5l mini keg bung leak?

[BPH]

In the past, I've only used bottles. For my last batch I tried a 5l mini keg. I put priming sugar and beer in the keg and capped it off with a rubber bung with a screw in it. Yesterday, after plenty of time for carbonation (>8 weeks), I tried to drink the beer, but it was flat. The taste was fine but there was no carbonation. It seems to me that pressure was released through the screw in the bung. Any advice on how this process it supposed to work, or what I'm supposed to do with the screw in the rubber bung? There seems to be a good seal around the edges of the bung because it is fairly difficult to push on. Also, I have another mini keg full of beer and I'm not sure if it's flat. How can I check if it's flat, and if it is, can I recarbonate it?

 

[Radarbrew]

Y'know I got 5 of those things from a buddy who don't brew anymore, and I tried them once for brewing. I had no luck, like you, there was no carbonation, and the beer went bad. I don't remember the bung having a screw, only a smaller plastic "cork" that you eventually push the pump into when it's serving time. Eventually I moved up to swing top bottles and a couple of corny kegs, and most of my problems brewing went away.

 

[homebrewer_99]

What's the deal with the screw? I have over 20 mini-kegs and not one screw?

Got any pictures?

 

[BPH]

This website has a picture of a bung with a screw in it like I have been using:

http://www.listermann.com/Inventory/bung001.jpg

 

[homebrewer_99]

I have bungs like that but without a screw. The center piece gets pushed into the keg when you insert a mini-keg tap.

I recommend you get one of those.

Does the keg have a built-in tap down near the bottom? If so, they are a gravity tap and use a different bung. Those are much simpler to use and you don't have to buy a tap.

 

[Tophe]

Yeah, not sure why theres a screw in there. Ive used them twice so far and had no trouble with carbonation.