It's Kegging Time 2019

[Journeyman]

25 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

I would suggest connecting a very long hose and a disconnect to that so you can use it as an auxillary hose to gas kegs etc that are outside the fridge.  Makes life very easy if you don't have a second bottle. 

I made a mistake of only getting 3 x gas/beer disconnects - I bought for the kegs I had and should have bought for the gas lines on the manifold. Will be rectified next order but an extra gas one is a good idea. Rather than another hole in the fridge though I think I'll just get a T connector for outside the fridge and have the extra line on that. Strictly speaking it should not be needed as I have room for 4 kegs in the fridge.

[iBooz2]

18 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

Once they have been sitting say overnight at 40 psi I just disconnect the gas ball locks from these kegs.  Turn gas off at the bottle then wind the harris regulator knob anti-clockwise about 5 half turns (my way of saying 5 wrist turns).  Then connect the gas back up to my already tapped serving keg which usually sits at 8 - 10 psi.

I have another pressure gauge 0 - 50 psi on a gas ball lock connector which is used as a spare and tester.

As a experiment, hooked it up the the keg of Busty Blonde which was kegged on 01/05/20 and forced carbed to 40 psi at about 16:00 same day.  It was left at 40 psi until about midday on the 02/05/20 when the gas was disconnected.  This keg has been kept in the keg fridge at about 2 C.   As of noon today 03/05/20 the pressure was down to 9 psi so I am guessing all that extra has been absorbed by the beer.  There are no leaks in the keg or fittings.

That might give you and idea of force carbing and when it will be back down to around serving pressure.  In this case one full day after disconnect from force carb pressure and it was back down to approx serving pressure.

I will retest the pressure in another day or so or just before I tap this keg to see if/where the pressure gets down to and post the results.

Cheers - AL

Edited May 3, 2020 by iBooz2

[Otto Von Blotto]

Yeah I have a spare line on my manifold outside the fridge itself, but I only use it for purging, and putting a little pressure in kegs that aren't going in straight away. They could be carbonated at room temperature but it would use more gas. 

[Journeyman]

I would very much like to thank you guys for your patience with my interminable questions and my 'over-thinking' - but it has paid great dividends.

This is my kegerator, almost complete - still need to sort out a chain for the gas bottle but otherwise, this is how she is.  (I have adjusted the tap handles down so they are level now.  )

And these are the 1st 2 beers. No adjustments, no line cuts needed. I might kick the PSI up to 12 as the 2nd one needed a tiny bit of work for a nice head.

Mark am VERY happy chappie.  

[Journeyman]

SWMBO says... "You know we're going to end up with the kegerator in the lounge... right?" OMFG! What have I done!!!

[Marty_G]

J'man once you start drinking kegs you will not believe the difference in taste and speed of conditioning.  I give you 6 months and you will be taking the AG leap. 

[Journeyman]

6 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

J'man once you start drinking kegs you will not believe the difference in taste and speed of conditioning.  I give you 6 months and you will be taking the AG leap. 

If you were offering money on it I'd take it. I'm a lazy-as bastard and that grain stuff seems like FAR too much work for me. I'm doing partials only because I have a sous vide so I can put the bag in and come back a couple of hours later.  

Doing anything like that with the full 20 litres makes my bad back and gone knees ache at the thought.

But this beer is 'verra naice'

 

[Marty_G]

8 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

If you were offering money on it I'd take it. I'm a lazy-as bastard and that grain stuff seems like FAR too much work for me. I'm doing partials only because I have a sous vide so I can put the bag in and come back a couple of hours later.  

Doing anything like that with the full 20 litres makes my bad back and gone knees ache at the thought.

But this beer is 'verra naice'

 

Cut the excuses it is a piece of piss.  If you can lift a 19 litre keg which weighs 23.5kg full into that Kegger you can do AG brewing.  And as far as time. You're retired and care for the wife now don't you? I would imagine that you would have enough time in a day to find the window of activity needed. My last brew took less than 4 hours and that involved about 30-45 minutes activity over that time.  The last part of the day is no different time and work wise than doing a kit brew.  That is put the wort in the fermenter, pitch the yeast and clean up.  

[Journeyman]

I'd answer but I'm just searching the net for how to get commission on getting people to go AG.  

We'll see.  I'll have to repeat quite a few beers as keg instead of bottle first. By which time I will probably have forgotten what AG means.

But I am shit-faced happy with the kegerator.

Edited May 3, 2020 by Journeyman

[Shamus O'Sean]

49 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

SWMBO says... "You know we're going to end up with the kegerator in the lounge... right?" OMFG! What have I done!!!

Looks great Jman.  I love the his and hers Guinness glasses.

[Journeyman]

Today could be beer-free. That last sentence in my previous post ended with the hyphenated word.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Why not just leave the gas bottle on the floor? That's where mine sits behind the bar. 

[Titan]

You could go with one of these. https://www.keg-king.com.au/s34-cylinder-bracket-holder.html.html

[Journeyman]

12 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Why not just leave the gas bottle on the floor? That's where mine sits behind the bar. 

It's an idea. But given I paid the extra for a Harris reg I'd rather not risk an accident and having to replace it.

12 hours ago, Titan said:

You could go with one of these. https://www.keg-king.com.au/s34-cylinder-bracket-holder.html.html

Interesting. Might be an issue putting it on the wall though - those holes are wider than the joists and studs so it would need a backing plate of some kind. If I rearrange the man cave, (something I have been thinking about) I'd have to do some fixing up. Still, something to think about.

On the fridge also seems an issue because the base plate would transfer load to an outward force. That might or might not be significant - the metal of the fridge was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I had to put aside my battery drill and get out the 240V hammer drill, which made VERY short work of it, but still, 20kg levering outwards on a thin metal plate might not be the best for the fridge.

The chain idea keeps it safe and only has 2 holes (or even just one) for hook(s) and no load issues. 

[iBooz2]

@Journeyman Just leave the cylinder on the floor with a restraint around the neck/top to the wall, I use a short bungee with hooks on each end to an eye bolt into my masonry wall.

If you really need to fix something to your plaster wall that requires a backing plate, then use a "fronting plate".

A fronting plate is an off cut of merbau decking or similar hardwood cut so it’s long enough to span just past the required number of wall studs.  This is then batten screwed to the centre of each wall stud, then your fixture can be attached to that.

Use a router or plane to bevel the edges of the fronting plate and it can be stained or painted to match the décor and it will not look out of place.  Do this before batten screwing it to your wall of course.

Cheers - AL

[Popo the Reprobate]

I'm juggling some kegs and a fermenter in the same fridge and after a bit of advice if anyone can help me out.

In a week or so I'll be able to fill a couple of kegs but I still have one beer left to ferment - a lager. With a bit of manoeuvring I can fit 2 kegs and my fermenter into the fridge. I won't be drinking them until I'm finished fermenting the lager but I'm not sure of how I should carbonate the kegs in waiting. I'm thinking the kegs are gunna be better in the fridge with the lager. Not a perfect system but I have to run with it for the time being.  I have only used the 40psi overnight method so not real sure of what to do under these circumstances.

Any help appreciated. Cheers.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I'd probably just put them on serving pressure. It won't fully carbonate them given the warmer temperature but it also won't take as long when they are chilled down. 

[Popo the Reprobate]

Cheers, man. 

[iBooz2]

6 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I'd probably just put them on serving pressure. It won't fully carbonate them given the warmer temperature but it also won't take as long when they are chilled down. 

@Popo yes was going to suggest this but thought I should wait for more keggerwise men to advise.

I have the same problem juggling kegs as my keg fridge can only handle two at a time.  When one of the tapped ones gets to about 1/2 way empty then I sneak the next in line up next to the keg fridge in order to use third gas line and sort of pre-carb it at serving pressure albeit at room temp.  It's no where near enough but it helps when it finally goes into the keg fridge to chill down and carb properly.

Cheers - AL

[Popo the Reprobate]

Thanks @iBooz2.

[Otto Von Blotto]

That's why I got a second FV. Mine only has two beer kegs on tap, but because of the configuration it's a PITA to get at the one at the back. I just wait for both of them to be empty then clean them and the lines and taps, then put two full ones in and carbonate overnight. Then I ferment and fill the next two while those are on tap. 

[Journeyman]

14 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

That's why I got a second FV. Mine only has two beer kegs on tap, but because of the configuration it's a PITA to get at the one at the back. I just wait for both of them to be empty then clean them and the lines and taps, then put two full ones in and carbonate overnight. Then I ferment and fill the next two while those are on tap. 

I thought you did your keg carbs at serving pressure? That would take longer than overnight wouldn't it?

Edited May 9, 2020 by Journeyman

[Otto Von Blotto]

25 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

I thought you did your keg carbs at serving pressure? That would take longer than overnight wouldn't it?

Sometimes I do, most times I do 45psi overnight (22 hours or so), then turn off the gas and let it sit for another few hours before burping and turning the gas back on at serving pressure. 

I have a batch to keg today that will be getting the high pressure overnight job. I'll just turn the gas off to the other beer and the soda water while it's doing that. They'll still pour fine. Plus I can always give them a split second hit of gas if needed.

[ben 10]

15 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

That's why I got a second FV.

Only two? 

[The Captain!!]

14 minutes ago, Ben 10 said:

Only two? 

Amateurs hey Ben........