It's Kegging Time 2021.

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 hour ago, Aussiekraut said:

Is there a reliable way to tell how much beer is left in a keg or is it part of the game to not know when a keg will blow? 

I try to keep a little spreadsheet on my phone up dated with each glass I drink. I must miss a few, especially around 1am on a Saturday night, because my kegs always blow when the spreadsheet says they should have 4 -6 litres left.

[Aussiekraut]

47 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

 

 

 

only way really to know  is by weighing the keg  as 1kg of liquid would roughly be 1litre.

or you could spend a fortune  on a plaato keg management system you will need 3-4 of them in 4 keg  kegarator   as you sit the full kegs on them
and after each glass   the keg managent system will tell you how much left in the keg..

otherwise you  get surprised when you get gas coming out and not beer


on the second one  you could set up a manifold with inline regulaters  so you can just turn gas full on  and set the inline regs to what ever you want
like below

Yeah I saw those but they come across a little flimsy. I'll have to have a closer look.

 

[Tricky Micky]

Mobile Bar - could catch on. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

4 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Mobile Bar - could catch on. 

Works for me 

[stquinto]

Thought I'd start (in a small way) with kegging as I have a brew of Irish Stout on. Got a cuppla questions if I may be so bold...

I got a coffee/nitro setup, with a spare keg, and all the attachements to use a SodaStream bottle. I got a dual-purpose tap - a normal spout and a stout spout (I think they push in more air or gas or something).

Only going for 5 litre kegs for the minute as I don't have a dedicated fridge yet. If it goes OK I'll probably get a second-hand fridge and some 10 litre kegs. I'd go for cornies but I'm not sure how long the beer is OK once it's been started.

Any advice on carbonation - either put half the sugar you'd usually use for bottling, or is it better to keg it straight from the FV and use the CO2 from the SodaStream to carbonate ? From what I've read the nitro is only for serving, you carb it up first.

In either case how long before you can get stuck into the keg ? Same as the bottles - two weeks, or less ?

 

The Stout'll be going in tomorrow

 

[ozdevil]

4 hours ago, stquinto said:

Thought I'd start (in a small way) with kegging as I have a brew of Irish Stout on. Got a cuppla questions if I may be so bold...

I got a coffee/nitro setup, with a spare keg, and all the attachements to use a SodaStream bottle. I got a dual-purpose tap - a normal spout and a stout spout (I think they push in more air or gas or something).

Only going for 5 litre kegs for the minute as I don't have a dedicated fridge yet. If it goes OK I'll probably get a second-hand fridge and some 10 litre kegs. I'd go for cornies but I'm not sure how long the beer is OK once it's been started.

Any advice on carbonation - either put half the sugar you'd usually use for bottling, or is it better to keg it straight from the FV and use the CO2 from the SodaStream to carbonate ? From what I've read the nitro is only for serving, you carb it up first.

In either case how long before you can get stuck into the keg ? Same as the bottles - two weeks, or less ?

 

The Stout'll be going in tomorrow

 

My advice

is fv to keg   place the keg in fridge   connect the co2  up and carb  that way
set and forget  around 12psi for 7 days 

my advice would be to get a 2.6kg co2 bottle  for carbing  and saving your co2 bulbs
as basicly 1 bulb will pour a full 5 litre keg (ihave a ikegger 5litre keg)

I basicly carb it with my 6.0kg bottle  and if i want to take the keg to golf or to a friends place for bbq 
i just use the sodastream bulbs   or the 400g sodastream co2

[Shamus O'Sean]

10 hours ago, stquinto said:

Thought I'd start (in a small way) with kegging as I have a brew of Irish Stout on. Got a cuppla questions if I may be so bold... Of course you may

I got a coffee/nitro setup, with a spare keg, and all the attachements to use a SodaStream bottle. I got a dual-purpose tap - a normal spout and a stout spout (I think they push in more air or gas or something).  My only experience with a stout spout is with pushing CO2 carbed beer through one at standard serving pressure.  This still came out okay - see photo here.

Only going for 5 litre kegs for the minute as I don't have a dedicated fridge yet. If it goes OK I'll probably get a second-hand fridge and some 10 litre kegs. I'd go for cornies but I'm not sure how long the beer is OK once it's been started.  If you have sanitised the keg and parts, the beer will stay fine for months.  At least as long as it lasts in bottles.

Any advice on carbonation - either put half the sugar you'd usually use for bottling, or is it better to keg it straight from the FV and use the CO2 from the SodaStream to carbonate ? From what I've read the nitro is only for serving, you carb it up first.  My first few kegs were fast carbed: Hooked up to CO2 bottle at 40psi for 24 hours, disconnect, turn pressure back to 14 psi, burp keg, reconnect, drink.  Once my kegerator was full and I knew it would be at least two weeks before I could put a newly filled keg in, I started natural carbing them with 3/4 the amount of sugar I would use to bottle the same volume.  I have also done as per @ozdevil and carbed at 12 psi for 7 days.  I now prefer the fast carbed method.  If you use a SodaStream bottle and the bulbs, CO2 will be a bit more precious.  Therefore natural (sugar) carbing might suit you better.  Sorry, I cannot help with the Nitro serving question.

In either case how long before you can get stuck into the keg ? Same as the bottles - two weeks, or less ?  Fast carbed: Next day.  Slow carbed: 7 days.  Natural (sugar) carbed: 2 weeks, like bottling.

That's a great start mate.  See my comments in blue

[ozdevil]

7 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

That's a great start mate.  See my comments in blue

i really dont understand the rush method of fast carbing

i see no reason to it at all  part you can drink the next day

you spend time brewing it you spend time fermenting it like it was ya 1st kiddie

but you dont want to spend time conditioning it.

i get fast carbing has its place and we all will do it..(i'm trying to refrain from doing it)

the thing is you can do everything at 40 psi  but then before pouring you have to get it back to serving  pressure
that means alot of foam in the meantime specially to someone new to the kegging scene..

i would never suggest fast carbing a 5 litre keg

its probably done on a slow carnb in 3 days  due to the volume.

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

You raise a number of good points @ozdevil that @stquinto would be advised to follow.

With fast carbing, I am just impatient.  With me being the only beer drinker in the house, my kegs last a while.  So I barely drink a litre, maybe 1.5 litres in the first week, after which the beer has had its week conditioning.  It does not usually taste bad in the first week either.  I do not have issues with foaming after a fast carb.

You are spot-on with trying to fast carb a 5 litre keg, OD.  I forgot about that BIG difference.  It would be much faster than a 19 litre Corny keg. 

I do not know the numbers, but 3 days at serving (slow) carb pressure would probably do the trick and it is the much better recommendation.

[stquinto]

15 hours ago, ozdevil said:

My advice

is fv to keg   place the keg in fridge   connect the co2  up and carb  that way
set and forget  around 12psi for 7 days 

my advice would be to get a 2.6kg co2 bottle  for carbing  and saving your co2 bulbs
as basicly 1 bulb will pour a full 5 litre keg (ihave a ikegger 5litre keg)

I basicly carb it with my 6.0kg bottle  and if i want to take the keg to golf or to a friends place for bbq 
i just use the sodastream bulbs   or the 400g sodastream co2

@ozdevil cheers mate, I think that'll work for me. I've got a bit confused with the stuff I got from ikegger - I got the nitro coffee kit and  a seperate CO2 mini regulator to carb it up first (the N2 is for serving). It looks like both gas systems fit in the same hole so I assume I carb it up first with the CO2 / sodastream, then take it out , potentially losing all of the CO2 already in it, before screwing in the N2 adaptor. I will confirm with them tomorrow, but I can't see how to keep the CO2 in whilst you change over to N2. In any case I can wait a few days, got plenty of other brews to keep me going.

9 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

If you use a SodaStream bottle and the bulbs, CO2 will be a bit more precious

@Shamus O'Sean good point mate, unless I go full kegging I will probably start with the SodaStream for the time being.

21 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

With me being the only beer drinker in the house, my kegs last a while.

I'm also in the same boat and would be concerned about how long a tapped 19 litre keg would last. Although I get through a bit of it  I like to chop and change - a glass of this, then a glass of that, then a glass of another still etc., I would be unlikely to drink only from the same keg till it blows.

I'm looking at a second hand fridge where I am, if I get one and source my gas, and the opened kegs don't go off too quick, I'd go the full cornie setup with maybe 4 lines. But if the kegs don't last that long once tapped I'd go for 10 litre kegs.

I've got about 400+ Duvel bottles, some 75cl ones that are as thick as Champagne bottles, and quite a few swingies and pint bottles, and more Trappist ones. Took quite some collecting I can tell you (sigh ! The effort we put into our work)... So I'd probably keep those for the Cooper's Vintage Ales, and other high strength ones that are probably better being bottle aged.

Cheers fellas, will let you know how it works out. Happy Brewing

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by stquinto
typo

[Shamus O'Sean]

40 minutes ago, stquinto said:

potentially losing all of the CO2 already in it, before screwing in the N2 adaptor.

Should not. 

• Once carbed up by fast or slow method (go with slow) you will remove the gas disconnect from the keg.  Carbonation/pressure in keg will be retained. 
• Remove SodaStream connection.  Switch to N2 bulb.
• Reconnect to keg.  Happy days.

Kegs will not go off quickly by any means.  I have a Series X kegerator.  Holds 4 kegs.  One for soda water.  I alternate between the three kegs.  I must get over a month from each keg.

You might take a while to figure out what suits you, but you will get there.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I use the fast carbing method as well, sure the beer tastes a bit better after a week or so, but if I get my production going properly they get filled and have time to sit and condition before being carbonated anyway so I don't really see any point waiting longer again. 

Haven't really had any excessive foam problems with it either, I know it can happen if it's not done properly. Once I turn the gas off after the 20-22 hours or whatever it is I let the keg sit for another 5-6 hours before I burp it and turn the gas back on at serving pressure. Works fine. 

I'd agree with not bothering to do it with a 5 litre keg though. When I used my 10 litre keg it used to be more or less fully done at serving pressure in 3-4 days. I'd imagine it would be quicker with half the volume again. 

[stquinto]

 

16 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Once carbed up by fast or slow method (go with slow) you will remove the gas disconnect from the keg.  Carbonation/pressure in keg will be retained. 

Cheers @Shamus O'Sean

I can take off the gas disconnect when I've carbonated it with CO2, but to switch to the N2 cartridge I have to unscrew the whole unit and the keg is no longer sealed. 

This is what it looks like with the gas connecter and regulator for the CO2:

then I have to take the gas post (with the two nuts below the disconnect and I have this, no longer under pressure :

then I can screw in the adapter for the N2 :

so in the middle picture my keg is no longer under pressure.

Anyway, as you say, I'll figure it out, and see what the customer service recommends.

Cheers for the tips 

[ozdevil]

8 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

You raise a number of good points @ozdevil that @stquinto would be advised to follow.

With fast carbing, I am just impatient.  With me being the only beer drinker in the house, my kegs last a while.  So I barely drink a litre, maybe 1.5 litres in the first week, after which the beer has had its week conditioning.  It does not usually taste bad in the first week either.  I do not have issues with foaming after a fast carb.

You are spot-on with trying to fast carb a 5 litre keg, OD.  I forgot about that BIG difference.  It would be much faster than a 19 litre Corny keg. 

I do not know the numbers, but 3 days at serving (slow) carb pressure would probably do the trick and it is the much better recommendation.

yes doesnt take long at all in 5 litre  to carb up   specially if  you say carb at 10-12psi at 2 degrees

 

7 hours ago, stquinto said:

 

Cheers @Shamus O'Sean

I can take off the gas disconnect when I've carbonated it with CO2, but to switch to the N2 cartridge I have to unscrew the whole unit and the keg is no longer sealed. 

This is what it looks like with the gas connecter and regulator for the CO2:

then I have to take the gas post (with the two nuts below the disconnect and I have this, no longer under pressure :

then I can screw in the adapter for the N2 :

so in the middle picture my keg is no longer under pressure.

Anyway, as you say, I'll figure it out, and see what the customer service recommends.

Cheers for the tips 

@stquinto  what you can  do  here  to keep the pressure

leave the n2 adapter  on the keg  

connect the co2  dissconnect to the   out post 

this will not hurt your beer  +  the co2 will absorb alot quicker as well
not only that   your  keg  will then hold pressure then switch over to the n2  for serving

just on a side note you could carbonate with nitro  it just takes alot longer i believe 

Edited August 8, 2021 by ozdevil
forgot to add something

[ozdevil]

just to show you what i mean @stquinto

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

8 hours ago, stquinto said:

I can take off the gas disconnect when I've carbonated it with CO2, but to switch to the N2 cartridge I have to unscrew the whole unit and the keg is no longer sealed. 

Oh.  Admittedly, I just assumed that the CO2 bulbs and the N2 bulbs were interchangeably screwed into the mini regulator.

[ozdevil]

7 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Oh.  Admittedly, I just assumed that the CO2 bulbs and the N2 bulbs were interchangeably screwed into the mini regulator.

i think you will find  the do  screw into the regulator

but the regulator to the gas post  are different attachments

[Pezzza]

On 8/8/2021 at 3:04 AM, stquinto said:

From what I've read the nitro is only for serving, you carb it up first.

Mmm this is a little more complex I believe @stquinto Saint.  To a degree that may be correct - carb up first - but the balance is critical.

If there is too much C02 and you then use nitro to pour through a Stout Spout you will end up with a soft-serve-icecream.

My experience suggests a small carbon dioxide injection, and then switch to the Nitro-Beer-Gas - a blend of nitro and CO2 (I don't have a pure nitro) at 30-40PSI for some days.

As my Gas Expert @Red devil 44 Reddler says, Nitro is 'a lazy gas' and hence takes some time to go into solution.  And gassing up with nitro blend takes longer as @ozdevilOzzy alludes to above. 

And then I pour at fairly high pressure too - 30PSI - with the Nitro Beergas Blend -  through a Stout Tap (when I have any in kegs at all ) to get the Guinness/Caffrey's/Boddington effect. 

Probably all worthless information given your different set-up... where a quick hit of C02 followed by pure Nitro Pour through a Stout Spout/Tap might work out well when you have the balance right - maybe a practical experience investigation is required? 

HTH 

GGB

Edited August 9, 2021 by Graubart

[Tricky Micky]

https://www.kegland.com.au/bronco-tap-starter-kit-great-beginners-keg-system.html

 

Okay, oh great and wise Brewers of beer in a keg,

if I were to add another keg to this deal and a 6kg bottle for C02  and maybe  another tap etc; and got myself an old fridge is that close to me getting to being able to keg? 

I thank thee all in advance oh great and wise ones.

 

[Stickers]

31 minutes ago, Mickep said:

https://www.kegland.com.au/bronco-tap-starter-kit-great-beginners-keg-system.html

 

Okay, oh great and wise Brewers of beer in a keg,

if I were to add another keg to this deal and a 6kg bottle for C02  and maybe  another tap etc; and got myself an old fridge is that close to me getting to being able to keg? 

I thank thee all in advance oh great and wise ones.

 

@Mickep that's almost all you'll need, if you're planning on more than one keg you'll want a manifold in between the gas supply and the kegs so you can easily switch the gas off to one of the kegs

you'll also need some shanks to attach the taps to

and invest in some decent taps.

So in summary.. (if you don't want to use the pluto gun)

regulator, manifold, gas line from reg to manifold, gas line from manifold to each keg, beer line for each keg, shank for each beer line and a tap for each shank and a bunch of clips and you should be sorted. (and disconnects to connect the lines to the kegs - 1 x each liquid and gas for each keg.

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Stickers
disconnects

[Tricky Micky]

9 minutes ago, Stickers said:

40 minutes ago, Mickep said:

https://www.kegland.com.au/bronco-tap-starter-kit-great-beginners-keg-system.html

 

Okay, oh great and wise Brewers of beer in a keg,

if I were to add another keg to this deal and a 6kg bottle for C02  and maybe  another tap etc; and got myself an old fridge is that close to me getting to being able to keg? 

I thank thee all in advance oh great and wise ones.

 

@Mickep that's almost all you'll need, if you're planning on more than one keg you'll want a manifold in between the gas supply and the kegs so you can easily switch the gas off to one of the kegs

you'll also need some shanks to attach the taps to

and invest in some decent taps.

So in summary.. (if you don't want to use the pluto gun)

regulator, manifold, gas line from reg to manifold, gas line from manifold to each keg, beer line for each keg, shank for each beer line and a tap for each shank and a bunch of clips and you should be sorted. (and disconnects to connect the lines to the kegs - 1 x each liquid and gas for each keg.

That's absolutely brilliant Stickers, cheers mate. Thanks for the visuals they help out enormously for someone like me -bit slow on the uptake me thinks - pictures say so much at least they do for me Thanks again.

Edited August 9, 2021 by Mickep

[Stickers]

6 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Thanks for the visuals they help out enormously

and that's the shanks on the inside of the door

[ben 10]

18 hours ago, ozdevil said:

but you dont want to spend time conditioning it.

What does this actually achieve? I find my kegs taste great when cold and carbed.
This "conditioning"... what does it do? Towards the end of a keg, it's usually quite clear, but I don't care about clear beer.

[Tricky Micky]

Thanks for the visuals they help out enormously

and that's the shanks on the inside of the door

Absolute beauty mate, thanks heaps Stickers

[ozdevil]

2 minutes ago, Green Blob said:

What does this actually achieve? I find my kegs taste great when cold and carbed.
This "conditioning"... what does it do? Towards the end of a keg, it's usually quite clear, but I don't care about clear beer.

with the  fast carb method you leave yaself wide open to alot off errors in my opinion 

many do the fast carb and start to wonder  why they getting  icecream instead of beer
due to high carbonation and they dont bring it down back to serving pressue

you may do it faultlessly and have it down pat , i am not saying there is no need for it in brewing..

i  use the set and forget method for a reason..   this way i do not have to muck around adjusting pressures becuase i want the beer yesterday
i would be the one to  forget i need to drop pressure

i do get  its got its place and its the invidual choice 

i just like to  set forget and know when i pour that beer its pouring nicely