Sick of bottling - considering barrels

[boingy]

I have to say, I don't think it's necessary to change the PB tap. It ain't broke...

[darkonnis]

I'm in a similar predicament with the bottles. I dare say once I get my brewing "garage" sorted I quite possibly wont care too much, but for now whats killing me is cleaning so many bottles. It also seems where I am there is alot of wild yeast/bacteria in the air because I've had a few bottle bombs now and the only thing I can think of is time spent in transit from the house to the garage prior to filling. Putting them in sealed buckets has eliminated the issue so it seems, but its still a major pain in the ass.
I noticed norm sells Cornies with a keg tap? Which is a far cry from what some people are on about with regulators and the such, I guess my question is: Is it viable to buy one of these cheap set ups or would I simply be banging my head against the wall in a different fashion?

I tried mini kegs too but honestly I dont like em, they're even worse to clean as you can't get your hands in, and the ones in with the taps... who know what lurks in the depths.

[orlando]

@orlando...

I noticed you saying about changing the tap to a dalex tap. From when I looked (a while back admittedly), dales taps need to be fitted in to a kk by drilling/alterations etc. I was wondering if anyone knows of a better, simply swap over, tap to use?!

I believe ther is a company in Hampshire that has an alternative that swaps out but when I looked at it I didn't think it was as good as a Dalex. You don't have to drill anything but you do have to deal with the issue of the dalex tap having a smaller diameter than the original. Many have done it so don't let that put you off. As for whether you should do it at all; ask someone who has.

[Swiller]

Regarding replacing the tap on a PB.

http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/public/det ... RE20191636

[crafty john]

I just bought these and changed all my drum taps http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PLASTIC-WATER ... 3a73d62668

They work a treat

If you only want one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PLASTIC-WATER ... 5649dcc98c

[Naich]

I just bought these and changed all my drum taps http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PLASTIC-WATER ... 3a73d62668

They work a treat

Are they food grade? Also, they look a bit tricky to clean. The drum taps might be a bit of a pain in the bum but they are quite easy to take to pieces to clean.

[crafty john]

I just bought these and changed all my drum taps http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PLASTIC-WATER ... 3a73d62668

They work a treat

Are they food grade? Also, they look a bit tricky to clean. The drum taps might be a bit of a pain in the bum but they are quite easy to take to pieces to clean.

They are dead easy to clean, I just use a bottle brush and just give them a soak in a bleach solution, they don't have as many nook and cranny's as the standard budget keg lever taps, I have used them for the last 18 months without a problem. Also I think they are food grade, when I bought them they were listed under water butt/beer taps. Anyway like I said I have had no problems with them, they seal really well and it's easy to control flow rate. Also they take a standard hose connector so you can use them for racking off.

[Swiller]

+1

[Kev888]

I'm now completely cornified, they do what I wanted which is to keep the beer free from oxidation for months and to the last pint, and their tall/narrow design means they take up less space. But they haven't rid me of leaks or problems; they're more complex to deal with and costly, and you can get many more problems dispensing (foam, foam, foam) until you sort pressures, line lengths and temperatures.

My house temperature varies 'a lot' and caused havoc with foam. Initially I yearned for the simplicity of my old pressure barrels back - I wouldn't now go back though, as I really like them, but only because I built keggerators.

Cheers
Kev