BobB4 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Hello all beer lovers! I'm new to the home-brewing world, and so I thought I'd start off by buying myself the Coopers DIY kit. I've just bottled my first brew so give me a couple of weeks and I'll let you know if my first effort was a spectacular triumph or stupendous failure. Everything was very straight forward except for one problem I couldn't seem to stop, that being that my tap leaked consistently. Obviously with a vat full of beer it was going to be hard to do anything about it yet i turned the tap however I could, tried to push it together more firmly, and yet the tap dripped. Sometimes it stopped for reasons I couldn't fathom, then after doing a Specific Density check it'd start up a again. By the end after putting an initial 23 liters in the vat, I was left with only 18 to bottle. No I know some of that would be lost because of testing, but regardless there's a fair bit of lost beer in that. I must admit I was quite disappointed with a brand new kit to lose to much due to something as simple as leakage. I just wanted to know is there anything that people would recommend to attempt to fix up my tap, or any other advice that people could give me? I'd love to start up a second brew soon (an ale this time I think, always preferred a nice ale to a lager) but obviously I'd like to fix this problem before I try. Thanks, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Welcome to the world of Brewing I would try and have it replaced http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/talk-brewing?g=posts&m=2015#post2015 (The post is rather old but I also found this customerservice@coopers.com.au). All the beers I have made from Coopers have come up winners (with the exception of my first brew). Have a look in the recipe section on the site for a beer that you may like and try it. My personal favourite is the toucan stout 1 x Original Series Stout Can 1 x Original Series Dark Ale Can 1Kg of Dextrose Fill to 23 L Pitch both yeast sachests It is a volcanic brew but I think it tastes great once ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kearnage Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Hi Bob, The new DIY kit has a really interesting tap design, and I think there are only two possible explanations for the tap leaking: either you haven't put it together quite right (I put it together completely wrong first go!), or the tap is damaged / faulty. Try putting it together a few times checking with the instruction diagram and test with just water in the fermenter (hell, we don't want to waste any more beer). If it still leaks, get on to Coopers customer service, I'm sure they will replace it if faulty. Cheers Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 i recommend reading MattyA's post "Abit of friday laughter"... and don't call 9-1-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biermoasta Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Here is a photo of my tap [cool] Make sure that when the tap is closed the inner rubber part forms a complete seal. This can be seen by checking the seal (where the arrow is pointing to) is a complete circle with no gaps. You may have to slightly jiggle the tap but it should easily form a seal. Other than that, i'm not sure what could be causing the leak. [pinched] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 The seal, as Biermosta depicted so well (NICE JOB!!), [biggrin] can drag against the tap body and slightly deform. Thus, causing a leak. A small amount of olive oil will most likely solve the problem with no detriment to head retention on the final beer. Check out... DIY FAQs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobB4 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 Thanks very much for the advice. I filled it up with water and the water is dripping not out of the tap, but rather from around the tap. So I think the leak is not so much the ring that Biermoasta highlighted, but rather the ring that runs all the way around below that one. I'll try some olive oil and see if that works. If not I'll give the customer service line a ring. Thanks Again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Hmmm, if you don't have success with the olive oil, as Matty said, contact our customer service. We will be keen to get the tap back for inspection. [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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