Kegs and co2 injectors (newbie query

[rmg70]

Hi all,
I put a Coopers IPA brew on 2 weeks ago. It's my second attempt at a kit and the first was about 7 years ago and was not good. Last Sunday I racked it into a budget keg, and it's been sitting comfortably in the cupboard under the stairs ever since. I have a couple of questions and I'm hoping for a few pointers.
a) How long should I expect to leave it to condition and clear, and at what point is it worth giving it a try to see what it's like?
b) The cap on top of the keg has a basic pressure release valve. I also have a cap with a co2 injector (with the small 8g bulbs). I have no idea if/when I need to put the injector cap on, or if I should have started off with that on when I kegged the brew last w/e.
If anyone can give me some advice on either/both of these areas I'd really appreciate it.
Cheers
rmg

[brysie]

hi rmg

cant help with the co2 question but with regards to how long to leave it before sampling, have a taste son.
however the rule of thumb for conditioning is one week for every 10 sg points drop.
with most kits youre probably looking at three to four weeks, but six to eight will give you better results. [yeah, like youre gonna wait that long ]

[mickhew]

Hello. You'll need to (well, best practice anyway) to inject Co2 when the barrell pressure drops, i.e the tap slows right down to a trickle, this suggests a "vacuum" is forming above the beer, and you run the risk of air being sucked in through the tap, which can spoil the beer. On my barrell, when this happened, I just took the standard cap off, put the Co2 one on, and injected a bulb. This re-pressurised the barrell, and the tap flowed smoothly again.

[Ditch]

rmg70; Ye have, as Brysie says, so long to 'Condition' the beer in the keg. Dream up your own happy medium. Hold that thought.

Now, once ye start drinking the stuff, it's down to how much ye consume before ye reach the 'Danger Point' Mickhew there is referring to. And that danger is, broadly, related to how fast ye going to drain that keg!

So, here's a third option, as it were: Consider that ye new to the game. As with anything we start as a potential hobby; Best to be certain we're hooked before throwing cash at it. Steady as ye go then. Condition that beer. Pump ye little 'Sparklet' bulbs into it, to keep the blanket of protective CO2 above it and insure it never sucks air in as ye try to pour.

But, somewhere in there, ask yeself; Am I enjoying this? Will I do it again, and again? If the answer is " Hell, Yes! ". That's the time to ask for an S30 valve and 'bottle' of CO2. Then, next time ye keg, replace the valve ye have with the S30 and 'Gas' the keg from the much bigger, much cheaper (in the long run) 'Gas Bottle'.

[Trough Lolly]

G'day rmg70,
Excellent advice there from Ditch - keep the sparklers for the weekend get togethers at the park and use the larger CO2 bottle as your standard gas filler...you'll have the convenience of the bulb for away sessions and the economic convience of the larger bottle at home...

Cheers,
TL

[rmg70]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. Guess I might give it a little taster shortly then leave it for another couple of weeks to do it's thang.

[brysie]

taste it. go on ...you know you want to.

[rmg70]

Well, I did have a taste and it was ok (although still cloudy and lacking condition I guess - it's only been in the keg a week), not the best beer I've ever had but not unpleasant either.

Unfortunately there is a fairly major problem with my keg. The beer was on the flat side and there was no pressure. I quickly popped on the co2 cap and while this obviously sorted the dispense issue, it also revealed that under pressure the keg has a leak, right underneath the tap. This is probably cos the keg is a few years old and must have taken a knock at some point. All the time I was soaking it & sterilising it, and (so I thought) conditioning the ale there was no leak.

So, my latest question is; Are these 40-odd pints a write off or can they be saved by transferring to a new keg? Or will it just introduce too much air? At present I've removed co2 pressure and tilted the keg to stop the leak. I'm going to find it quite upsetting to tip it all away

[Ditch]

Don't sling it! It's not gone over, so there's every hope.

Get a yard of pvc tubing that'll fit onto that tap. Position the duff keg above a fresh one and run the end of the tube into the bottom of the good keg. Drain ye beer into the fresh keg that way. Keeps it from splashing about through the air.

Down to you then, whether ye reprime with sugar or just CO2 to cover it. But that'll likely save ye brew

[rmg70]

Thanks Ditch, I'll give it a try.

If I reprimed is there still enough yeast in the brew to act on the sugar? And would it be likely to sweeten the beer much?

[Lillywhite]

If I reprimed is there still enough yeast in the brew to act on the sugar?

I doubt if there is. Best to charge you keg with gas now and move to a cooler environment and check in a day or so if you keg has now sealed.

[rmg70]

Just wanted to post my thanks to all who advised on this. The brew was saved and supping began a week ago after it had finally cleared. Not much life in it I have to say but taste wise it's very drinkable - I've had much worse in the pub before now! Considering the hassles I had I'm very pleased with the result.
When I've drained it I think the fabled Coopers Stout may be worth a go, but I can see from the forum that that's a whole other story Thanks again gents.

Russ