Tap-a-draft difficulty..

[ray m]

I have yet another tap-a-draft question. In its inaugural brew, I forced carbonated one bottle (which performed flawlessly all the way down to the last glass), and primed the other bottle with priming sugar. After 3 weeks of conditioning for the primed bottle, I chilled it, quickly unscrewed the cap and affixed the tap mechanism. Put in two CO2 cartridges as instructed, then started pulling pints the following day. I am now just a little over halfway into the contents of the bottle and all CO2 pressure is gone. When I was about 1/4 of the way into the bottle, the beer was considerably slower coming out of the tap. For the last week or 2, I opened the tap to pour a glass, and nothing would come out for about 10 seconds, then the beer s-l-o-w-l-y drained out. Tonight, the slow flow stopped altogether and I had to squeeze the beer out of the bottle. When I first got into this bottle, I had to move it forward slightly in the fridge so I could get my glass under the tap. Could this slight jostling cause the tapping mechanism to release CO2 pressure? How many cartridges should I use now, halfway into the bottle, to get the remaining beer out?

[fuji6100]

I had the same problem with my first naturally carbinated bottle. I figured out the problem, however. The beer is already carbinated and plugging 2 co2 cartridges actually over-pressurizes the system and trips the release valve (I could hear it slowly hissing out)

Since then, I've only used 1 co2 cartridge at a time and I try and leave a little more headspace at the top (I used to fill it up to the neck). This has worked fine for me and I usually have to put the second cartridge in about halfway through the Bottle.

As far as force carbinating goes, it usually eats up 2 cartridges to force carbinate a full flat bottle and then another 2 to dispense.

That's just my experience. Good luck and enjoy! The tap a draft has been one of my favorite additions to my beer-toys (and most useful)

One side note. For some reason my beers out of the tap a draft taste more hoppy than those from the same batch that were bottled. I wonder if it has something to do with more beer in a single volume conditioning vs. a small bottle?

[ray m]

Thanks for the reply, Fuji...if I read your response right, it sounds like I should just add 1 cartridge to get the remaining beer out of the bottle. The next time I naturally carbonate one, I will use only 1 cartridge at a time. The force carbonation I did worked very well---so there were no problems there.

[sloand2000]

How long does it take to force carbonate with the tap a draft system? Does the beer tast as good as naturally carbonated beer? How much priming sugar did you use to natually carbonate?

Thanks,
Dennis

[zoom6zoom]

I've never force carbed my TAD. As far as the amount of priming sugar, I don't add it directly to the jug, it all gets added in my bottling bucket before it goes into the TAD containers and/or bottles.

[Wilson]

When I force carb my beer with TAD, I use 2 co2 cartridges and let the bottle sit in the fridge for about a week. You can then pour a few glasses but will have to add another bulb or two for the rest.

When I naturally carbonate, I only use 1/8 cup of sugar per TAD bottle. Let sit for two weeks, open, dispense a beer, add a co2 bulb and have fun!

I got this info off this site...might have been from Fuji, I dont remember, but there is more detailed info around here somewhere.

[sloand2000]

Thanks for the help!!!!

[sloand2000]

One more question. The instructions for the cleaning the tap a draft system state to simply rinse with hot water. How do you recommend cleaning the system??

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

[sloand2000]

Sorry, new at this. I read somewhere that you can carbonate your beer very quickly by shaking it for 5 or 10 minutes while it's in the tap a draft system. You guys know anything about this.

[Wilson]

Originally posted by sloand2000
One more question. The instructions for the cleaning the tap a draft system state to simply rinse with hot water. How do you recommend cleaning the system??

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

I clean and sanitize the bottles before I fill them. I run hot water over the tap to clean it good, then dip it in some one-step or something similar before I put it on a new bottle. If I'm just switching the tap from one bottle to the next and its the same beer, I just do it, without cleaning or anything. Its worked well for me for a while now, I really like it.

[brewsci]

I have to say I love my TAD. For cleaning the tap I just run the hottest tap water through it for a minute. I usually rinse it before attaching it the next time too.

I have also tested the "How fast can you carbonate it?" question and if it is already cold there will be noticable carbonation with gentle shaking after 15 minutes. If yout shake it too much, the pressure will be too high and it will leak CO2 through the relief valve. Unless I am force carbonating, I always use 1 empty cartridge and 1 full one.

This thread has compiled some useful info on the TAD

http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?threadid=6020&highlight=tapadraft

[sloand2000]

Thanks for all the info. I'm going to try to force carbonate a batch
tonight.