Lovely first brew gone from clear to cloudy in two days

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beercarbs

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Hi All,

Newbie alert, Just brewed my first homebrew (Woodfordes Admiral Reserve) which was impressively good to drink.

Its been in a pressure barrel, in the garage (adjoined to house) , and of course during the last few days the temperature has dropped from mild to freezing!
On Tuesday I poured half a pint and it was crystal clear, and so on the Wednesday evening, as we were having a gathering for Nov 5th, I very carefully moved the barrel into the kitchen for all to consume.(Had about 16 pints left then)

The first pour was cloudier than the night before. Initially I put it down to the move. It was still very drinkable and quite a few beers were downed that night by all. So the day after I checked for cloudiness after moving back into garage (carefully). I was shocked as it was VERY cloudy indeed.
I don't think the taste was too dissimilar, maybe very slightly off/going?
Left the pint out overnight thinking it could be "chill haze" which I read about, but it didn't clear so am I to think that the beer is going off now?
Thanks for any responses.
Andy
 
If there has been air entering the barrel -e.g. a sort of glugging back through the tap - it could have oxidised or become infected.

Moving barrels is always a pain because it stirs up sediment that takes days to clear.

Maybe see if it clears after a couple of days?
 
Apologies for the late reply. I would logon at work, but our web filtering bans Alcohol and Drugs websites! A real nuisance.

You were right, it cleared up in a couple of days after the move!

Since then I've had another one on the go, but unfortunately the barsteward pressure barrel lid couldn't have been completely air tight and it was flat. Getting quite hacked off with the basic pressure barrel as sealing it is hard work. I've tried Vaseline & PTFE tape. But to think of it I've not changed the rubber washer which appears to deform, so maybe its hardened?
 
Chuck the cap seal into a jug of 'just off the boil' water for a few mins and it will lose any deformaty from previous use and soften.

When putting the cap on smear the seal lightly in vaseline. Screw the cap down till it's only just starting to feel some resistance then nip it up 1/6th of a turn more and thats it. Don't over tighten let the seal do it's job rather than squashing the hell out of it.

Have 3 pressure barrels and no issues with getting them to seal.
 
good advice above, if its been a a few days or longer the priming sugar or a fair proportion has probably been consumed so it may be worth adding a bit more for the condition when you seal the lid finally.
 
May I ask where you guys are sourcing your pressure barrels and gas please? Got my first brew on and thinking about how on earth I'm going to decant it!
 
Thanks for the tip Strangebrew, and nice to know you're having success sealing the basic pressure barrel. I suspect I've been over tightening it as you suggest. My pressure barrel was an xmas present last year from homebrew online.
 

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