Beginners problems with pressure barrel

Rudii84

Hello
First of all I wanted to say hi to everyone as this is my first post.

I'm new to home brewing and looking for some help with the problems I'm experiencing. I got a kit (King Keg with the Sparkler Tap) as a Christmas present and I'm currently on my second brew. The first one was a failure, I didn't seal the keg properly and the beer was completely flat, and when I tried putting the co2 bulb all the gas went out from under the cap. After doing some reading online I've bought a new o-ring (square one, not round) and used vaseline on the thread and on my second brew (Father Hooks Ale) that seemed to help, but again it came out flat and didn't have any pressure when I tried to pour the beer. During the second fermentation I could hear a hissing sound coming from the valve on the cap, I thought that it's just excess pressure getting released, but after I took the valve apart I found that the band on it was a bit folded and that's probably where the pressure escaped through. Also, when I used the co2 bulb the gas escaped as well after some time (again, could hear hissing from the valve). So I got the band replacement set from your store, replaced the bands and washers, refitted the cap and now it seems that it's holding the pressure well, I've put a co2 buld on Monday an it still was pressured yesterday (Wednesday), can't hear any gas leaks so that looks good.
And this brings me to my current problem - when I try to pour a pint I get a lot of head. It's basically a glass of foam with an inch of beer on the bottom. When pouring it's nothing like the youtube video on the tap page (http://www.home-brew-online.com/equipment-c40/home-brew-online-brewgas-deluxe-sparkler-tap-p1144), it's just loads of foam coming out. Can someone suggest what may be wrong? There's like 2/3 of the beer left in the keg, the beer line is below the tap now. I'm wondering if it may be something with the floater from the tap? is it to close to the surface so it just picks the gas?

Thanks for any help
Rudi

HBO_Staff

Hi Rudi, welcome and we're sorry to hear of the issue with the keg, it sounds as though one of the bands was not sealing properly but now it is in position this should hold pressure with no further issues, it is great you have managed to find the point it was escaping from. The froth you are experiencing is quite often associated with excess pressure, this can sometimes happen with barrels and will die down after the initial excess, and will begin to pour smoothly. The sparkler taps can be better than standard taps as you can adjust the flow to minimise it, the froth will reduce though and by carefully pouring and adjusting the speed it flows with the tap handle and into the glass held on an angle below, the technique should then produce some great looking pints.

If the float system was not sitting correctly in the beer this would allow gas through with the beer, the tap might cough and splutter as the beer flow sowd with the gas coming through, if it is not doing this though then the float is probably OK. The only way to tell for sure is to open the barrel and it is best not to do this if it can be helped as you don't really want to let air in, if needed though it can be checked.

The float should sit down flat on the surface of the beer, it will then draw the brew through the tube and to the tap with no extra gas in the line, if it continues to be a problem just let us know and we'll sort it out for you

Rudii84

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.
The tap does indeed, as you wrote, "cough and splutter" when pouring, and when I tried it for the first time after refitting the bands I managed to pour around two half pints (was changing between the glasses as they were full of froth) and then the pressure was gone, so I assume the gas may came out with the beer. Maybe the float is positioned wrong? I think that when I've put it in the transparent part was facing up. Should it be facing down, with the flat side up?

Rudii84

just to clarify, I use this float:

HBO_Staff

It sounds as though the float is alright as the clear part does usually point upwards, the white part of the float that has the end of the tube in it is then under the surface so it should stop it drawing air in - the end of the tube on the float must be under the surface. There is one other thing you could try, if you haven't already then remove the bend on the end that connects to the tap and connect the back of the sparkler tap straight on to the plastic tube itself, this will ensure a good connection and tight seal

Rudii84

yeah, I still have that band fitted, I just removed the right angle bend. I try doing that in the evening, hope it helps

Rudii84

I managed to find the problem - the piece connecting the tube with the tap had a hole in it and that's how gas was getting into the tap:


As you suggested, I've connected the tube directly to the tap and now it's working great, I poured a nice pint yesterday.

Thanks again for your help!

HBO_Staff

That would explain it, it looks from the photo to have a tear in it or some kind of fault, fantastic news you have sorted it and it working well, thanks for letting us know what the issue was