It's Kegging time 2022

[Shamus O'Sean]

10 hours ago, kmar92 said:

No, I have never had a problem with the floating dip tube so far. I guess that if I did have a problem a good shake of the FV may do the trick, as has been your experience. It is a disadvantage not being able to see what is going on, but it is only a minor problem. The pressure gauge tells you if it is fermenting and in reality that is the most important thing to know.

I remembered the real second question I wanted to ask.  How do you tell when the Kegmenter is nearing empty?  Starts sucking out yeast?

Do you also tilt the Kegmenter as it is nearing empty to get another litre or so out of it?  This is easy with the PET FV's and me being a tight-wad likes to get every ml out of a FV. 

[kmar92]

44 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I remembered the real second question I wanted to ask.  How do you tell when the Kegmenter is nearing empty?  Starts sucking out yeast?

Do you also tilt the Kegmenter as it is nearing empty to get another litre or so out of it?  This is easy with the PET FV's and me being a tight-wad likes to get every ml out of a FV. 

Well I know how much is in the kegmenter, so then when I do a closed transfer I know how much is in the keg by weighing it. I also spent some time measuring volumes in the kegmenter and then cutting the floating dip tube to the appropriate length so that it will not stuck trub right at the end. Once you get the dip tube to the correct length it works fine. I think that even if the dip tube was too long the S/S ball will bottom out and leave the opening of dip tube up off the trub.

[kmar92]

Sorry @Shamus O'Sean forgot to answer the 2nd part of your question. No I do not tilt the kegmenter when transferring to a keg/bottle, the base of the kegmenter is concave in relation to the inside of the vessel so everything inside it will naturally go to the bottom in the middle of the vessel. I see what you mean though in comparison to a regular FV (which is a similar shape I guess) but no I do not tilt.

[Tricky Micky]

On 3/17/2022 at 10:15 PM, iBooz2 said:

Liar, liar, pants on fire.  I bet you cannot help yourself and have another before then. ha ha...

Um, Boozer mate, you were bang on - already slipped up. 

[Pezzza]

Amber Mozzie Ale now in Keg and carbing up... hopefully the nice floral and tropical tones will come through into the keg and not disappear to quickly 

 

[Pezzza]

On 3/18/2022 at 12:54 PM, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

Point 5 sometimes I have not done  the purge and just let the yeast eat any oxygen in the headspace. I haven't noticed any oxidation but doing the purge would be better practice.

 

Greeny @Greenyinthewestofsydney just a question around Oxy being present in the keg headspace - for the natural carbonation in-keg rather than force carb with carboxy cylinder  - wouldn't it be useful to have a bit of Oxygen in there for the Yeast Multiplication phase?  Obviously you have found doing the purge the yeast still do work... so that has me wondering a bit.... any thoughts on this?

Edited March 20, 2022 by Itinerant Peasant

[ozdevil]

Well   the kegerator is new  , and old one stripped so thought it was best to change  the gas and beer lines  and was also a great time to also give a good clean to taps and shanks as well   

the new kegerator is feeling great  and looking forward to puring great beer once again

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

59 minutes ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Greeny @Greenyinthewestofsydney just a question around Oxy being present in the keg headspace - for the natural carbonation in-keg rather than force carb with carboxy cylinder  - wouldn't it be useful to have a bit of Oxygen in there for the Yeast Multiplication phase?  Obviously you have found doing the purge the yeast still do work... so that has me wondering a bit.... any thoughts on this?

Yeah your just looking for carbonation at that stage. Not really multiplication but there would be some multiplication of yeast going on. Definitely purging would be better practice but as I said I haven't noticed any oxidation without purging. That could just be I am drinking them before oxidation has got noticeable maybe.

When you think about it though nobody is purging the headspace when they bottle and I have had bottles well over a year old with no oxidation so yeah I don't think it makes a difference.

[iBooz2]

On 3/18/2022 at 8:55 AM, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hi @iBooz2 and @kmar92, two things I have been meaning to ask about the Kegmenter FV's.  By way of background: I use a couple of PET pressure FV's and their (possibly) main advantage is being able to see through the walls of the FV.  I once had the intake of the floating dip tube sticking out above the liquid level.  I did not realise this until I tried to transfer.  However, with the clear walls it was easy to see what the issue was.  It did take a while to shake the tube enough to go under the surface.  A couple of other times, the tube has seemed to get stuck on the wall, so even though the float was sinking as the liquid level dropped the tube stayed still and eventually poked up above the liquid level and the transfer stopped.  Again, I was able to diagnose the issue and deal with it.

To my questions (and these apply to anybody who uses a non-see-through pressure FV, like a corny keg):

1. Have you ever had similar situations with the Kegmenter FV's? and
2. How did you diagnose and deal with them?

Cheers SOS

@Shamus O'Sean , sorry missed this query.  Just backing up some of @kmar92 reply to you.  I also don't have issues with the floating dip tube sticking out above the beer line and it never sticks to the side because as far as the dip tubes point of view it would not know where the sides were due to diameter of Kegmenter.   With the narrower Fermzilla 27 L the dip tube will sometimes go to the sides and needs a little bump or tap with my knuckle, particularly when it gets down to the conical section.  This is I suspect due to the memory effect of the dip tubing itself after being coiled up in manufacturer /storage etc.   In your case you could take it out and hang a weight on it to make it vertical then pour boiling water over it so it looses that curly memory effect.  That way it will most likely want to go straight down when you are drawing off your beer.

With regard to your other question - when I fill the first keg, usually after bottling a dozen stubbies or so, I use the auto keg filler device and the first keg is always very full.  The second keg I watch the beer transfer line when its getting to about where I think its near yeast and as soon as I see the beer colour go from clear to milky I stop the process.   The second keg is usually about 90% full.  As per Kmar, I do not need to tilt the Kegmenter for same reason he has mentioned.

Edited March 21, 2022 by iBooz2

[DavidM]

On 3/10/2022 at 6:29 PM, MUZZY said:

Well I'm now connected to the NBN (the Nuffy Beer Network).

I purged all kegs of oxygen (I hope) and without a manifold I have just the one carbing up on 12psi at 4C.

I even poured a flat beer from it to ensure it was working and thankfully it did.

One negative: I reckon Kegland have sent me the wrong bronco taps because they won't go into the duotight reducers. I've been back to their website and notice they have two types. I ordered exactly what was in their starter kit apart from subbing out the steel kegs for the plastic. I ended up forcing the bronco tap into the Evabarrier and it almost forced the tap off after just one pour. I've emailed Kegland for help.

@MUZZY You poured a Frofffy beer Yet??

[Malter White]

9 minutes ago, DavidM said:

@MUZZY You poured a Frofffy beer Yet??

No, Dave. Still waiting on the correct taps. Kegland have dispatched them so now I'm eagerly watching the mail box.
It's getting hairy here in regard to drinkable beer too. I've got 2 boxes of bottles that are not quite 2 weeks aged and 24 litres of ready to drink kegged beer but no taps to dispense it with. 

[DavidM]

12 hours ago, MUZZY said:

No, Dave. Still waiting on the correct taps. Kegland have dispatched them so now I'm eagerly watching the mail box.
It's getting hairy here in regard to drinkable beer too. I've got 2 boxes of bottles that are not quite 2 weeks aged and 24 litres of ready to drink kegged beer but no taps to dispense it with. 

ok, hope it's not much longer.

[Shamus O'Sean]

13 hours ago, MUZZY said:

No, Dave. Still waiting on the correct taps. Kegland have dispatched them so now I'm eagerly watching the mail box.
It's getting hairy here in regard to drinkable beer too. I've got 2 boxes of bottles that are not quite 2 weeks aged and 24 litres of ready to drink kegged beer but no taps to dispense it with. 

I suggest getting yourself a picnic tap on a beer line with a beer disconnect.  It is handy for taking a sample or a glass or two from a keg that is not hooked up to your system. 

It is also useful for hauling one of those kegs to a street party or similar to dispense beer to the masses.

[Malter White]

@Shamus O'Sean That's what I'm waiting on from KL.

[Pezzza]

Brew day generated a cuppla more Worts that needed a home in a backfill FV which therefore required the K2 and Aussie Thinboy to be kegged prior ; )

 

[RDT2]

On 3/23/2022 at 4:43 PM, MUZZY said:

It's getting hairy here in regard to drinkable beer too. 

Don’t worry mate if it’s drinkable beer @Hairy should turn up

[Hilltop hops]

Kegged and bottled my AG Hallertau Lager this morning. Filled the new 8L keg. Clarity is good with no finings used. 

[Hairy]

21 hours ago, RDT2 said:

Don’t worry mate if it’s drinkable beer @Hairy should turn up

I was about to say I wouldn’t drink hairy beer but who am I kidding.

[Malter White]

@DavidM@Shamus O'Sean and others. Taps are finally coming today. Talk about pushing the envelope. I'm down to 15 drinkable long necks and those have only had 18 days in the bottle.

Edited March 27, 2022 by MUZZY

[Shamus O'Sean]

Kegged the Raspberry Philly Sour Session Ale last night.  The raspberry addition is just a couple of mls of extract, but smelled mighty nice.

Put 18.2L into a corny keg for my brother in law and 7.3L into one of those Kegland PET kegs for me.  Both sitting at 20psi for a two day force carbonation.

[Malter White]

32 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Put 18.2L into a corny keg for my brother in law and 7.3L into one of those Kegland PET kegs for me.  Both sitting at 20psi for a two day force carbonation.

Have you poured from the new PET kegs yet, Shamus? And what about the 20psi? They handled the pressure?

I've carbonated a few of mine for a week each at 12psi but have no idea what the results will be like until those bloody taps arrive.

[DavidM]

Not long now Muzzy, can't wait to hear how you get on.

[Malter White]

Who said 10:30am is too early for a beer? When I've been waiting to pour one of these for weeks I'm not going to wait a second longer.

I'm happy it worked first time. The beer is a little under carbonated. This keg I had on 12psi for 6 days or thereabouts. It's been off the gas for a week or so. I've just upped the psi a little and we'll see how we go from there.

Not a perfect start to my kegging experience but I can't say I'm unhappy.

[Classic Brewing Co]

8 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

Who said 10:30am is too early for a beer? When I've been waiting to pour one of these for weeks I'm not going to wait a second longer.

I'm happy it worked first time. The beer is a little under carbonated. This keg I had on 12psi for 6 days or thereabouts. It's been off the gas for a week or so. I've just upped the psi a little and we'll see how we go from there.

Not a perfect start to my kegging experience but I can't say I'm unhappy.

Good on you Muzzy, I agree it is never too early ATM I am concentrating on my first AG brew, I had better wait until after the boil before I start - I may need on by then, Cheers.

[Malter White]

2 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Good on you Muzzy, I agree it is never too early ATM I am concentrating on my first AG brew, I had better wait until after the boil before I start - I may need on by then, Cheers.

Good luck with it, Phil. I hope it's worth the effort. I'm sure it will be.