Re prime or throw away?

shinnster

Hi all
Another batch and another issue of no carbonation !!

I am brewing a batch of Australian Lager, the first stage went well, got the Fg down to 1.006, transferred to my pressure barrel and all seemed fine.... but it wasnt!
6 weeks in and i tested a glass last night and there was no pressure at all and the beer only just came out the tap.
so just as a test to myself i added a C02 bulb to see what it done, and i can now see the issue.
the metal valve on top of the lid isnt a secure fit and there was air coming out the top, next to the metal threads on the valve ( no fault of my own just dodgy manufacturing that i'm getting fed up with in all honesty)
so now is my question, do i get yet another lid (this is already my third one) and reprime the beer and try again? if repriming, how much sugar do i use?
or just give up as this just seems to be a big waste of time.

Howard

I would think after 6 weeks in the barrel it might be to far gone to save but you never know, I would look at maybe switching to bottling the beer, go with two coopers carbonation drops for a 500ml bottle,

Maybe just as a trial do a couple of bottles from the barrel  give it a good shake after its bottled and then Give it a quick flip every day for three days and see if the bottle hardens up..... I think its a long shot but sounds like you have nothing much left to lose....

HBO_Staff

Barrels can have issues and bottles are better from that point of view, once the lid is sealed on a bottle it is airtight and can be left to carbonate and condition. With the brew you have in the barrel if it is smelling and tasting OK (although flat) then it may well be fine and is worth attempting to salvage, once the barrel is ready to be sealed airtight re-prime it with around 80g of sugar and seal up, leave it somewhere warm for a week or so to help the sugar dissolve and begin secondary fermentation quickly, then it can be moved somewhere a few degrees cooler if needed. It should then pressurise and can be tasted and hopefully it will turn it well

green0

HBO_Staff said:

Barrels can have issues and bottles are better from that point of view, once the lid is sealed on a bottle it is airtight and can be left to carbonate and condition. With the brew you have in the barrel if it is smelling and tasting OK (although flat) then it may well be fine and is worth attempting to salvage, once the barrel is ready to be sealed airtight re-prime it with around 80g of sugar and seal up, leave it somewhere warm for a week or so to help the sugar dissolve and begin secondary fermentation quickly, then it can be moved somewhere a few degrees cooler if needed. It should then pressurise and can be tasted and hopefully it will turn it well

Just to jump in here, do you need to add CO2 to carbonate/pressure the keg before you have used any of the brew up in addition to the priming sugar?

HBO_Staff

Hi green0, the priming sugar will dissolve and secondary ferment which will then create carbonation and CO2 pressurising the barrel naturally, with some brews you do not need to add any CO2 to if it is drank at a steady pace. It's a case of just adding a CO2 bulb as and when needed to top up the pressure if the flow slows right down, this is more common as the barrel contents begin to get lower as there is a bigger void to fill and less brew to ctreate CO2 to fill that void