Should I re-prime, re-pitch and bottle my flat Coopers Stout

[farmhousekeg]

I have a barrel of Cooopers Stout which has been conditioning in the shed for almost 2 weeks,after spending one week in the house after I racked it into its barrel. HOWEVER, I think I must have a leak in my barrel as it is flat. It tastes OK but is just not carbonated. No sign of oxidation yet. WHAT CAN I DO TO RESCUE IT? I was thinking of running it carefully out of the barrel into a 5 gallon bucket, re-priming with some sugar, pitching a new yeast (cos all the yeasties will be dead after 2 weeks at 2-10 degrees C) and then bottling it. I will keep it cosy for a week or so and then move back to the cool shed.

Does that sound like a plan or am I completely whako!! Please advise..................Cheers.

[Ditch]

Personally, I'd be trying to figure out where that leak is. If it's anything to do with the lid ~ though ye don't say what type of barrel it is ~ then a quick trip to ye LHBS and change out of a tenner should see ye sorted.

[farmhousekeg]

Personally, I'd be trying to figure out where that leak is. If it's anything to do with the lid ~ though ye don't say what type of barrel it is ~ then a quick trip to ye LHBS and change out of a tenner should see ye sorted.

Cheers Ditch. Its a seventies vintage Boots, aluminium pressure barrel which I bought at a local auction recently. I have fitted a new S30 valve on top and a new washer on the tap. Didn't replace the O ring on the lid which I suspect is where the problem lies. It was all Vaselined up before I screwed on the lid. Is it feasible to open it up, replace the washer and then ..........

Should I pitch some yeast and priming suger in there to get it gassed up in the warm before putting it back in the shed or what? What's the best plan in your opinion?

[Ditch]

My opinion would be that it's perfectly acceptable, under the perceived conditions, to go for broke in any way that occurs, mate. Ye've really 'nothing' to lose, after all.

I'm guessing ye don't have a spare O Ring in the house? But ye Do have a bar of soap? Ok. Get wet. Smear soap lather all round the seams of that keg and look, damn hard, for any signs of it fizzling as escaping 'air' comes through it. Same round the valve, above the O Ring.

Could, of course, be a fault in the seating of the whole damn lid. In That case I'd suggest a 'Budget Barrel', first thing in the morning. And a tube to fit the tap on the Boots one. Run the beer into the bottom of the new keg, through the yard of hose, and then reprime etc.

Personally, I'd get a new keg anyway. For the sake of £25, I couldn't be arsed with risking five good gallons in a keg that's simply seen better days and now should be treated as suspect, what ever the outcome of this.

[farmhousekeg]

Thanks Ditch, you're right - nothin to lose at this point. I'll try to find the leak like you suggest and if its the O ring I'll see if BrewGenie here in Shrewsbury have got anything that fits it. Otherwise its a toss up between bottles (of which I have almost 100) or a cheap pressure barrel.

My plan would then be to prime it with about 3oz of sugar and pitch an activated Safale 04 yeast into it. Does that sound OK?

[Ditch]

I'm hesitant about recommending Anything along the priming / re yeasting lines, mate. Simple reason being that I don't bullshit when I don't know.

I, frankly, tend not to Keg Prime my own beer at all. Why? Because I don't keep sugar in the place and it never crosses my mind to get some in. I've never had a problem. But that doesn't really qualify me to tell anyone else what's the best, or at least 'usual' procedure in such a case as this. I'd be guessing.

Same goes for re pitching yeast. I've dealt with leaks before. Those I'll voice an opinion on. But I've never had a brew which I'd considered re pitching on. So I really wouldn't have a clue about that aspect. Sorry

Better to find someone with experience of the matter and get a definitive response.

Maybe, as many may be seeing this as a one to one conversation going on here, ye'd do best to post again, asking something like " Should I Re Pitch ? " and link back to this, or explain that part of ye situation again? Chris'll likely pick up on it and sort ye out straight away

[drmick]

I had something similar with a leaking barrel and a Wherry kit. I don't have a convenient LHBS so I bottled mine, gave it a stir to resuspend the yeast that had settled added some more sugar to prime and put it into bottles. Worked a treat nicely carbonated and very drinkable - too drinkable as I finished it all at the weekend (need to get some more on the go ASAP).

Others (more experienced) people may suggest differently but I wouldn't add more yeast myself just use whats there already.

[farmhousekeg]

Maybe, as many may be seeing this as a one to one conversation going on here, ye'd do best to post again, asking something like " Should I Re Pitch ? " and link back to this, or explain that part of ye situation again? Chris'll likely pick up on it and sort ye out straight away

Thanks Ditch........done.

[farmhousekeg]

Others (more experienced) people may suggest differently but I wouldn't add more yeast myself just use whats there already.

Cheers Dr, I was just worried that the temperature in the shed has been very low and the yeasties might be more or less dead by now. I'm certainly going to have to warm up the brew again to room temperature before I reprime, its bloody freezin here just now!

I've opened a new thread on the yeast question so hopefully some experts will sort me out!

[farmhousekeg]

Personally, I'd get a new keg anyway. For the sake of £25, I couldn't be arsed with risking five good gallons in a keg that's simply seen better days and now should be treated as suspect, what ever the outcome of this.

Well.......something very strange has happened!! I brought in my Keg last night and put soapy lather all over it to see if I could find any leaks - absolutely NOTHING! So, I thought, take Ditch's advice and get to the LHBS for a new keg this morning and then transfer the whole lot.

Today's action was as follows:
1. Got the new keg (£25 from BrewGenie).
2. Cleaned, sterilised and rinsed it.
3. Opened the tap on the old keg to check for any pressure before I opened it and HEY PRESTO - my Coopers Stout rushed out in a frothy gush .
4. So I got a glass and poured off a half pint. It was frothin like a goodun, just like a pint of Murphy's or Guiness in the pub! What is going on here?

I can only suppose as follows:
The shed was very cold over the past 3 or 4 nights (zero degrees or less and hardly above zero by day). So do you think that all the CO2 went into solution and then when I brought it into the warm kitchen overnight, has the CO2 come out of solution and/or have the yeasties woken up and gone to work on the remaining sugars? Clearly I don't have a leaky keg which is good news and it seems like I have 40 pints of good Coopers Stout which is even better news

Well whatever has happened I am going to keep the Stout in the house just now. The positive part of this story is that I now have one more pressure Keg, so I will just have to brew some beer to fill it. In fact I just started a Coopers Brewmaster IPA this afternoon

[Ditch]

Buggered if I know what happened there, mate. But what the hell; As ye say, ye now have a good brew and a 'spare' keg! Win / win situation!

I so love it when things work out well!