No gas

[therock2444]

Hello all i am from the uk and i need a little help from somone pls........... lol
this is my first batch of bitter i got passed all the first stage of fermentaion and the second stage and i started carbonating nicely and now it seems to have stoped its the first time i have ever done this so but i was reading the instructions that came with the kit and it said check it after the first 4 day so i did (when it was in the warm)
now its in the cool place clearing but it seens to have gone flat what should i do ???

please help thanx alot :rolleyes:

[Richard English]

If it's gone flat then the carbon dioxide generated by the secondary fermentation has escaped. What were you using for the secondary? A cask, a keg or bottles?

[therock2444]

thanks richard for replying i am using a keg

[Richard English]

As I understand them, kegs have various seals and gaskets, as well as unions onto which you need to connect the gas cylinder and the delivery pipe. I would think that there are plenty of places where they could leak gas if not set up properly.

Remember, the amount of gas produced during a secondary fermatation is very little (compared with the amount in a gas cylinder) and it won't take much to lose it.

I use a plastic cask that has a pressure release valve on the top and this allows me to have a secondary fermentation that adequately pressurises the beer. It's not the same as a keg, although there is provision for a cylinder for those who like them. However, I did have a failure which took me some time to track down and it was simply that the gasket on the filler cap had become too thin and, although it felt as though the cap was tightening, in fact the bottom of the cap was butting up against the top of the cask, not against the gasket. A new gasket solved the problem.

I rescued this batch (and you can do the same providing the beer's not infected) by adding some more priming sugar and letting it rip for a few days.

I have to say, though, that I have moved away from casks and now usually bottle my beer and wine. There is less chance of failure and the shelf life can be measured in years, not weeks.