Was OK, but not now. Is re-primeing a waste of time?

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Maffa

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Guys, I've had 28 pints in a plastic keg for about 5 weeks. The beer was great and gassy initially, now I noticed when I'd taken say 12 pints out, the remaining beer had lost all signs of life.

I had a small leak very early on after priming (mentioned here ===>>> viewtopic.php?f=36&t=34672) but as mentioned above the initial dozen pints pulled from the keg were great.

I have since emptied the flat beer from the keg into bottles and re-primed on the off chance that it will re-gas. Was this a waste of my time? I just didn't have the heart to lose the remaining ale.
 
Is the beer flat or is it just not comming out of the keg like it did initialy?
 
Totally flat, it was coming out of the keg fine. I did chuck in a small canister of co2 in the hope that it would do something, but of course had no effect.
 
You've had another leak then and the gas has come out of the brew.
There may be a problem with oxidisation now but you've definately done the right thing by re priming in bottles although you may find the beer doesn't last due to the fact it may have had prolonged contact with the air, only time will tell.

At least you've freed the keg up for another brew.
 
Andyhull said:
At least you've freed the keg up for another brew.

That was the main reason :P
I popped in a summer ale last night that had been on the brew for 2 weeks :party:

One last question, does only filling half the keg have any detremental effect on the beer? I like splitting my brews between bottles and keg and was wondering if this would have effected it any way? (priming amounts catered for)
 
Not sure on this one, maybe with there being a larger head space you could have a problem with pressurisation or oxidisation due to it taking longer to fill the head space with C02.

But like i said im not sure so you'll have to wait for someone else to come along and answer this one.

Andy
 
Also check the keg for leaks as there certainly has been one on the last brew!
You don't want to lose another one.
 
Andyhull said:
Also check the keg for leaks as there certainly has been one on the last brew!
You don't want to lose another one.

I know, I'm quite worried about it. I did take it apart last night and gave a good lube of vaseline to the rubber joints. I then filled it up with water (when sterilised) and chucked in a co2 canister and it held very well.

I guess its just the waiting game. The last lot leaked after about 36 hrs into priming. If we get passed that, I'll be a bit happier.
 
yeah kegs are a bit odd sometimes but fact it gassed up then lost it is unusual mostly its an all or nothing type event- repriming the bottle should work fine, tbh i do this with mine quite a bit but also add fresh yeast (generally wait till i have some fresh stuff lying around) just to make sure if its been any length of time
 
There is the possibility that there is a small leak round the tap or in the tap, I had this problem a while back, there was a slight kink in the small rubber backing washer. Using vaseline on the washer and re-seating worked - no problems since. Its also worth taking the tap to bits regularly and using vaseline on the threads etc... after a good washing/sterilizing.

For some reason mine always smell of sweaty feet when I take them apart so good occasional exercise.

Hope you find the problem. :cheers:
 
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