's a case of finding the amount of priming to suit the beers you make. As I've said I never let them expand to much.

[arturobandini]

I have had good success in the past but laying the blame for this one on the moving house. Beer smells fine from sniffing the leaky cardboard so hopefully with a bit of luck and crossed fingers it'll re-prime a touch to get some gas in time for Christmas. Failing that it'll be gone in short order as usual anyway.

[greenxpaddy]

Ok. I'll sanitise another pin and tube it over into a new keg with 40 grams sucrose.

Any benefit in dropping a bit of a pack of so4 in?

Thanks for the guidance Dennis. I blame this liquid fullers, my porter turned volcanic on 80g

40g sounds like a lot to me. I use just 25-30g. It swells right up but not yet gone past the seal limits

[arturobandini]

I'm not even sure the beer will consume the new sugar anyway as it has been sat around happily for 8 weeks conditioning. It was rock hard for a couple of days and then on Dennis' advice I slackened her off a bit and she was plump enough when i moved house...since I got here whenever I looked over at it there definitely seemed to be a suspicious lack of 'bounce' to the pin. Last night I confirmed that it has burst a seal in the move.

Not sure if I have been slowly oxidising it since moving a month ago and I am throwing money away in sanitising a new pin and dropping some sucrose in whilst praying that it will be alright. I've never attempted to re-prime anything like this before but fingers crossed it will work or I am cancelling Christmas. Through the tears in my eyes last night i could see a fair amount of residual carbonation in the beer still so I'll go for a 20g booster on transfer to try and give it a fighting chance.

Had absolutely no luck with liquid yeast.

[stevetk189]

I would err on the side of residual carbonation within the pin creating a positive pressure inside and keeping nasties pushed out. Rack it to another bag, see how it tastes before priming again though, Remember, if you're pulling this beer through a hand pull, don't worry too much about carbonation. If it's conditioned in the bag, pull it off (ooh err) and enjoy.

[arturobandini]

Thanks for the help and tips chaps.

I've used the polypins quite a few times in the past and can only imagine rough housing by the movers burst a seal on this one as it is only one brew old. I transferred it via a line of tubing to a new pin with 20 grams sucrose in it in the hope of some priming taking place. I squeezed all the air I could managed out of the pin and despite my cold I couldn't really smell any signs of the beer being off.

Two days later and the pin is still squashed up and compressed in its box showing no signs of carbonating up at all so I guess the yeast is not interested in touching this new food. Truth will be found in a week when this arrives at my parents place for Christmas supping but I fear it will likely be flat as a witches as well as oxidised to hell if it hasn't already started to turn. Bit of a bummer but no doubt it will still get drunk providing its not awful.

[Cozzyb]

Hi all, just bought a bunch of 5ltr ones of these to try out instead of mini kegs. So what is the priming rate you guys use? I saw the letting them burp and understand that, but missed anyone talking how much sugar to add with the beer?

[techtone]

Can someone remind me how well a polypin dispenses towards the end without letting air in. I currently have a 30 bottle batch of wine about 1/3rd gone. I have already tilted the box slightly. Will I be able to get quite far down before risking air glugging in? Or will I need to manage this by taking out of the box and pressing down, perhaps at 2/3rds ?

[Dennis King]

Never used them for wine but with beer I keep them at an angle to start with so no air ever gets in.

[Down2Die]

would be great if the first post of this thread had a definitive how to. getting into this myself and still unsure with all the scathered info. cheers

[Alpineales]

Hello brewers, This is my first post and I am preparing to brew my first batch of bitter (Woodfords Werry). I was encouraged by Wilkinson's half price offer and bought all my kit from them. They had sold out of pressure barrels and Co2 charging gear though which has led me, after a bit of research, to this thread. As a complete novice, I am concerned that as soon as my back is turned one of my polypins will rupture leading to criminal wastage of ale. With this in mind, I am very interested in Bryggmester's original suggestion of upending the polypin, connecting a tube dipped into a water filled bottle and leaving the tap open. Obviously this will prevent any distressing loss of beer but won't it end up just a tad on the flat side of lifeless? I should say that I'm not a fan of ultra fizzy beer. Regards to all.

[darkonnis]

Obviously this will prevent any distressing loss of beer but won't it end up just a tad on the flat side of lifeless? I should say that I'm not a fan of ultra fizzy beer.

The trick is to not overcarbonate, then there is no need to risk overexpansion. Then you don't need to leave the tap open

would be great if the first post of this thread had a definitive how to. getting into this myself and still unsure with all the scathered info. cheers

This is what I do/have done following the advise here and then tailored to my equipment.
How to in stages:
1.Take a Pin, make sure its clean and sanitised, I use a no rinse star san formula
2. Sanitise a bit of hose and a cloth
3.use the cloth to sanitise the tap on my fv and connect the hose.
4. connect the hose to the tap on the pin head (whilst unattached from the pin)
5. empty out the pin and squeeze the s**t out of it to remove any air

5a. This can be done now, or at the end: Add your sugar, sanitised carbonation solution to the pin then remove oxygen like before. Of course if you have a bottling bucket, you can prime in there and omit this step entirely

6. reassemble pin
7. set pin tap to open, then set FV tap to open
8. beer should be flowing, if not pull 2 edges of the pin apart and it will draw beer through, once that starts, sorted.
9. you should now have a pin full of beer.
10. Close the taps
11. lift the bag (still attached via hose) above the FV and sit it on top
12. disconnect hose from pin
13. attach hose to next pin and repeat until too pissed to continue or until beer is pinned.

If you haven't done 5a already: sit the pin on its back (tap up) crack the lid and add your mixture then squeeze the oxygen out and reseal

I like my pins to be a bit on the slack side, with space for CO2 to expand the bag without stretching it. You don't have ot fill the bags so if you are really concerned or are experimenting with pin priming then just underfill by a reasonable amount and squeeze the air out.

Obviously I have a tap and hose barb which make this very handy. If you don't just attach the hose and dunk the other end in then pull the pin apart into its natural 3D shape. You may need 3 - 4 hands and its for this reason I have the tap/barb.

Hope that helps, it isn't the only or probably even the best way, its my way. It ensures no oxygenation of beer, a sanitised environment through out and a reduced chance of spillage. The downside is you do on occasion need more hands than any one man has a right to.

Cheers
Cooky

[Alpineales]

Thanks Cooky. My FV doesn't have a tap (well not yet) but your alternative method all makes sense. I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks again for taking the time.

[DerbyshireNick]

Need to do a murphys order in the next few weeks and have been eyeing these polypins as a good way of splitting the result with a brew buddy. In peoples experience what is the shelf life like in these? Ill be able to gauge what sizes to go for based on how long ill have to get through them