It's Kegging Time 2023

[ozdevil]

biofine also works the sameway as polyclar   , great if you want a clear looking beer

gelatin is another  way of clearing the chill haze and making a clear looking beer

[Cheap Charlie]

I might try gelatin first as it seems more natural, not saying the others are toxic or anything. Biofine sounds OK, but I'm a little suspect of something that is similar to PVC . My first 2 partials turned out quite hazy, learning from my mistakes, probably got something to do with the temperature and the way I am resting the mash. Mill arriving next week, can't wait to try the coopers malt.

[stquinto]

Kegged a Timothy Taylor Landlord clone, and a COPA clone. Stocks are back up, the keezer is full too

The cold crash didn’t make any difference by the looks of things 

[Tricky Micky]

4 hours ago, stquinto said:

Kegged a Timothy Taylor Landlord clone, and a COPA clone. Stocks are back up, the keezer is full too

Good to hear Sainter, well played sir!

[Tricky Micky]

Got to keg the AG COPA today. Can't wait to have a taste. Possibly only 2 sleeps away from a sneaky sip. 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Kegged my red ale today before I went to golf, it'll be ready to pour tomorrow evening, it's on 45 psi or thereabouts until I wake up tomorrow, then I'll turn off the gas and let it sit until I get home from golf, if the weather doesn't ruin it anyway. 

[Otto Von Blotto]

On 3/4/2023 at 2:31 PM, ozdevil said:

biofine also works the sameway as polyclar   , great if you want a clear looking beer

gelatin is another  way of clearing the chill haze and making a clear looking beer

I tried biofine a couple of times, hated it. It created a strange hazy layer on the bottom of the fermenter about 2 inches high, like the yeast or whatever it was didn't drop and compact properly. I still have the bottle of it in the fridge

Gelatine is probably better although I don't particularly like it much either. Maybe I used it wrong when I did try it, but it made the yeast sediment quite fluffy and easily disturbed, which defeated the purpose really. 

Polyclar is fantastic. It drops out into the trub and takes the polyphenols with it. This pilsner was a little hazy with yeast after it was first kegged, but time has dropped that out and it's now pretty much crystal clear

[Tricky Micky]

Kegged this: KL FWK - True Blue Bitter

Dry hop 25 grams POR at CC.

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

Kegged the Coopers XPA tonight.  One keg 18 litres and the other 9.1 litres at 5.4%.  Sample aroma and taste were lovely.  Not sure how close yet.

I have a bit of a dilemma though.  No space in the kegerator.  Half keg of Mango Catharina Sour, half a keg of Passionfruit Catharina Sour and half a keg of Czech Budvar lined up ahead of the Coopers XPA.  The Budvar can wait, but I want to get the XPA in soon to get the best dry hop aroma hit.  I also want to be able to drink the Sours side-by-side.  Luckily, two of the kegs in the kegerator only have about 1.5 litres left in them.  Third keg is about half full.  And fourth keg is soda water.  Which order to assign to the next few kegs?

[Cheap Charlie]

12 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Kegged the Coopers XPA tonight.  One keg 18 litres and the other 9.1 litres at 5.4%.  Sample aroma and taste were lovely.  Not sure how close yet.

I have a bit of a dilemma though.  No space in the kegerator.  Half keg of Mango Catharina Sour, half a keg of Passionfruit Catharina Sour and half a keg of Czech Budvar lined up ahead of the Coopers XPA.  The Budvar can wait, but I want to get the XPA in soon to get the best dry hop aroma hit.  I also want to be able to drink the Sours side-by-side.  Luckily, two of the kegs in the kegerator only have about 1.5 litres left in them.  Third keg is about half full.  And fourth keg is soda water.  Which order to assign to the next few kegs?

budvar on the left, then the two sours then the soda water. 1 or 2 evenings of dedicated drinking should sort your problems out.

[iBooz2]

Kegged up a 44 L batch of my Carlton Draught clone yesterday from the 58 L Kegmenter into 2 kegs and also got 18 x 345 ml stubbies as travellers. This batch was the 4th dirty batch on the same yeast over a 6 month period.  Initially started with 2 sachets of DL yeast via a 4 L starter on 1st October 2022 in a LL beer.  Today I retired the yeast trub back into the environment (garden) and watered it in well. So that initial 2 sachets made me 220 L of lagers over the 6 month period and I reckon it could have pushed on for one or two more batches.  Such is the economy of scale of a 70 L Nano Brewery system and a big SS Kegmenter.

For the record.

First was AG # 40, a LL pitched on 01/10/2022.  Second was AG # 48, also a LL pitched on 21/10/2022.  Third was AG # 51, you guessed it, another LL pitched on 17/12/2022.  Forth was an Outback Pub Lager pitched on 20/01/2023.  And lastly AG # 56, a Carlton Draught Clone pitched on 13/02/2023.  All my 13 kegs are now full so going to try and buy 2 – 4 more before brewing again.

[Cheap Charlie]

3 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

so going to try and buy 2 – 4 more before brewing again.

just in case of course

[kmar92]

4 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

Kegged up a 44 L batch of my Carlton Draught clone yesterday from the 58 L Kegmenter into 2 kegs and also got 18 x 345 ml stubbies as travellers. This batch was the 4th dirty batch on the same yeast over a 6 month period.  Initially started with 2 sachets of DL yeast via a 4 L starter on 1st October 2022 in a LL beer.  Today I retired the yeast trub back into the environment (garden) and watered it in well. So that initial 2 sachets made me 220 L of lagers over the 6 month period and I reckon it could have pushed on for one or two more batches.  Such is the economy of scale of a 70 L Nano Brewery system and a big SS Kegmenter.

For the record.

First was AG # 40, a LL pitched on 01/10/2022.  Second was AG # 48, also a LL pitched on 21/10/2022.  Third was AG # 51, you guessed it, another LL pitched on 17/12/2022.  Forth was an Outback Pub Lager pitched on 20/01/2023.  And lastly AG # 56, a Carlton Draught Clone pitched on 13/02/2023.  All my 13 kegs are now full so going to try and buy 2 – 4 more before brewing again.

That is obscene, don't you drink?

And how do you store that amount of full kegs, or do you have a big coolroom. Maybe just at ambient?

And why do you need to buy more kegs, are you going to run out?

Edited March 15, 2023 by kmar92

[Shamus O'Sean]

3 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

All my 13 kegs are now full so going to try and buy 2 – 4 more before brewing again.

I faced a similar dilemma.  I am doing batch and a half sizes, so my kegs are also filling up, albeit, some are only half full.  Managed to snag another 4 used kegs on the weekend.  One with a slow leak which turned out to be the beer post.  Initially, I thought new seals would fix that.  Not so.  The thread seemed to be a bit different to most of my kegs.  A brand new beer post would not even fit.  Thanks to an old spares kit from an ol' mate who I bought stuff from ages ago, I was able to use a slightly different beer post, plus a new seal, and the keg now holds pressure.

Interestingly, initially when I pressurised this faulty keg to 40psi and sprayed the posts and lid with sanitiser, there was no apparent leak.  No growing bubbles anywhere.  I fitted a tightened spunding value, that showed 40psi in the keg.  The next day I checked again to see if it had dropped at all.  It had not.  However, there was a slight hiss and bubbling now coming from under the beer post.  What I had not allowed for the night before, was that newer ol' mate, who I had bought these kegs from, had put a few 100mls of sanitiser in the keg.  So when I pressurised the keg to 40 psi, it probably pushed the sanitiser up the beer out dip tube.  Instead of air coming out the "leak", it was sanitiser, mixing with the sanitiser I sprayed on the outside of the post.  So basically, there was nothing to see. That was until the next day after the sanitiser that was in the keg had been pushed out and the air inside the keg started to come out.

I am not sure exactly how many kegs I now have in rotation.  Let me think.  Neighbour has one, brother has one, brother-in-law has at least two.  Four in my kegerator. In the garage:  A keg of Kaiju Krush; one of Sparkling Ale; the two Catharina Sours; and one and 1/2 kegs of Coopers XPA, plus the four used ones from the weekend.  That makes 18, but four are empty.

[Shamus O'Sean]

On 3/14/2023 at 9:53 PM, Shamus O'Sean said:

Kegged the Coopers XPA tonight.  One keg 18 litres and the other 9.1 litres at 5.4%.  Sample aroma and taste were lovely.  Not sure how close yet.

I have a bit of a dilemma though.  No space in the kegerator.  Half keg of Mango Catharina Sour, half a keg of Passionfruit Catharina Sour and half a keg of Czech Budvar lined up ahead of the Coopers XPA.  The Budvar can wait, but I want to get the XPA in soon to get the best dry hop aroma hit.  I also want to be able to drink the Sours side-by-side.  Luckily, two of the kegs in the kegerator only have about 1.5 litres left in them.  Third keg is about half full.  And fourth keg is soda water.  Which order to assign to the next few kegs?

The COPA keg just blew tonight.  I will get one of the Catharina Sours on tomorrow.  The CSA keg will probable blow tomorrow. Here's hoping (but also not).

[Tricky Micky]

14 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

Kegged up a 44 L batch of my Carlton Draught clone yesterday from the 58 L Kegmenter into 2 kegs and also got 18 x 345 ml stubbies as travellers. This batch was the 4th dirty batch on the same yeast over a 6 month period.  Initially started with 2 sachets of DL yeast via a 4 L starter on 1st October 2022 in a LL beer.  Today I retired the yeast trub back into the environment (garden) and watered it in well. So that initial 2 sachets made me 220 L of lagers over the 6 month period and I reckon it could have pushed on for one or two more batches.  Such is the economy of scale of a 70 L Nano Brewery system and a big SS Kegmenter.

For the record.

First was AG # 40, a LL pitched on 01/10/2022.  Second was AG # 48, also a LL pitched on 21/10/2022.  Third was AG # 51, you guessed it, another LL pitched on 17/12/2022.  Forth was an Outback Pub Lager pitched on 20/01/2023.  And lastly AG # 56, a Carlton Draught Clone pitched on 13/02/2023.  All my 13 kegs are now full so going to try and buy 2 – 4 more before brewing again.

Ya need a bigger brewhouse mate.  

[Cheap Charlie]

10 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I am not sure exactly how many kegs I now have in rotation.  Let me think.  Neighbour has one, brother has one, brother-in-law has at least two.  Four in my kegerator. In the garage:  A keg of Kaiju Krush; one of Sparkling Ale; the two Catharina Sours; and one and 1/2 kegs of Coopers XPA, plus the four used ones from the weekend.  That makes 18, but four are empty.

Sharing is caring. I see you guys are well prepared for the zombie apocalypse.

[Pale Man]

Midnight Oil going in the keg direction

 

[Red devil 44]

Kegged the Hefe Wheat Beer today, fermenter was a mess after fermentation, but managed to clean it up. 
Kegged at 2 degrees, it’s in the Kegerator on 40PSI for 24 hrs. 
‘Also kegged another Stone & Wood Clone at 2 degrees, it will sit on serving pressure as I already have one on tap so no great hurry for this one. 

[Pale Man]

Oh look, I had enough left over for a couple of glasses for testing, she's a beaut. Very malty with the perfect bitterness to round it off. This is stout when you want a real stout.

 

 

 

[stquinto]

On 3/11/2023 at 12:20 PM, Otto Von Blotto said:

I tried biofine a couple of times, hated it. It created a strange hazy layer on the bottom of the fermenter about 2 inches high, like the yeast or whatever it was didn't drop and compact properly. I still have the bottle of it in the fridge

Gelatine is probably better although I don't particularly like it much either. Maybe I used it wrong when I did try it, but it made the yeast sediment quite fluffy and easily disturbed, which defeated the purpose really. 

Polyclar is fantastic. It drops out into the trub and takes the polyphenols with it. This pilsner was a little hazy with yeast after it was first kegged, but time has dropped that out and it's now pretty much crystal clear

That looks awesome 

I just ordered some: how so you use it ? There's the instructions and the real experience form the forum

I read you mix it up with some water (or beer) with a blender, up to 25g / keg, but at what point and where do you mix it in ?

In with the cold crash, then leave it to drop out with the yeast (and not bother reusing the trub I imagine) prior to kegging, or put it straight in the keg itself ?

Anyone have any issues with the plassie sitting in the beer all this time ? Having said that I've put so much poison into my body over the years I doubt that'll finish me off...

I think @ozdevil @Aussiekraut and @MitchBastard have posted about this, if anyone else has sorry I didn't mention.

Cheers!

[Otto Von Blotto]

31 minutes ago, stquinto said:

That looks awesome 

I just ordered some: how so you use it ? There's the instructions and the real experience form the forum

I read you mix it up with some water (or beer) with a blender, up to 25g / keg, but at what point and where do you mix it in ?

In with the cold crash, then leave it to drop out with the yeast (and not bother reusing the trub I imagine) prior to kegging, or put it straight in the keg itself ?

Anyone have any issues with the plassie sitting in the beer all this time ? Having said that I've put so much poison into my body over the years I doubt that'll finish me off...

I think @ozdevil @Aussiekraut and @MitchBastard have posted about this, if anyone else has sorry I didn't mention.

Cheers!

I stir it up with some hot water for an hour or so then throw it in the fermenter a day or two after it chills down. Several days to a week later I keg it. You can put it in the keg too, it'll just drop out and sit in the bottom with the yeast. About 8-10g per batch I use, 25g is a bit much. 

[Shamus O'Sean]

3 hours ago, stquinto said:

That looks awesome 

I just ordered some: how so you use it ? There's the instructions and the real experience form the forum

I read you mix it up with some water (or beer) with a blender, up to 25g / keg, but at what point and where do you mix it in ?

In with the cold crash, then leave it to drop out with the yeast (and not bother reusing the trub I imagine) prior to kegging, or put it straight in the keg itself ?

Anyone have any issues with the plassie sitting in the beer all this time ? Having said that I've put so much poison into my body over the years I doubt that'll finish me off...

I think @ozdevil @Aussiekraut and @MitchBastard have posted about this, if anyone else has sorry I didn't mention.

Cheers!

I use liquid Isinglass after 24 hours of cold crash.  It helps to settle out yeast and other solids.  The Mangrove Jacks brand has instructions.  For a standard 23 litre brew, decant 300ml of the brew into a sanitised glass jug. Add and stir in 100ml of Isinglass.  Gently pour back into the fermenter and give it a gentle stir.

Then I use Polyclar to deal with chill haze.  I use 0.25g/L.  So around 6g in a 23 litre batch.  Pretty much the same process as @Otto Von Blotto (because I copied him).  Measure into a sanitised glass beaker.  Add about 200ml of boiling water.  Sit on stir plate for about an hour.  Pour into fermenter and gently stir it in.

I once used about twice as much Polyclar compared to the proportions above.  It actually made the brew more cloudy.  Therefore, the take-away is you can over-do it.

[stquinto]

5 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I use liquid Isinglass after 24 hours of cold crash.  It helps to settle out yeast and other solids.  The Mangrove Jacks brand has instructions.  For a standard 23 litre brew, decant 300ml of the brew into a sanitised glass jug. Add and stir in 100ml of Isinglass.  Gently pour back into the fermenter and give it a gentle stir.

Then I use Polyclar to deal with chill haze.  I use 0.25g/L.  So around 6g in a 23 litre batch.  Pretty much the same process as @Otto Von Blotto (because I copied him).  Measure into a sanitised glass beaker.  Add about 200ml of boiling water.  Sit on stir plate for about an hour.  Pour into fermenter and gently stir it in.

I once used about twice as much Polyclar compared to the proportions above.  It actually made the brew more cloudy.  Therefore, the take-away is you can over-do it.

 

9 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I stir it up with some hot water for an hour or so then throw it in the fermenter a day or two after it chills down. Several days to a week later I keg it. You can put it in the keg too, it'll just drop out and sit in the bottom with the yeast. About 8-10g per batch I use, 25g is a bit much. 

Thanks for the info fellas 

I should have asked first, I went and ordered 500g .... We'll have to see which runs out first - that or the 1kg of PoR I had sent over from Oz 

I haven't (yet) got a yeast plate, looks like more kit to get hold of.

If it sits on your yeast cake do you consider it a goner for future brews ?

 

 

[ozdevil]

if your using Biofine  @stquinto,  Just put 10mls in to the Keg pour the wort over it  and  let it do its thing.