Pressure barrels suck!

[Pav]

Cracked open the next barrel tonight. I was a little concerned as this was the brew that was fermented a little warm.
Didn't rush out the tap! , and I thought that maybe the 2nd fermentation hadn't worked for some reason.

Well the brew still had a head, and this one must be the best homebrew I have produced!

I topped the barrel up with a little gas.... and I heard that piss taking hiss from one of the seals. I identified it fromt he lid thread so I tried to pinch it up a little tighter but it hissed at me louder so I left it.

So seems like I am losing a bit of pressure, but it is holding a bit I guesse to have been able to pour a pint to start with.

SO.... i guesse nothing I can do. Strange as it is a NEW lid. maybe more vasaline? , although I was generous.

Its left me thinking that Barrels are a waste of time and your better off bottling (now I have the luxury of bottling stick! and tree).

I got to admit I have never had a problem with a barrel before but this is fustrating. Almost feel like bottling from now on. ..,. but barrels are so much easier.. if they don't hiss at you.

Just having a rant so please excuse me! , but I have read a few posts recently from people suffering from leaking taps / seals etc.

Worst case senario I will have to session the 39 pints that are left.

mmmm . Whats the score on 1 litre soda bottles? I may be tempted to the plastic bottle and screw cap. Anything for an easy life!

[Curious Brew]

Just for the record, kegs may leak but bottling is a pain in the arris.

[Pav]

SORRY to go on....

I did just consider if I could take the lid off and re coat with vasaline and screw up the cap again and then add pressure with my gas bottle

OR is this a bad idea? I am guessing it could ruin the brew or dramaticaly shorten its shelf life.

[alefric]

SORRY to go on....

I did just consider if I could take the lid off and re coat with vasaline and screw up the cap again and then add pressure with my gas bottle

OR is this a bad idea? I am guessing it could ruin the brew or dramaticaly shorten its shelf life.

NO it's a good idea just reprime with gas afterwards....FWIW i've had same problem but only once out of 5 KK's and umpten brews. If the Vaseline doesn't do the trick the next course of action is to replace the cap seal whether it's a new one or not.....also check the lip of the keg to make sure there is no damage or missmoulding to stop it creating a good seal........barrel isn't overpressurised is it?

Andrew

[Pav]

cheers Andrew.

I'm used to brews firing out of the tap! The pressure is satisfactory for the tap to run. I may leave it till my next drink and see what the pressure is like. If I am draining my gas bottle I will have a go at re-sitting the top.

to add to my love hate relationship with Kegs I had a wrestling match tonight with my old Boots Barrel to remove the lid. Finally budged it.

Yeh bottling does appear hard work at the time but thanks to the sticky its a lot easier than it used to be. The main problem to be honest is storing 40 bottles!!

I need some cheap beer crates.

[Ditch]

Note To Self: Watch this one with interest!

Pav ~ that handle's always fascinated me! It rings a certain bell ~ I'm more interested in what ye Not telling us that what ye are. Like; What kegs are these? How - if - are ye Priming? Things like that.

Only, I'm sure it's all A,B,C, to yeself, what's going on there. I also imagine ye've explained it all in earlier posts. Only I have enough trouble following my own trains of thought here ..... Know what I mean?

Maybe better to repeat the path leading to, so that some may see what lead to ye situation. Those that know can always skip all that and offer their input. Only, all I'm getting here is " Bloody Kegs!!!!! Leaks!!!!! " Not a great deal to go on.

Could the Sealing rubbers be past their 'Sell By Date'? Where are ye getting these kegs? What make? What type? And a million and one other niggling little questions that 'Take Us There'. Allow us to examine ye problems with a lot of the peripheral taken out of the way.

The piss takingly hissing rubber looks a prime place to start.

[Pav]

HB Keg causing the problems.
Brand NEw Lid. Vasaline.

Holding a some pressure at lower psi / but think that during priming it must have produced enough pressure to leak... earlier than the release valve.

Its def. the lid not sitting down well. I expect taking the lid off and re-vasaline will fix the problem but didn't want to expose the brew to the air. I topped it up with a little co2 yesterday and will check it later. If its lost pressure I will have to remove and vasaline.

The good thing is currently the Brew tastses GOOD!!

[shawaddy]

One thing I have learned from my days as a Plumber/Gas fitter is the value of a roll of PTFE tape I use it on just about anything with a thread and will be using it in conjunction with vaseline. So the gas finds a minute break in the seal in it's struggle for freedom then gets met with the brick wall of sealed threads wrapped with PTFE and has no choice but to conform and stay put lol. At 25p a roll or a quid for ten rolls at a plumbers merchants you cant go wrong. Me old fella was also a plumber and when I got all his gear it seems he practiced what he preached (to me on a daily basis lol) as the lid on his pressure barrel rather than leak had split at the top under the strain.
If in doubt PTFE it if in no doubt PTFE it anyway

[alefric]

HB Keg causing the problems.
Brand NEw Lid. Vasaline.

Holding a some pressure at lower psi / but think that during priming it must have produced enough pressure to leak... earlier than the release valve.

Its def. the lid not sitting down well. I expect taking the lid off and re-vasaline will fix the problem but didn't want to expose the brew to the air. I topped it up with a little co2 yesterday and will check it later. If its lost pressure I will have to remove and vasaline.

The good thing is currently the Brew tastses GOOD!!

No problem taking the lid off....just reprime with CO2 afterwards.......still worth replacing the seal even if it's new it could still be faulty and if that doesn't work and the keg is new it looks like a replacement under warranty.

Andrew

[Pav]

leak seems sorted but I did lob a bit of brewing suger in before I sealed again and stuck it in a warm room.
Didn't really think about it until it went in. Will there still be any active yeast in the barrel at this stage (it had conditioned for 3 - 4 weeks).

I maybe should have left it alone but had convienced myself it was a a little lifeless / flat.

Hopefully will know in about 10 days.

[Pav]

moved it to the garage today. tastes fine. good pressure in keg now.
thanks.

[bog69]

are the leaks caused by the cold weather??? we have only been brewing for about 4 months & have had no trouble with leaks until the last batch where both kegs leaked a little. 1 had a new seal & the other had only been used once before hand.
maybe, when sealing in a warm room & then taken into the cold, things shrink very slightly?????

[KevP]

Its safe to assume that the kegs may shrink ever so slightly, but then so would the lids?

I personally have never had a KK that leaked, touch wood (taps head)