Pressure barrel question

[Crundy]

Hi all,
My work colleague is about to rack his Yorkshire Bitter into a standard cheapo pressure barrel (one of these: http://www.eastgatehomebrew.co.uk/images/eco_keg.jpg) but is unsure about CO2 injection, so I said I'd ask here for him.

As far as I can make out he needs to:
1) Rack off into the barrell, along with 85g brewers sugar dissolved in half a cup of boiled, cooled water
2) Loosely put the cap on (which has been greased with vaselene) without sealing and inject some CO2 to purge the air out
3) Seal the lid and inject some more CO2 for one second to pressurise, then remove the gas canister.

Is that about right? Or should he not pressurise it and let the secondary fermentation provide the initial fizz, and then only gas it every few pints pulled?

[Lillywhite]

.......should he not pressurise it and let the secondary fermentation provide the initial fizz, and then only gas it every few pints pulled?

Not pressurise and let secondary fermentation occur naturally as a result of the 85 grams of priming sugar. Sometimes you don't need any additional C02 gas to dispense 40 pints from these bottom tap budget kegs.

[paulbrrtt]

hmm now the one I saw on a different site I think, had pics with it and he put the c02 in then 5 mins later opened the lid to let the air out then give it another burst with the c02 and that was it. So Im unsure on that one

[EoinMag]

Unless you have a way of just giving a short blast of CO2 to purge air, I'd not bother. There won't be a lot of air left in it once because you don't have enough headspace. Just prime it and away you go. You'll only possibly need CO2 later once the priming has worn off so it doesn't go flat.

<edit> I meant to say that most CO2 dispensers are just one blast and then its' all dispensed, you don't want to waste a whole CO2 cylinder just purging air.

[Ditch]

Nothing wrong with those 'Basic' Kegs I've tried all the Top Tap, Float System, Wide Neck trip. Now I'm the perfectly happy owner of a whole, long run of BK's. I like their taps. I like the position of their taps. I like the fact that I'm not Nannied by the damn keg, as to when I can start drinking my beer and how.

That said; Those little, green 'one shot' bulbs were invented to go with a one pint soda water dispenser. They have no place around five gallons of beer. BK's might be supplied with either of two brass fittings. If ye've gor the bulb accepting type? Weigh the damn thing in and get the other type of fixture, which allows ye to use a proper 'bottle' of CO.

Then it's really up to you if ye want to 'pre charge' the keg or not. The excess, and any more provided by that priming solution, will just vent out the pressure release valve anyway. One thing to be said for it is that it tests that valve

[Crundy]

He has one of the really big CO2 cylinders.
OK, so just a quick purge and then let the yeast do its thing, but give it a quick squirt every 5 pints or so?

Thanks guys.

[Lillywhite]

but give it a quick squirt every 5 pints or so?

There's no need to do since you're just wasting precious C02 gas . There will be sufficient C02 produced from a 40 pint brew through secondary fermentation as a result of the 85 grams priming sugar.
Provided that beer is still flowing from the tap then you don't need to keep adding C02 from a Hambleton Bard Super gas cylinder at an early stage. When the flow starts slowing down then that's the time to add C02 gas and with a bottom tap keg then this may not be until the keg is down to the last 10-15 pints or so. I've actually managed to completely empty a keg without any added C02, although this depends on a number of factors, not the least how quick you drink your brew.

On thing that you must guard against when the flow slows down is not to allow air to glug back through the tap since this will shorten the life of the brew.

[Madbrewer]

On thing that you must guard against when the flow slows down is not to allow air to glug back through the tap since this will shorten the life of the brew.

Maybe I am lucky but whenever I have accidentally 'glugged' air in mine, I have gassed up a little bit of pressure with CO2, then waitied a min or two (hopefully) for the CO2 to stratisfy (sit on the beer & hopefully force the O2 to the top) then released a little pressure from the keg which I hope by then is the O2 coming out. I am not advocating we all start taking less care when we dispense, but I seem to have gotten away with it up to now. Just incase anyone get's as slapdash about it as I have been in the past.

[Lillywhite]

A word of warning, even if you gas immediately after accidentally glugging, air containing dreaded oxygen will get in your brew which will shorten the life of the remaining brew.

However, if you drink within a week or so then you won't notice any difference.

[Madbrewer]

yes I'm sure i was lucky or there was enough yeast to eat up the oxygen ....

[EoinMag]

It's a good idea to put CO2 on top of the brew sometimes even if it's still flowing, if nothing else to stop the CO2 coming out of solution to fill the headspace and making your beer flat.