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

[Lillywhite]

I think Brewmart will.

That's a good price at £3.99 although with the hassle of posting the empty back first and their postage charge on a full cylinder this will work out expensive.

It will be interesting to know who provides their carrier service bearing in mind Royal Mail don't permit in the normal post.

[Ditch]

It will be interesting to know who provides their carrier service bearing in mind Royal Mail don't permit in the normal post.

FedEx ?

[PaulEamonn]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'll use up the caplets and then sort myself out with the real deal.

Seems a bit of a con though - unless I'm doing it wrong.

I buy a barrel (Young's) that has got a blank cap on for 18 quid.

Then I have to buy another Young's cap with a hole in it that takes a brass thing that only fits the small caplets. 15 quid.

And then I have to go and buy another thingy to be able to fit a proper sized Co2 bottle to it - price unknown at the moment because I haven't been able to find one yet thought I suspect I've seen one in my local Keg9.

And now I guess someone is going to tell me that the connector on a King Keb at 44 quid will already take the S30 bottle and it is cheaper to buy one of those.

Isn't the learning curve steep on this? But it's worth it! My Ale tastes bl00dy fantastic.

Thanks again for all your help.

[dunc]

It will be interesting to know who provides their carrier service bearing in mind Royal Mail don't permit in the normal post.

FedEx ?

APC, if I remember rightly.

[Ditch]

I buy a barrel (Young's) that has got a blank cap on for 18 quid.

Then I have to buy another Young's cap with a hole in it that takes a brass thing that only fits the small caplets. 15 quid.

Ouch! Bloody hell, mate; That's where ye came unstuck.

Never mind. Did it myself! Luckily, I spotted my mistake before buying in a shed load of kegs. I think the pure excitement of 'getting kitted out' can trip us. The bloody brass work all looks the same, on a web site picture. 'Kiddie in a sweet shop' syndrome kicks in and we click and buy

Take it from me though; All the Right stuff ye buy will be an investment. It doesn't often let ye down and pays for itself in next to no time.

It will seem a bit harsh, at first, shelling out so much wedge for 'just' another keg. But, once ye have it? That's another period of Not having to shell out on cans for a week or so, whilst the old one free's up and becomes available.

In fact,saying all this? I have an empty FV out there. And my Coopers IRISH Stout kit sitting there. Better piss off and get cracking!

[Ditch]

In fact, saying all this? I have an empty FV out there. And my Coopers IRISH Stout kit sitting there. Better piss off and get cracking!

There ye go. All done and ready to kick off! I couldn't earn forty litres of beer in that time!

[RIP]

That coopers stout is awesome

[RIP]

In fact, saying all this? I have an empty FV out there. And my Coopers IRISH Stout kit sitting there. Better piss off and get cracking!

There ye go. All done and ready to kick off! I couldn't earn forty litres of beer in that time!

Legend

[PaulEamonn]

Ouch! Bloody hell, mate; That's where ye came unstuck.

So does anyone know of a place that sells a cap with the correct brass connector to take an S30 that will fit a Young's barrel? Or am I buying the wrong barrel in the first place?

So far I've only seen two different tops made by Young's. The blank that comes with the barrel and the one that will only take the caplets.

[Ditch]

Frankly, I've no idea who makes the kegs I use. Thus I've never thought t ask for a " Youngs acceptable lid. " I just buy the nearest " 2" Keg Lid " and screw it on. They're all likely made in China, to a pattern directly lifted from the accepted norm anyway.

Regards where to get them, with the right brass? Any LHBS worth that title. Or one of the on line suppliers.

When ye get ye new caps, just remember what I said about 'putting the others aside'. Don't chuck them out. Brass is worth money. (Maybe ye LHBS can give ye something off a kit, against the brasses?) And the caps have those 'spare' sealing rings in them

[PaulEamonn]

Ditch - I'm going to start off a batch of Cooper's Stout over the next few days and would like to know what you use to kick off the primary fermentation - is it sugar or spray malt? And what do you use to start off the secondary fermentation? Up until now I've used a light spray malt.

Also, are there any pitfalls I should watch out for that are peculiar to it? Or is it pretty straight forward provided I stick to the basics.

[Ditch]

Hullo, Paul. Sorry; Power cut

I use Medium malt, myself. 1 Kg in place of any sugar. " Secondary Fermentation " ? Not sure what that means. I just ferment my stuff. Then I keg it for a bit. Then I drink it.

Having a bash at following the herd, of late, I have tried sticking about 80 grams of organic sugar into a couple of my kegs, once the beer's gone in. Hasn't made a ha'penny's worth of difference though

'Mind you; I've never been one to make a song and dance about it. I like what I produce. How I produce it. Maybe I'm just a tasteless animal?

[PaulEamonn]

Hi Ditch - thanks for your reply.

Well I bought a can of stout mix yesterday and a bag of medium malt so I thought I was ready to start off my first batch of Ditch's Stout'!

However, as I didn't take my glasses into the shop, I had to rely on my wife reading the small print for me. To cut a long story short, when I got home and read the instructions with the critical eye of someone with a vested interest in the end result (rather than that of a flippant floosey who cares not a jot) I saw that the instructions clearly said (twice!) that 1kg of sugar was required. I had only bought one 500g of medium malt instead of the require two bags.

So I visited the Munton's website and read all about it and they said that there are different ways to make the brew.

One way seems to be by using 1kg of Beer Kit Enhancer instead of sugar. Another way is to use a 500g bag of Spraymalt (which is what I've got) and 500g of sugar. The other way is to use two 500g bags of Spraymalt instead of sugar. But with this method they say you have to subsitute the supplied yeast with their Munton's Premium Gold yeast.

Can you let me know whether you use 1kg of Enhancer or do you go for the 1kg of Spraymalt and, if so, do you use the Cooper's yeast or the Munton's?

Regarding the 'secondary fermentation', as I understand it, this is the process of adding 80g of sugar to the brew when you are transferring it into the barrel. So it looks like you have had a go at it without knowing. Interesting though how you say it doesn't make any difference. I was under the impression it was supposed to add a bit of sparkle to the final brew. Maybe I am wrong on this - I'm sure someone will put us right on it!

Anyway, thanks for your help and here's wishing you and yours and indeed, all who read this, the very best for 2010. And here's to many a fine brew.

[Lillywhite]

So does anyone know of a place that sells a cap with the correct brass connector to take an S30 that will fit a Young's barrel?

There you go:-
Standard S30 valve and cap, to accept the HB Super gas cylinder, with free postage.

http://www.beer-kits.co.uk/fullpage.asp ... P000009154

[PaulEamonn]

Many thanks for that Lillywhite and at a surprisingly good price too!