I've got a pressure barrel but ..............

[escapizm]

HI

Ive just used my barrel for first time and i primed with 70g DME and ALSO put a squirt of CO2 in, i read this somewhere is ok if you bleed for 2 days after to purge air out. Question really is will the elastic band releive the pressure if it build up too high.

Oldspeckledbadger - many thanks for taking the time to give me the heads up on the 'kits' page. It was very informative. I think my brew looks a lot like the picture shows after 3-5 days so I am encouraged.

However, one of my queries wasn't mentioned and that is the one connected to whether I need to use Co2 with the ale I am making and, if I do should I attach the bulb to the cap once I've transferred the ale to the pressure barrel or wait until I am ready to start drinking it?

Regards

-Pau Eamonn

Hi Paul,

Are you priming (secondary fermentation) the beer? If so you don't need to enter any gas until the flow of the beer from the tap starts to slow down.

What size CO2 are you using?

[Middo]

The small bulbs are one-time-only use and eject all of their contents into the barrel at once, with any excess gas being released via the pressure release valve in the barrel cap. Therefore, you only have to screw it on until it pops, then once you can hear all the gas has been expended you can unscrew it and discard. I usually leave mine in there to remind me that it's running on injected gas rather than natural conditioning gas.

[RIP]

I kegged some Tom Caxton real ale on the 25th Sept and I just tapped off the last couple of pints last night, I had to undo the cap on the top of the keg though to get the last pint as it stopped trickling out. I didn't add any CO2 at all, just the priming dextrose when I kegged it. My next plan is to keg a batch of coopers stout with just priming sugar as the stout doesnt usually have much fizz anyway and should last through December. I am an optimist.

[Lillywhite]

I kegged some Tom Caxton real ale on the 25th Sept and I just tapped off the last couple of pints last night.....

Jeez, just over 5 weeks since kegging and it's drunk.

You obviously don't believe in letting it mature then?

[RIP]

I did intend on letting it mature but it tasted so good. Once I get a few batches done I hope to be able to leave them a bit longer and see how much better they get.

[PaulEamonn]

Hi all – thank you for your various comments and answers. So it seems my ignorance of the correct way to apply the Co2 wouldn’t have blown me and the barrel up after all. I can report that my wife is quite pleased about that as she says she wouldn’t have wanted to do all the clearing up on her own while I was in hospital drying out in more ways than one!

Well the ale is in the pressure barrel and sitting in a warm place while the priming takes place. Then I intend to leave it for at least 4 weeks to condition. However like RIP’s drop of Tom Caxton, I fear it may not last that long. So I guess I really must buy another pressure barrel and then get another brew on to drink after this batch.

Thanks again for all you help.

[PaulEamonn]

OK - the story so far.......................

My barrel has been sitting in the under stairs cupboard for 3 weeks come Monday and the pressure was gradually building - no not in the barrel, in me. My impatience is reknowned and so I'm proud of myself for having been able to wait this long. But tonight was the night when I could take no more and I pulled myself a very small glass of my brew.

The upside is - it tastes absolutely bl00dy marvelous.

The downside is - it is very murky. It looks how I'd expect it to had I just given the barrel a couple of hefty kicks before I opened the tap.

Now, please don't get me wrong here, I am not looking for volunteers to come round and take it off my hands - my thanks to all those about to offer their services.

No, I have no fear of murky beer, but I would still like to know the reason why and is there anything I can do about it either with this batch or with the next one?

Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks in advance.

[Lillywhite]

My barrel has been sitting in the under stairs cupboard for 3 weeks come Monday ...... it is very murky.

3 weeks with a bottom tap keg is not long enough for it to clear and condition. Give it a further 3 weeks before trying again.

[fractureman]

I'm drinking a beer which has been in the keg for 4 weeks & it is fine, normally after 3 weeks it is clear but leave till at least 4 weeks old before trying

[PaulEamonn]

Thanks for the info guys. From what you say it isn't anything I've done wrong so that's a good thing.

I'll give it until next weekend and draw off another small glass - just for inspection purposes of course.

I'll post up the results so you can see if it turns out to be 4 weeks or 6 weeks in total. If it is the latter it really will be a Christmas Ale!

Thanks again for your help.

[scottmoss]

It also clears under cooler tempertures.

[PaulEamonn]

Thanks for that scottmoss. I'll bear it in mind.

While I don't actually know what the temperature is in the understairs cupboard, I'd hazard a guess that it's quite cool. We don't have central heating and there are no fires near by.

What sort of tempreture is ideal for conditioning ale?

[RIP]

I've been leaving my brews at room temp for 7 days (bottles and Kegs) then moving to the shed for as long as I can resist.
I've got a half keg of Coopers stout in the shed which has been in there for 2 weeks. The plan was to drink it at Xmas so I might leave off now for a few more weeks. It lost pressure at the tap so I gave it a bit of a shake so hopefully it will pressure up a bit for Xmas.
The problem with not drinking commercial beers is you need to do a few batches of home brew to get ahead and get to the stage of being able to let it condition a bit longer.

[Ditch]

The problem with not drinking commercial beers is you need to do a few batches of home brew to get ahead and get to the stage of being able to let it condition a bit longer.

RIP; This is why I've given up and have got myself a 30 odd gallon 'FV'! I'll be doing 25 Gallons of Coopers Stout at a time now. Save my two 5 Gallon FV's for the odd variety brews.

[fractureman]

wow 25 gallons of ditch stout at a time that will create enough foam to sink the titanic