Pressure barrel Vs Corny

[Aleman]

Why is the assumption that because it's in a corny it is highly gassed . . . gassed up to oblivion?

I'm currently serving my Summer Ale at between 2-3psi . . . If I was to generate condition using priming. I would have massive amounts of pressure, and would have to let it off in order to serve it without massive amounts of foam . . . and then have to let it build up pressure again.

The amount of carbonation is a function of pressure and temperature, once the equilibrium is reached (over time) that is all the carbonation that beer is going to have . . . unless you change temp or pressure . . . You can reduce the time to equilibrium by increasing the pressure or shaking the beer (or reducing the temperature and shaking)

That's what I love about Cornii they are controllable, I can fit 3 in the space of one King Keg . . . must admit that they are as prone to leaks (mainly from the poppets in my case) as my king kegs were (from the tap). I never found any issues with storing beer long term in my plastic kegs . . . but my Cornii are proving even better . . . and I can boil water in my Cornii for disinfection purposes which I can't do with a plastic keg

[BarnsleyBrewer]

must admit that they are as prone to leaks (mainly from the poppets in my case

I've got a dodgy one/two, can they be re-sealed or is it a new poppet??

BB

[mentaldental]

I use my Cornies at 2-3psi too. I have had to replace a few poppets to get them to seal at low pressure. And getting the lid seals to seat needs a bit of attention but otherwise they work fine.

Mind you I have started to use 4.5gall plastic casks now. They are different again and bring there own little problems.

[Hogarth]

A question for cornie users: when you switched from plastic kegs, did you notice the beer keeping better? I'm happy with my king kegs in general, and I'm very scrupulous about keeping oxygen out, but towards the end of the barrel I always notice a bit of staling. Would a cornie make a difference?

[boingy]

Typically how long does it take you to get through a barrel?

[Hogarth]

Hi Boingy. I typically start drinking a week after kegging and take a month to finish it.

[delboy]

I never hand any luck with my plastic kegs, they were always leaking either beer from the bottom tap or gas from the lid, despite faffing about trying different tightening positions/vaseline etc, was costing me a fortune in those little gas bottles. I take my hat off to anyone that can get consistent results out of them.

Cornies aren't perfect but they suit me much better.

[Hawkinspm]

My experience quite similar to Delboys, leaking tap was the worst one, left a beer conditioning and the keg had just dumped a number of pints on the floor as the PRV had failed.

I now use cornies at low pressures and am very happy with the results, I don't think they are perfect, but unless I was drinking a keg in a few days it works for me

[tanglefoot]

As Aleman says you dont need to over do the pressure , and as i have found through experimenting that if after 1 week settling without any priming i rack into corny keg and pressure up to 5 psi to carbonate, after another week in the kegerator i reduce to 2psi and serve . I find that stripping the poppet valves after a few brews and cleaning the `O` rings stops the problem leaks

[Kev888]

Sigh. I can feel my resistance weakening again. Shiny cornies were tempting enough anyway, and now I'm hearing of the low (or at least lower) pressures they can be run at, my only real objections are the extra cost and the slightly awkward smaller capacity.

I don't need cornies, of course. Pressure barrels work absolutely fine for me - I've never had a problem with oxygenation or lightstrike, they're just the right capacity, I've only had a couple of leaks in over 20 years use, and the beer comes out just nice. The S30 cylinders are simple, portable, last for ages and are only briefly connected so never get emptied by leaks in the system. Nor do I need a smaller barrel or to extend or relocate the taps or anything like that. Best of all you can get a 6 Gal setup for about 25 quid, even including a cylinder refill.

But somehow the lure of the higer quality stainless and nicer fittings of cornies keeps relentlessly calling - they just seem like a more professional and attractive solution than my plastic barrels. Which is annoying me, as clearly i don't need to upgrade for any reason and cost is at least part of the benefit (for me) in home brewing.

Considering that my barrels are working fine, and that I wouldn't make use of the impressive pressure range of the cornies anyway, is there 'really' that much to be gained for all the extra cost?

(please say no! )

Kev

[delboy]

Sigh. I can feel my resistance weakening again. Shiny cornies were tempting enough anyway, and now I'm hearing of the low (or at least lower) pressures they can be run at, my only real objections are the extra cost and the slightly awkward smaller capacity.

I don't need cornies, of course. Pressure barrels work absolutely fine for me - I've never had a problem with oxygenation or lightstrike, they're just the right capacity, I've only had a couple of leaks in over 20 years use, and the beer comes out just nice. The S30 cylinders are simple, portable, last for ages and are only briefly connected so never get emptied by leaks in the system. Nor do I need a smaller barrel or to extend or relocate the taps or anything like that. Best of all you can get a 6 Gal setup for about 25 quid, even including a cylinder refill.

But somehow the lure of the higer quality stainless and nicer fittings of cornies keeps relentlessly calling - they just seem like a more professional and attractive solution than my plastic barrels. Which is annoying me, as clearly i don't need to upgrade for any reason and cost is at least part of the benefit (for me) in home brewing.

Considering that my barrels are working fine, and that I wouldn't make use of the impressive pressure range of the cornies anyway, is there 'really' that much to be gained for all the extra cost?

(please say no! )

Kev

You seem pretty happy with what you have at the moment, i'd say stick with it, maybe if i hadn't been plagued with leaks i might have stayed with barrels.

[boingy]

It's whatever floats your boat really. If you are happy with the PBs then stick with them and spend the money on something else.

I'm a total cornie convert. The small footprint and easy handling of cornies is a real benefit to me and once you have got the gas side sorted out they really are quick and easy to deal with. I solved the 4 gallon capacity thing by upping my brewlength to 8 gallons and filling 2 cornies at a time. I initially was not interested in force carbonating because I expected really fizzy beer but as other have said once you have gassed up the pressure to seal the lid you can lower it to a similar pressure to a presure barrel and serve the beer however you want. Controllable is the word.

There is another aspect to cornies that is worth mentioning. I find myself championing HB amongst my friends and neighbours. Most of them associate HB with Boots, the 1970's and pretty bad beer. Show them a cornie setup with flash chiller and a "proper pub tap" and they take it a bit more seriously even before they have tasted any. They say you eat with your eyes and it seems that drinking is no different.

[Kev888]

Thanks boingy, you make good points. Perhaps if my all-grain initiation goes well this summer the capacity thing won't be a problem and that seems to be the last big disadvantage I saw. Oh dear!

So it'll then simply be down to money, and that helps clarify the issue quite a bit. I'm also sure cornies are worth the cost for what you get and they're certainly nicer, its just if as an amateur I can personally justify the cost of a more pro setup (as it seems unlikely to improve the beer itself very much, anyway).

I'd also not considered how others may see it, either. I've not been brewing from the 70s, more the 80s, but things were still rather 'variable' even then and I know exactly what you mean. Cost is a factor but then so is pride in what I'm producing - and good feedback from mates is definately part of that.

Hmm, maybe I should think seriously about this next time I need another PB.

Cheers
kev

[darrenwest1]

Hmm, interesting. i'd heard that the pressure in pressure barrels stops oxygen from seeping in (although Co2 can leak out instead, which isn't ideal). is that wrong?

Unfortunately the two gasses behave independently. There's more CO2 inside than out, so it diffuses out (not that it really matters). There's more oxygen outside than in, so it diffuses in.

not so i am afraid
the only possible way oxygen coule enter through the plastic walls is if te pressure in the keg is below 1 ata (atmospheric pressure)
if the gas in the keg is at a greater pressure than the gas outside the keg then no gasses could enter atall
i am a scuba diving instructor and know a lot about gasses and how they can interact with others
you could say my life depended on it

[chris_reboot]

Kev, it's clear to me its one of those situations, that by the very nature you've asked the question, I think you already know the answer

You summed it up by saying (I paraphrase) "I don't need to replace my PB's...."
You're right, they are clearly working well for you.

You dont NEED cornies, but you do WANT them!
and did I mention, they are shiney?!?

You'd have to get (at least) one cornie, gas reg, gas bottle and relevant lines and connectors.
That's the up-front cost.

After that, just add more cornies at roughly the same cost of a PB as and when.
I've seen prices from 25-50 quid each for cornies, but there are setups on sale from time to time in the offers thread (I think there's one on now) which would make a quick setup easy.

I saved for a couple of months before making the change-over at the start of the year, and since then built a 2 tap kegerator to house my four cornies. I can see another couple of cornies in the offing too! I sold my PB's to partially fund it, so kind of justified some of the cost back from the sale of those (got approx £33 each from each KKTT I sold)