It's Kegging time 2022

[Pezzza]

6 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

hops.

Beaut thanks @Shamus O'Sean SOS mate - much appreciated 

[stquinto]

I didn't see a thread for Bottling Time, but I just bottled my clones of a Westvleteren 12 and a Duvel. 

The Westvleteren has been brewing since 27th March. The OG was 1.080, and FG 1.006, which will give it a whopping 10.2% alcohol when you add in the priming sugar.

I primed it with 127g sugar for 23 litres, and 2g of hydrated F2 yeast. Got me a yield of 67 stubbies. Pity I need to wait about 8 months 

The Duvel has been brewing since 9th April. I had cold crashed for 20 days, I took it out a week ago and it was still fermenting so I put it back in the boiler room for a few more days. Then a short cold crash for about 3 days. The OG was 1.066 and the FG 1.006.

I primed it with 147 g sugar for 20 litres, and 2g of hydrated F2 yeast. Got me a yield of 59 stubbies. I reckon I'll (try to) condition them for 30 days or so.

I saved the trubs. I'm not sure if they will still be viable, I read somewhere that re-pitching the yeast from high- alcohol brews doesn't tend to be that efficient. Having said that, it might have come from the Wyeast website so they would say that, wouldn't they?

I might post that question elsewhere.

I put all this into the Grainfather app which is better than trying to keep notes elsewhere. I should have a big leather ledger like  @Classic Brewing Co but the other day I had to write something out and my handwriting was illegible (not like I'm a doctor or anything...)

Still got a Coopers Pale to keg up. At least I won't need to wait so long for that one... 

 

[stquinto]

On 5/28/2022 at 6:40 AM, Classic Brewing Co said:

the same for being a regular perched up at the bar drinking overpriced megaswill

Having something to cast your eye over as well as propping up the bar was fine when you could see something under yer gut when you went to the dunnies

Back to, ahem, serious subjects, there is no way I could go back to megaswill. I'll still buy slabs of Coopers out of loyalty, and to cultivate the yeast. I've not bought any bog-standard lager for ages. Utter p*ss !

The kit costs a lot for AG, as well as kegging, but you have a lot of leeway over the recipes. And the raw materiels are cheap as chips.

Having said that, the recipes that Coopers put up are all outstanding. I don't think I've made one that I didn't like.

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

8 hours ago, stquinto said:

Having something to cast your eye over as well as propping up the bar was fine when you could see something under yer gut when you went to the dunnies

Back to, ahem, serious subjects, there is no way I could go back to megaswill. I'll still buy slabs of Coopers out of loyalty, and to cultivate the yeast. I've not bought any bog-standard lager for ages. Utter p*ss !

The kit costs a lot for AG, as well as kegging, but you have a lot of leeway over the recipes. And the raw materiels are cheap as chips.

Having said that, the recipes that Coopers put up are all outstanding. I don't think I've made one that I didn't like.

 

Yeah I know, having a few at the local catching up with mates is OK but nothing like having a few here enjoying your own work.

The comments & praise you get is also rewarding. I will still knock up a K & K now & again purely for fridge fillers but as you say they are all great recipes.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Kegged the Coopers recipe Code Breaker IPA last night.  I wish I had done a double batch of this instead of the Craft sized batch.

Popped the keg in the kegerator at 40psi.  Should be ready in about 12 hours.

[stquinto]

Kegged my Coopers APA , having used my first 30g of PoR from a kilo bag I got sent

Tastes bloody good already, looking forward to it. 
 Bit of a pain the the a*se transferring from the kegzilla to the cornie though,  and also squeezing the last drop of beer out…

 

 

Edited June 5, 2022 by stquinto

[Shamus O'Sean]

4 hours ago, stquinto said:

Nice work.  With all those hops you are going to be drinking APA for a while.

The pressure FV's I have do not have the little filter cage.  The pick-up tube can sit on the yeast cake and suck out at least an extra glass worth.  It does get some yeast, but that sinks to the bottom of the keg anyway.  Once the FV is nearly empty, I tilt it so the beer level is a bit deeper.  The pick up tube can float for a bit longer and collect more beer.  I am leaving less than a glass full of beer in the FV.

[Malter White]

I've mentioned before my venture into kegs hasn't been perfect but I knew things would get better if I got a bigger fridge to house the kegs. After perusing second hand fridges on market ads for a few months, a great opportunity presented itself to me on the weekend and it's quite amusing as well as a bonus for me.
My best mate has a nice, modern, family sized fridge. Even has a water and ice dispenser. But lately he's been quite annoyed because his ice cream in the freezer is always too soft. This wasn't tolerable to him so he's gone out and bought another brand new fridge.
He put the new fridge in place and proceeded to transfer the contents of superseded fridge into the new fridge. On emptying the freezer he noticed there's a thermostat control knob in the freezer that he was unaware of previously. It was on the warmest setting. 
Long story short: He's embarrassed and Muzz has an excellent keg fridge for $200. 

[DavidM]

5 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

I've mentioned before my venture into kegs hasn't been perfect but I knew things would get better if I got a bigger fridge to house the kegs. After perusing second hand fridges on market ads for a few months, a great opportunity presented itself to me on the weekend and it's quite amusing as well as a bonus for me.
My best mate has a nice, modern, family sized fridge. Even has a water and ice dispenser. But lately he's been quite annoyed because his ice cream in the freezer is always too soft. This wasn't tolerable to him so he's gone out and bought another brand new fridge.
He put the new fridge in place and proceeded to transfer the contents of superseded fridge into the new fridge. On emptying the freezer he noticed there's a thermostat control knob in the freezer that he was unaware of previously. It was on the warmest setting. 
Long story short: He's embarrassed and Muzz has an excellent keg fridge for $200. 

Fantastic.. Now your Kegging..

[Classic Brewing Co]

22 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

I've mentioned before my venture into kegs hasn't been perfect but I knew things would get better if I got a bigger fridge to house the kegs. After perusing second hand fridges on market ads for a few months, a great opportunity presented itself to me on the weekend and it's quite amusing as well as a bonus for me.
My best mate has a nice, modern, family sized fridge. Even has a water and ice dispenser. But lately he's been quite annoyed because his ice cream in the freezer is always too soft. This wasn't tolerable to him so he's gone out and bought another brand new fridge.
He put the new fridge in place and proceeded to transfer the contents of superseded fridge into the new fridge. On emptying the freezer he noticed there's a thermostat control knob in the freezer that he was unaware of previously. It was on the warmest setting. 
Long story short: He's embarrassed and Muzz has an excellent keg fridge for $200. 

Humans !!   I would have looked at that first but that's OK, good on you Muzz hope you get to enjoy kegging better & a nice fridge as well. As you are probably aware if you were to venture into SS Corny Kegs, drilling through the door would be necessary to install the taps but the more modern the fridge with all of the electronics make it tricky. All the best with it anyway.

[Malter White]

2 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Humans !!   I would have looked at that first but that's OK, good on you Muzz hope you get to enjoy kegging better & a nice fridge as well. As you are probably aware if you were to venture into SS Corny Kegs, drilling through the door would be necessary to install the taps but the more modern the fridge with all of the electronics make it tricky. All the best with it anyway.

This mate of mine is a highly intelligent guy. An accountant, in fact. But he has a history of lacking common sense in certain circumstances. Anyway, his misfortune is my gain.
I don't think I'll be doing any drilling. At this point I'm content to have all the keg equipment contained inside the fridge. I'm only pouring with bronco taps. I'll stick with the plastic kegs and will upgrade to SS when the plastics are no longer viable.
The benefit I sought from a bigger fridge is to be able to store more than one keg at a time. The bar fridge only holds one plus the 2.6kg co2 tank. Next purchase will be some Duotight T pieces so I can add kegs to the line.

[Classic Brewing Co]

7 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

This mate of mine is a highly intelligent guy. An accountant, in fact. But he has a history of lacking common sense in certain circumstances. Anyway, his misfortune is my gain.
I don't think I'll be doing any drilling. At this point I'm content to have all the keg equipment contained inside the fridge. I'm only pouring with bronco taps. I'll stick with the plastic kegs and will upgrade to SS when the plastics are no longer viable.
The benefit I sought from a bigger fridge is to be able to store more than one keg at a time. The bar fridge only holds one plus the 2.6kg co2 tank. Next purchase will be some Duotight T pieces so I can add kegs to the line.

I know what you mean, for example my neighbour is a retired engineer with a background in construction & transport but when it comes to simple things like computer issues he has now idea, he was told his hard drive needed to be replaced but I fixed it in 10 minutes. But we all do what we do.

[Malter White]

7 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

But we all do what we do.

Absolutely. He's the first one I go to for economic advice.

[Pale Man]

16 hours ago, stquinto said:

Kegged my Coopers APA , having used my first 30g of PoR from a kilo bag I got sent

Tastes bloody good already, looking forward to it. 
 Bit of a pain the the a*se transferring from the kegzilla to the cornie though,  and also squeezing the last drop of beer out…

 

 

What were the issues mate?

[ben 10]

16 hours ago, stquinto said:

having used my first 30g of PoR from a kilo bag I got sent

Use more next time

[Pezzza]

11 hours ago, MUZZY said:

I don't think I'll be doing any drilling.

Mate yer can get away with these SS Pluto Guns as they work a treat - I do use 3.5m of 5mm ID Line with them - so there is hose going everywhere - which you can coil up - but the guns do deliver nice beer Muzzy and are solid @MUZZY

And if you get in touch with Frank? DiscountHomeBrewSupplies up in NQ you can get him to supply the hose - put the hose on and the liquid disconnect and SS clamp them up and ship them ready to go...  just pay for the materials (and it's free shipping over hundredbux).

And if you don't change your mate's freezer setting, you can probably keep kegs in there as well 

(except if there are fixed shelves of course)

Edited June 6, 2022 by Itinerant Peasant

[Malter White]

14 minutes ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Mate yer can get away with these SS Pluto Guns as they work a treat - I do use 3.5m of 5mm ID Line with them - so there is hose going everywhere - which you can coil up - but the guns do deliver nice beer Muzzy and are solid @MUZZY

And if you get in touch with Frank? DiscountHomeBrewSupplies up in NQ you can get him to supply the hose - put the hose on and the liquid disconnect and SS clamp them up and ship them ready to go...  just pay for the materials (and it's free shipping over hundredbux).

And if you don't change your mate's freezer setting, you can probably keep kegs in there as well 

(except if there are fixed shelves of course)

You call yourself a peasant? I don't think you understand how tight fisted I am.  I'm content using my $3 bronco taps. I bought a couple of extras in case they have a short life. The Pluto taps can remain on the most distant planet in our solar system. 
Thanks for sharing your tips all the same, mate. Cheers.

[stquinto]

5 hours ago, Pale Man said:

What were the issues mate?

Well, I pressurised the sanitised keg and managed to transfer about 9 litres. Then I had to gas up the FZ and hold the pressure release valve down or it just came straight out. The beer was pretty cold as well, so no frothy issues. Managed ok in the end…. Finally..

17 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Nice work.  With all those hops you are going to be drinking APA for a while.

The pressure FV's I have do not have the little filter cage.  The pick-up tube can sit on the yeast cake and suck out at least an extra glass worth.  It does get some yeast, but that sinks to the bottom of the keg anyway.  Once the FV is nearly empty, I tilt it so the beer level is a bit deeper.  The pick up tube can float for a bit longer and collect more beer.  I am leaving less than a glass full of beer in the FV.

With my last brew in the FZ the end of the tube, just below the floating ball, stayed above the surface so I couldn’t transfer much. I ended up sanitising a syphon and kegging it with that. Basically I put the filter on to make sure the tube stayed below the surface, not to avoid the trub, which seems quite compact. It worked out pretty well.

[Pezzza]

7 hours ago, MUZZY said:

sharing your tips

Fair enough @MUZZY and if they do the job more power to you 

One thing that might be of use - if you want to keep costs down and move to having a few corny kegs - you still really only need one gas line - and just swap from keg to keg as need be.

I have a gas manifold but found it was an additional extra that was not essential.

I just swap the one line between kegs and when not in use the refridgie-didge machine's door is closed.

You might have been doing/had in mind the one line system anyway already... 

[Malter White]

1 hour ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Fair enough @MUZZY and if they do the job more power to you 

One thing that might be of use - if you want to keep costs down and move to having a few corny kegs - you still really only need one gas line - and just swap from keg to keg as need be.

I have a gas manifold but found it was an additional extra that was not essential.

I just swap the one line between kegs and when not in use the refridgie-didge machine's door is closed.

You might have been doing/had in mind the one line system anyway already... 

I'll still only have one gas line essentially. The idea is to add a T piece so while I'm drinking a keg another can be carbing up. So far it's been a logistical problem of not having enough carbonated beer on hand. The problem is exaggerated by the fact the kegs are only 8 litres. They are consumed rather quickly compared to a 19l.
To overcome the carbonation issues I've been priming the kegs with sugar. While this has been effective in having enough fizzy beer, it defeats the main reason I got into kegs - the desire for clearer beer.

[Shamus O'Sean]

6 hours ago, stquinto said:

With my last brew in the FZ the end of the tube, just below the floating ball, stayed above the surface so I couldn’t transfer much. I ended up sanitising a syphon and kegging it with that. Basically I put the filter on to make sure the tube stayed below the surface, not to avoid the trub, which seems quite compact. It worked out pretty well.

I have had that happen too.  It took me a while to figure out why I had no flow and could only hear air shooting out the blow off tube.  Then it took a lot of tapping the side of the FV until the tube, ring clips and float were properly aligned.  Using the filter as a weight to avoid this is a good idea.  It probably sank in the trub enough to almost clear the FV of beer anyway. 

[Pezzza]

8 hours ago, MUZZY said:

The idea is to add a T piece so while I'm drinking a keg another can be carbing up.

Unless you are drinking 24 hours a day I don't think you need a T piece - but would happily stand corrected.

Just put the carb-on-up-keg on when you are not drinking 

But anyway - @MUZZY -  a guy who gets a Brand New Fridgie for $200 probably don't need advice from an old fool like me anyway  

Edited June 7, 2022 by Itinerant Peasant

[stquinto]

9 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I have had that happen too.  It took me a while to figure out why I had no flow and could only hear air shooting out the blow off tube.  Then it took a lot of tapping the side of the FV until the tube, ring clips and float were properly aligned.  Using the filter as a weight to avoid this is a good idea.  It probably sank in the trub enough to almost clear the FV of beer anyway. 

That's exactly it Shamus mate. As I mentioned above, I was having trouble gettling the rest of the beer out into the cornie. But at least it was submerged.  My go-to "light" beer will be Coopers APA (with the amount of PoR hops I have) , it suits me more than a lager as I can ferment at ambient temperature, and I can get stuck in quicker.  A quick 10 days in the FZ then straight into a keg. I also prefer Coopers APA to lager.

My setup is such that 10 litre kegs are a bit more practical than 19 litre cornies, but funnily nough they cost more than the cornies.

[stquinto]

On 6/4/2022 at 9:07 AM, Shamus O'Sean said:

Kegged the Coopers recipe Code Breaker IPA last night.  I wish I had done a double batch of this instead of the Craft sized batch.

Popped the keg in the kegerator at 40psi.  Should be ready in about 12 hours.

 

I'm missing something Shamus mate: you've got beer-to-beer but also gas-to-gas ?

I thought the top one (i.e. the FV) was connected to a gas bottle when the pressure ran down, but the bottom one (i.e. the cornie) had a gas "escape line" ?

[Pale Man]

7 hours ago, stquinto said:

I'm missing something Shamus mate: you've got beer-to-beer but also gas-to-gas ?

I thought the top one (i.e. the FV) was connected to a gas bottle when the pressure ran down, but the bottom one (i.e. the cornie) had a gas "escape line" ?

Yeah was thinking the same. I'm kegging soon from my Fermzilla for the first time. I would've thought gas bottle onto the fermenter gas post. Beer line from fermenter to beer post on keg. And blow tie on the keg gas post. I don't get what's going on with @Shamus O'Sean set up here.