It's Kegging Time 2019

[Smash]

On 6/28/2019 at 10:20 AM, The Captain!! said:

seems like it. Theres lots of keg line calculators online you could use to get it spot on.

 

58 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Could be something causing turbulence as well. Unfortunately that isn't always easy to find. You'd think 1.5 metres of 4mm ID line would be enough to prevent foaming. I wouldn't go out to 3 or 4 metres, but maybe 2 metres. 

Cheers guys, I'll keep it at 12psi to see if anything changes over the next few days and see what it's like. Can always decarb if needed! 

[Gus96]

Well it seems I spoke too soon regarding leaking connectors.

I lost half a bottle of gas last night due to a faulty CMB connector  after swapping out an empty keg. Only noticed the gauge had dropped when pouring my second beer for the day, Swapped a few connects around and found the culprit.

 off the LHBS tomorrow for some SS ones. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by Gus96
spelling

[MitchellScott]

15 hours ago, Gus96 said:

Well it seems I spoke too soon regarding leaking connectors.

I lost half a bottle of gas last night due to a faulty CMB connector  after swapping out an empty keg. Only noticed the gauge had dropped when pouring my second beer for the day, Swapped a few connects around and found the culprit.

 off the LHBS tomorrow for some SS ones. 

I don't wanna make you feel any worse, but if you're talking about the C02 bottle pressure gauge on the reg, then you are basically out of gas.

Because C02 in the bottle is liquid C02, that pressure gauge will not change until the last bit of liquid C02 converts to gas. Then it will drop to 0 VERY fast.

So keep an eye on it, you will probably need a bottle refill.

Mitch.

[Gus96]

1 hour ago, MitchellScott said:

I don't wanna make you feel any worse, but if you're talking about the C02 bottle pressure gauge on the reg, then you are basically out of gas.

Because C02 in the bottle is liquid C02, that pressure gauge will not change until the last bit of liquid C02 converts to gas. Then it will drop to 0 VERY fast.

So keep an eye on it, you will probably need a bottle refill.

Mitch.

Thanks, but it's definitely the connector as there is still gas in the bottle.

Turning the bottle off the serving pressure stays the same but the bottle level drops to nothing in seconds.

Years of welding helps finding gas leak problems.

[MitchellScott]

1 hour ago, Gus96 said:

Thanks, but it's definitely the connector as there is still gas in the bottle.

Turning the bottle off the serving pressure stays the same but the bottle level drops to nothing in seconds.

Years of welding helps finding gas leak problems.

I think I mis-interpreted your first post. Thought you had the gas on when checking the gauge.. My bad.

Glad you found it quickly

[Gus96]

Turns out the offending gas connect was a Kegland one and not the CMB which came with the Kegerator new.

See the attached pic and the one with the black insert is the culprit, not sure why I didn't pick the difference before.my LHBS is going to supply me with a new one, gratis. they also have new full 6KG gas bottles going cheap so I got a spare. apparently there is a price war going on between suppliers. 

[MitchellScott]

37 minutes ago, Gus96 said:

Turns out the offending gas connect was a Kegland one and not the CMB which came with the Kegerator new.

See the attached pic and the one with the black insert is the culprit, not sure why I didn't pick the difference before.my LHBS is going to supply me with a new one, gratis. they also have new full 6KG gas bottles going cheap so I got a spare. apparently there is a price war going on between suppliers. 

Good to hear the CMB ones weren't the cause.

As I said I've only head great things about them.

And yep, you just need to look at KegLand and KegKing to see evidence of that... $83 for a brand new full 6kg C02 bottle is crazy but hey I'm not complaining!

Edited July 1, 2019 by MitchellScott

[MitchellScott]

Quick question for the masters...

Have my Draught system all up and running and all good so far...

I just have a question regarding my taps. They are auto closing so have the auto close spring in the shank. When I do up the collar circled below, the tap has a lot of friction and doesn't auto shut.

 

I loosened it off and it now auto shuts properly and seems to work okay - no leaks yet.

Have I done this correctly? I essentially loosened it and kept testing until the tap moved smoothly and auto closed smoothly with no resistance, then tightened the other collar down on top of it and screwed on the handle.

Thought I would ask as I would prefer to be safe then sorry :).

Mitch.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Good question actually. The taps I have aren't auto close so I just hand tighten the collar and it's fine. 

[The Captain!!]

Sounds right to me but I’m not 100%, I’ve got the same taps as Otto.

[Hairy]

It looks like an Intertap tap like mine.

You are right, just loosen or tighten the collar to get the right seal.

[MitchellScott]

Thanks guys. 

That picture isn't the picture of my tap exactly. It's just one I found online. I can get a pic of mine of necessary though. 

Mitch. 

[Hairy]

1 minute ago, MitchellScott said:

Thanks guys. 

That picture isn't the picture of my tap exactly. It's just one I found online. I can get a pic of mine of necessary though. 

Mitch. 

Not necessary, it sounds like you have done the right thing.

In the end, if the tap moves freely and it doesn't leak then all is good.

[Spudley]

Kegged the Zombie Dust tonight, the aroma coming from the Beer was awesome , Tiz in the fridge now cooling down for a couple days then ill force carb ready for that Citra hit.

Cheers

Spud

[MitchellScott]

Anarchy IPA kegged today so in about 24 hours we will have both taps in full swing 

Love my new keg setup. 

And no the VBs aren't mine before you ask 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Still trying to empty my FWH ale. It can't have much to go but it almost tastes like a lager. 

[Beer Baron]

4 hours ago, MitchellScott said:

Anarchy IPA kegged today so in about 24 hours we will have both taps in full swing 

Love my new keg setup. 

And no the VBs aren't mine before you ask 

Plenty of room for more kegs!!

[MitchellScott]

10 minutes ago, Beer Baron said:

Plenty of room for more kegs!!

I'm happy with just two taps, it's generally only me who drinks it... Dad just likes his VB 

I think I will get one more keg so I can have one carbed and ready to go to swap out when one empties. Seems like the logical thing to do, otherwise when one runs out I'll have a tap with nothing on it for 3 + weeks while a brew ferments.

Edited July 7, 2019 by MitchellScott

[Pezzza]

4 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Still trying to empty my FWH ale. It can't have much to go but it almost tastes like a lager. 

That would be a nice place to be.... where  you have too much brew than you need ; )

[Otto Von Blotto]

I just want it gone because it's kinda boring now.

Still a worthwhile experiment though. 

[The Captain!!]

Kegged my BVIP today. Added the 375ml of bourbon then the porter over the top

[porschemad911]

On 7/7/2019 at 9:40 PM, Bearded Burbler said:

That would be a nice place to be.... where  you have too much brew than you need ; )

Haha it brings its own stress! Where am I going to put all this beer? My beer cupboard is jam packed and I still have my Black DIPL to somehow squeeze in when I bottle it next week. Then I'm brewing my Aramis pils. 

Main problem with no drinking for July and at least half of August is that there is no egress to match the ingress. Maybe after brewing the pils (I already have all ingredients) I will be forced to wait a little before another brew evening. 

Cheers, 

John 

[Pezzza]

10 hours ago, porschemad911 said:

Haha it brings its own stress! Where am I going to put all this beer? My beer cupboard is jam packed and I still have my Black DIPL to somehow squeeze in when I bottle it next week. Then I'm brewing my Aramis pils. 

Main problem with no drinking for July and at least half of August is that there is no egress to match the ingress. Maybe after brewing the pils (I already have all ingredients) I will be forced to wait a little before another brew evening. 

Cheers, 

John 

Great Stuff John doing the dry July effort (and part of August too by the sounds of it).  I think that well brewed beer tastes even more amazingly good after a break off the juice.  And your time off will allow a bit of brew maturation time as well.  However, I guess if square or cubic metres of space is a problem... then that is  a bit of an issue I guess... not so much for me at the mo... and I just invested in a lovely inexpensive electric blanket to do the temp controlled 20 deg C bottle secondary ferment of quite a bit of bottled brew all resting on a table up off the cold floor under doonahs sleeping bags etc to conserve the warmth... seems to be going ok with an increasing inventory of bottled AG brew... pretty exciting really.  

[Pezzza]

10 hours ago, porschemad911 said:

Haha it brings its own stress! Where am I going to put all this beer? My beer cupboard is jam packed...

The big problems in life always require a big solution.... here we go John:

Unfortunately I am unable to provide Planning Approval for your Local Government Regs 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Kegged my Bohemian pilsner today, it's been in the fridge for the last hour on 45psi or so. I'll turn its gas off tomorrow about 11/12 o'clock, and back on at serving pressure around 6. Should be nice and carbed by then. Didn't warm it up, just straight into the fridge after filling. 

I was hoping that the FWH ale would run out before I was ready to fill a keg but of course it ran out after I filled another one, so the beer line hasn't been cleaned this time. I'm actually surprised that keg lasted this long, it's been in there about 4 weeks. I'm sure it won't be an issue though, the 100-200mL at the start that I discard will clear the old beer out. The line isn't connected to the keg at the moment, I don't trust it to hold the pressure after making a mess of lemon lime and bitters a while back. 

A 1469 starter went into the brew fridge after filling the keg as well, planning to pitch the brown ale tomorrow. I reckon the pilsner will last until that one is kegged, as it will only take about 2.5 weeks.