Otto Von Blotto Posted February 10, 2016 Author Share Posted February 10, 2016 Nice one Hairy! You'll enjoy the kegging I bet. It's also nice having beers get nicer quicker too, don't have to wait so long to drink them at their best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 My beer is now kegged. It was so much quicker and easier than bottling. I should have done this sooner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 I should have done this sooner No shit! I just kegged the US-05 half of the Honey Brown Porter. I put it in the cold room (7C) until I have a spot for in the kegerator. I only have space for two kegs in the kegerator, but I have four kegs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 12, 2016 Author Share Posted February 12, 2016 That was my feeling when I did my first keg too. However, when I look back now I know I didn't have the space available until I was able to switch, I just wish I did a long time before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 You know, Hairy. I have always thought you were a wise and thoughtful brewer as well as an all round hairy kind of guy. I was not until you changed your personal profile picture that I started pondering the meaning of life, the universe and everything.You truly are wise and hairy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 You know' date=' Hairy. I have always thought you were a wise and thoughtful brewer as well as an all round hairy kind of guy. I was not until you changed your personal profile picture that I started pondering the meaning of life, the universe and everything.You truly are wise and hairy! I just thought of the movie Teenwolf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 You know' date=' Hairy. I have always thought you were a wise and thoughtful brewer as well as an all round hairy kind of guy. I was not until you changed your personal profile picture that I started pondering the meaning of life, the universe and everything.You truly are wise and hairy! Well just wait until December; I will be 42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 The mice will probably throw a party for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 I HAVE DECIDED.... ....to get a flooded font for the kegerator. This summer, the normal font has proven to be rather a PITA in regard to foamy pours, even with a font snake in there. Not so bad at night, but during the day it's ridiculous. I have a spare pint glass on hand to pour the foam into which then sits in the fridge while I drink the proper glass, it probably ends up about half full by the time the foam settles. Practically pour a full glass of foam at the start, unless I have the flow control right down, in which case the tap doesn't get chilled properly anyway because the flow is so restricted. Sometimes it does work better than this, but I still have to have the flow pretty restricted, which means it takes ages to pour a beer and also makes it rather difficult to pour a proper head on it, so... The obvious solution is a flooded font. I'll order it from Cheeky Peak along with some shank adaptors to be able to fit my Perlicks onto it. Not going a full on glycol system though, I don't need it frozen. My plan is to have a water reservoir inside the kegerator with a pump, to pump the cold water up into the font, and also fill this water up with ice when I'm planning on a session (mainly weekends, brew days etc.). This should be much more effective at keeping it cold enough all the way through to the tap to drastically reduce the foaming at the beginning of a pour. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Kelsey, do you keep your kegerator outside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Yeah, there's nowhere else it will fit here. In saying that, we don't have any of that wimpy air con in this house, so it wouldn't really make any difference where it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 It would probably still be cooler in the house. Just get rid of some of your parents' furniture and move it inside. Oh, and get some air conditioning too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Not sure how they'd feel about that. No need for air con, I'm used to the heat since we have about 8 or 9 months a year of it. Besides, I like the keg fridge on the back deck, makes for good catch ups with mates out there just sitting there pouring a few beers and talking whatever crap we go on with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Hi Kelsey. I'm not altogether convinced this upgrade of sorts is necessary. I'm basing this on my last recollection of how your tower is setup, particularly relating to insulation. Do you currently have some form of insulation on the inside of the tower? If so, I would suggest you remove this as it is counter productive to the cold air in the fridge being able to chill both the beer line & the metal tower housing surrounding it. The warm to hot ambient temperature air on the outside of the tower is the main contributor to your foaming problems. I believe it is warming the metal tower font that is in-turn warming the beer line that sits inside it & possibly a little below it. Solution: Insulate the outside of the tower against the ambient air with whatever means necessary or create a capped sleave that surrounds the tower neck & allows air flow from inside the kegerator to flow around the outside of the tower neck without escaping externally. Cosmetically it may not look the best, but it will fix your foaming problem I reckon. Out of curiosity, are you still running the font fan for an hour before pouring? Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 Hey Lusty, Firstly, it's too late now anyway because the flooded font is ordered and on its way. So I won't be worrying about any capped sleeves or anything, although not a bad idea even though it probably looks crap. But, yes there is insulation inside the tower. I'm not sure what it really does though, because whenever the font fan has been on for a while the tower is cold and usually has a bit of condensation on it. The issue is, that towards the top it is not as effective as it is at the bottom, my guess is because the fan doesn't blow the air strongly enough to circulate around the whole tower. I originally had the conduit at the top of the tower like they instruct you to, but this was actually worse than having it near the bottom where it currently sits. What I've been doing lately is due to only really drinking the kegs on weekends at the moment, is to switch on the fan on Friday mornings when I leave for work and just leave it run the whole time until Sunday arvo/night. With a flooded font and ice water system I won't be having to do that, it can just be turned on 30-40 minutes before a session and then have ice added to the water 10 mins or so before pouring. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 It sounds like a lot of faffing about. I'm glad I went the keezer route, as all I do is lift the lid & pour. No foam, no probs. Good luck with the flooded font. I hope it solves your foaming issues. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 Well, all I really have to do is remove lines/taps from the existing font, remove it, fit the flooded one, re-attach the beer lines to the tubes (which actually come out the bottom), re-fit the taps, get a small pump and put a couple of pieces of tubing on the brass flooding tubes (obviously connecting one to the pump) and it's done. A little bit of work but should be a much better setup than the current one. Then just get something to use as a small water reservoir inside the kegerator for the pump to sit in. A cut-off 3 litre milk bottle was one suggestion. I forgot in the other post also, but there really isn't any practical way to get the font fan conduit to run up the outside of the font, and running it from the top over the sides and back down again I can't see working very well because by the time it got to the bottom it'd just be warmed up again. So I'd basically be where I am now. In practice, switching to a flooded font is probably less mucking around for a better result. and also when it comes time to change the beer lines it will be much easier because I won't have to faff about trying to get up inside the top of it like you do with the normal fonts they use. It can stay in place and be done that way. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 Just kegged my ESB batch, which is the first one of these I have done for some time. I also got 16 stubbies out of it (was a 26 litre batch), so they'll do me for four weeks of after work beers on Mon-Thurs nights. Had a small taste of some after bottling that excess and I reckon it's gonna turn out pretty well. Nice toffee/caramel there with a hint of fruit as well, presumably from fermenting at 20.5C. Will know better of the tastes once it's carbed and in the glass of course. It is currently in the kegerator at serving pressure but I will increase this pressure to 35 PSI when I head out later on to have a beer with Phil at the casino (obviously turning off the gas to the Chinook keg too), and then turn it off tomorrow arvo, let it sit for a few hours before burping the keg and re-connecting the gas at serving pressure for the rest of the week. Damn it's good having a manifold! I have another ESB planned for my next brew day, this one will be only a 21 litre batch, first one to go in one of my new 20L cubes. I'm adding 200g raw sugar to it as well just to see what that does. First time adding sugar to a brew since my kit days I think. It will also be my last batch with the 1318 yeast, as I am keen to try one of either 1335 or 1469 on future brews. They sound like they'd probably produce an outcome more to my tastes. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Hi keggers. Earlier today I kegged my Citra/Cascade Pale Ale. I'm still tinkering with the fast carbing method & trying to hone a reliable consistent technique. The last keg I fast carbed, I noted how shaking the keg more vigorously throughout the process mixed the beer & C02 much better. Today I set a timer for 5 minutes @ 40psi, inverted the keg as usual, & began the more vigorous shaking throughout that time frame. After the 5 minutes were up, dialled the gas off & left the gas-in line connected & laid the keg on its side & began the rolling process (as usual) & watched the pressure gauge. This time around the psi stopped at approx. 20-25psi & would go no lower regardless of how much longer I rolled the keg. Given that my standard pouring pressure is around 10-12psi, this told me immediately that I had over-carbonated the beer. No biggy, as I know how to deal with that & still be able to pour the beer well. The more vigorous shaking of the beer during the fast carbing phase reduces the time needed to adequately carbonate the beer. Next fast carb keg fill will be vigorous shaking for 3 minutes @ 40psi. That should get it real close. The beer is terrific btw! Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Today I set a timer for 5 minutes @ 40psi' date=' inverted the keg as usual, & began the more vigorous shaking throughout that time frame. After the 5 minutes were up, dialled the gas off & left the gas-in line connected & laid the keg on its side & began the rolling process (as usual) & watched the pressure gauge. [/quote'] I fast force carb for 1-1 1/2 mins @ 35 psi. If its not at the level of carbonation I want then I turn the gas back on and give it another blast for 15-30 seconds. This time around the psi stopped at approx. 20-25psi & would go no lower regardless of how much longer I rolled the keg. Given that my standard pouring pressure is around 10-12psi, this told me immediately that I had over-carbonated the beer. I'm not surprised No biggy, as I know how to deal with that & still be able to pour the beer well. How do you do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Hi Chad. No biggy' date=' as I know how to deal with that & still be able to pour the beer well. [/quote'] How do you do that? When I'm not drinking, the gas-in line is disconnected from the keg, & I vent the the keg periodically via the pressure relief valve. When I want to drink from the keg, I connect the gas-in line & set the regulator at a very low psi, just enough to push the beer out. I have my glass almost horizontal to minimize splashing & foaming. There's no 'quick fix' but eventually the beer will settle to a point where you can increase the pouring pressure up towards normal levels. This beer is only the 3rd beer I've ever over-carbonated since switching to kegging, & apart from the first one (when I was still a newbie kegger), this was how I dealt with the last one. It works for me. Given I've been following instructions that stated to "gently" rock the keg from side to side pretty much since I began kegging, it's only been the last two carbing sessions where I've realized a more vigorous rocking of the keg is far more advantageous. Ohh well, live & learn. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 I've been following this tinkering of your fast carbing method with some interest. Good to see it being close to worked out. I'm currently using the old leave it at 35 PSI for 24 hours then turn off gas, leave for a few hours, burp keg, and reconnect gas at serving pressure. They're usually carbonated enough in about 4-5 days doing this. I'm happy to do this because it also allows the beer time for the yeast and what not to settle out, since I don't have any full kegs "in waiting". When I start filling more kegs I'll sort of 3/4 carb them with a quicker method so that when they do end up in the kegerator I only have to wait until they chill down to drink them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Hi Chad. No biggy' date=' as I know how to deal with that & still be able to pour the beer well. [/quote'] How do you do that? When I'm not drinking, the gas-in line is disconnected from the keg, & I vent the the keg periodically via the pressure relief valve. When I want to drink from the keg, I connect the gas-in line & set the regulator at a very low psi, just enough to push the beer out. I have my glass almost horizontal to minimize splashing & foaming. There's no 'quick fix' but eventually the beer will settle to a point where you can increase the pouring pressure up towards normal levels. This beer is only the 3rd beer I've ever over-carbonated since switching to kegging, & apart from the first one (when I was still a newbie kegger), this was how I dealt with the last one. It works for me. Given I've been following instructions that stated to "gently" rock the keg from side to side pretty much since I began kegging, it's only been the last two carbing sessions where I've realized a more vigorous rocking of the keg is far more advantageous. Ohh well, live & learn. Cheers, Lusty. Sounds like a lot of faffing around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 I kegged my wheat beer yesterday so I will have both taps in operation shortly. Now I need another brew day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Sounds like a lot of faffing around! Haha! It is a little' date=' but the method works. It pours perfectly, & is better than going without beer. [img']lol[/img] As you well know, it's always better to under-carbonate rather than over-carbonate. I'm just happy I'm very close to a final time frame that will consistently work. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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