Had to unscrew cap on pressure barrel to dispense beer!

[indewildemanfan]

Hi. I gave in to temptation the other night and went to pour myself some evil dog ipa from my pressure barrel. Only about half a point came out before it trickled to a stop. When I unscrewed the cap it started flowing out. What am I doing wrong? Surely that can't be right!!

 

[bobsbeer]

you would need to inject some co2. If your cap doesn't have a co2 injector cap, then I hope you like beer. It should last about a week. As you draw off beer the co2 comes out of solution but you create a vacuum in the keg. you either add co2 or open the caap and allow air in.

 

[indewildemanfan]

you would need to inject some co2. If your cap doesn't have a co2 injector cap, then I hope you like beer. It should last about a week. As you draw off beer the co2 comes out of solution but you create a vacuum in the keg. you either add co2 or open the caap and allow air in.

I was under the impression that you didn't need to add any c02 until about halfway through the keg? I do have a c02 cap but what do you mean my beer will only last a week without c02? Do you mean it will be flat within a week?

 

[indewildemanfan]

Thanks for the advice by the way!

 

[Dave1970]

I was under the impression that you didn't need to add any c02 until about halfway through the keg? I do have a c02 cap but what do you mean my beer will only last a week without C02? Do you mean it will be flat within a week?

Unfortunately he doesn't just mean it'll be flat in a week. It'll go off and oxidise in a week because opening the cap has let air in. Unless you're having a party I'd be inclined to prime with new sugar, bring it into the warm and (once it gets going) release some pressure from the pressure relief valve (if there is one) or by unscrewing very slightly. By doing this a few time you should be able to purge the headspace above the beer of the oxygen that got in when you unscrewed.

How did you prime the barrel first time round? It can't have worked properly if you ran out of pressure after half a pint.

 

[indewildemanfan]

I was under the impression that you didn't need to add any c02 until about halfway through the keg? I do have a c02 cap but what do you mean my beer will only last a week without C02? Do you mean it will be flat within a week?

Unfortunately he doesn't just mean it'll be flat in a week. It'll go off and oxidise in a week because opening the cap has let air in. Unless you're having a party I'd be inclined to prime with new sugar, bring it into the warm and (once it gets going) release some pressure from the pressure relief valve (if there is one) or by unscrewing very slightly. By doing this a few time you should be able to purge the headspace above the beer of the oxygen that got in when you unscrewed.

How did you prime the barrel first time round? It can't have worked properly if you ran out of pressure after half a pint.

I added the 150g of sugar as prescribed by the instructions. It actually frothed out of the barrel when I did so! When I say I removed the cap what I actually did was unscrew it a little and I could hear c02 hissing out. Not sure why there wasn't enough pressure to push even one point out!! Can this beer be saved if I use a c02 injector??

 

[Sone]

Could it be a leak? I had one in my pressure barrel as the o-ring had kinked. I tested the barrel by spraying some star san around the cap and adding a co2 bulb and it showed me where the leak was. I re-primed and fitted the cap again and everything was fine

 

[Dave1970]

If you heard CO2 coming out then that's good from the saving your beer point of view, hopefully you didn't get oxygen in there. I can't think why there would be no pressure to dispense but enough to hiss out when unscrewing the cap. 150g is quite a big prime, did it have time in the warm for this to take effect?

 

[Sone]

Ah didn't see the hissing part when unscrewing the cap. I prime with 85g-90g when using a pressure barrel and leave in the warm for 2 weeks. As mentioned, how warm was the place you left it and how long for?

 

[chrig]

When you unscrewed it you may have heard air being pulled in rather than co2 hissing out.

 

[indewildemanfan]

If you heard CO2 coming out then that's good from the saving your beer point of view, hopefully you didn't get oxygen in there. I can't think why there would be no pressure to dispense but enough to hiss out when unscrewing the cap. 150g is quite a big prime, did it have time in the warm for this to take effect?

It had about a week in the warm kitchen. Will adding c02 save my beer? Or should I re-prime?

 

[Dave1970]

if you're absolutely sure that the hissing sound was CO2 coming out around the cap then your beer should be OK, I'd add a shot of CO2 to give you serving pressure and drink away.
If it could have been air getting in then I'd remove the cap, smear a bit of vaseline around the seal and reprime - probably with about 80g of sugar - and give it 2 weeks in the warm.

 

[indewildemanfan]

if you're absolutely sure that the hissing sound was CO2 coming out around the cap then your beer should be OK, I'd add a shot of CO2 to give you serving pressure and drink away.
If it could have been air getting in then I'd remove the cap, smear a bit of vaseline around the seal and reprime - probably with about 80g of sugar - and give it 2 weeks in the warm.

One small problem. I only have the standard cap fitted so will need to completely remove the cap to put the c02 cap on. Yes I know I've messed up. Is re-priming now my only option?

 

[Dave1970]

One small problem. I only have the standard cap fitted so will need to completely remove the cap to put the c02 cap on. Yes I know I've messed up. Is re-priming now my only option?

I would - I can't see any other way of serving your beer. Get your CO2 cap all ready, sanitized, vaseline on the seal. Boil up a reprime - maybe 80g? - in a little water. Whip off the cap, add sugar syrup and put the CO2 cap on. Move to warm and after 3 days let a little pressure out by loosening the cap, this should mean you don't have much oxygen left in the headspace. Give it a further week or so in the warm then serve - adding CO2 to maintain serving pressure when needed

 

[chrig]

any oxygen should sit ontop of the co2 blanket, whilst doing the above avoid moving it around too much to keep these layers protecting the beer.

 

[indewildemanfan]

Thanks guys. Will re -prime tomorrow. One last question - is it strictly necessary to boil up the sugar? The instructions on the kit simply said to add sugar.

 

[beerhunter]

I always mix the sugar with boiled but slightly cooled water, this could be wrong, but its the way i`ve always done it and never had any problems.

 

[pittsy]

depends how safe you think your sugar is , for example has anyone licked a spoon for some reason then used sugar for a cuppa maybe and thus germs and so on are now in your sugar . It may be slight risk but what a shame it would be if infected by such a silly error , i'd boil sugar and water for 5 mins minimum

 

[GavH]

One last question - is it strictly necessary to boil up the sugar?

In a word, No.

 

[Sandimas]

If it offers any reassurance, the same has just happened to me with my Xmas brew - and the only time I've ever put the whole 40 pints into the keg and not part-bottled

Like many on here, I've suffered my fair share of poor seals and leaks over the years. The only way I've found to de-risk this is to get a CO2 injector and squirt some in immediately after kegging: you don't need to do this, as your priming sugar will build up CO2 over a week or so, but it does help identify any leaks immediately after the kegging process. The usual culprit for leaks is the lid washer de-forming or wearing, turning it around can help.