How to use a pressure barrel?

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stephenaxe

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Hello, this is my first atempt at making my own beer as i bought myself a youngs kit to get me started for christmas. I have also just bought a youngs pressure barrel but am a bit confused how to fill it as there is an attachment on the top but from what i can see it looks blocked!! Also when i read the instructions it seams to tell me to open the lid and do it that way but wont that let the pressure out plus what would be the point of having the attachement in the first place! Is there anyone who has used this pressure barrel before that could tell me the best way to do it that would be a great help

thanks

stephenaxe
 
I used to use a pressure barrel several years ago, and I would think it was similar to the one you have.

To fill it, remove the top (there won't be any pressure in an empty barrel), and clean and sanitize everything. Prepare your priming sugar by boiling it in a small amount of water for about 15 minutes, cool it so that it won't damage the plastic when you add it to the barrel, and pour into the barrel.
Then (using a sanitized racking cane) siphon your beer on top of the sugar solution, leaving the trub behind in the fermenter.
Screw on the top, and leave it in a warm place (20 C plus) for at least 3 weeks. During this time, the yeasts will ferment the priming sugar and generate CO2 which will cause pressure to build up.
The attachment on the top should be for a CO2 cartridge which can be used for dispensing the beer, and preventing it from going flat. I used to give it a quick shot of CO2 after every 4 or 5 pints which worked well for English Bitters.

Hope this helps.

-a.
 
Unless you like drinking flat beer, you will need some CO2. You don't need a CO2 tank. You should be able to get cartridges and an adapter for the barrel, and they are enough to keep some pressure on the beer, and preventing it from going flat. They are no good for force carbing though.

-a.
 
Oversized bullets yes.
They also need an adapter that screws on to the pressure barrel cap.
The place you got the barrel from should have them.

-a.
 
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