It's Kegging Time!

[Otto Von Blotto]

You get less yeast in the keg if the brew is cold crashed first. Plus you can carb it up quicker due to it already being cold from the start. This is the reason I want to get another fridge to store kegs in while they wait to be tapped.

 

As for the pressure, that depends on how many volumes of CO2 you want in the beer and the temperature you are storing them at in your keg fridge.

 

On my set up, the fridge is set to -1C, but it varies between that and 1C, so they're probably sitting at 0C on average. I like my beers on the upper end of the carb level scale. When a block of 3 kegs is first put in, they sit on 45 PSI for about 20 hours or so at which point the gas disconnects are removed and the kegs left to sit for 6 or 7 hours. Then I burp them, put the lines back on and set the regulator to about 15PSI. At this point they're almost fully carbed (enough to enjoy one anyway), so another day and they're done and ready.

 

I have a 4 way manifold for my gas lines and apparently the check valves in these things drop the pressure a bit, hence the high setting on the regulator. In any case, they are carbed to my tastes and pour well.

 

Those settings might not work for you though depending on your set up and preferences.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[Gag Halfrunt]

Thanks Otto, all useful information, Ill report back.

[Waylon]

I force carb my kegs...burp them with 10-15 psi first to remove any oxygen

Then get cracking with force carb takes about 2 minutes

[Otto Von Blotto]

I used to do that a little bit, but you still have to wait a few hours for it to settle anyway. I have no need to carbonate them that fast anymore, so they just sit in the fridge and carb up as per my last post. It only takes a day or two.

[Beerlust]

Hi Gag Halfrunt.

Exciting times!

Am about to keg my brew for the first time.

 

One question' date=' why cold crash before kegging? Wont the brew cold crash itself in the keg/keezer?

Another question , how long to force carb and at what pressure?

 

Thanks in advance. [/quote']

The Otto man has touched on one method that he uses & prefers, but like most things, there is more than one approach you can take.

 

I use a faster method that has my kegged beer ready to drink in a little over an hour. Once you've filled your keg with beer & burped the oxygen from the head space, I do the following.

 

1. Set the regulator to 40psi, attach the gas in-line, invert the keg, vigorously push back & forth intermittently for 2 minutes. Then turn the gas off at the regulator, leaving the gas in-line attached.

 

2. Roll the keg back & forth for 2 minutes watching the regulator pressure gauge. You will notice the pressure dropping throughout. If you have mixed the C02 well into the beer, by the time the 2 minute rolling time expires, the gauge will have settled around the 10psi mark that I generally use as my pouring pressure. 1-2 psi higher or lower is fine.

 

3. Upright the keg, disconnect the gas in-line, & place it in your kegerator/fridge for 1 hour. After the 1 hour has elapsed, expel the excess C02 from the headspace using the pressure relief valve (on the keg). Then set your regulator to your desired pouring pressure (usually 10-12psi for me), & attach the gas in-line once again.

 

4. Attach your beer-out line & pour yourself a beer. Enjoy!

 

Note: My setup uses a 5mm diameter/2 metre beer-out line. Different beer-out line lengths & diameters will give different results.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[Gag Halfrunt]

Thanks Lusty, I'm using a 50 litre CUB keg though, a bit heavy and cumbersome to shake although the rocking and rolling method seems like a plan to me, willgive it a go cos im the impatient type when it comes to my first kegged brew.

 

BTW where's my avatar gone?

[Gag Halfrunt]

Drinking beer from keg already, this must be the happiest day of my life.

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

I get the impatience with the first keg. I did the quick carb method although a variation of it by using a liquid disconnect on the gas line which was then attached to the beer out post on the keg to save inverting it. Unfortunately the disconnect had a leak the first time because I didn't tighten the push in fitting on hard enough, so I carbed it again once that was fixed and ended up with over carbed beer and foam coming out the tap

 

Subsequent times I've done it with better results but I suppose a lot of the novelty has worn off now and I don't need them on tap in an hour, so I'm happy to wait a couple of days for them to simply carb up on higher pressure in the fridge.

 

I use the same 5mm ID lines as Lusty, but mine are slightly longer at 2.2m plus the length of the stainless tubes that run up to the taps in my font. Probably doesn't really matter anyway since I have flow control on my taps.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I put two kegs into the kegerator today to chill down and carbonate, these being the red ale and the XXXX Bitter rip off. They are sitting at 45 PSI where they will remain until about 6am tomorrow when I'll remove the gas disconnects and let them sit until I get home around dinner time, and then they'll be hooked up at normal serving pressure after a burping. The third keg which will be my APA currently CCing will be kegged on Saturday and carbed using the same method, so it probably won't be ready to tap until Sunday night.

 

The cycle has been sped up a little this time due to my birthday BBQ a month or so ago resulting in a bit more being consumed than would be normally, but running out of the last keg 5 days before the last of the next three is kegged isn't too bad considering that. I expect to get surplus bottles from each of the next three batches too with them all being planned to be 25 litres, which will come in handy for drinking if these three run out before the next three are ready.

 

And now it's time to go and boil some wort for a yeast starter for some 2001 yeast for my next Bo Pils that will be in the FV on Monday.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

 

 

[Morrie]

I'm in the process of looking into kegging and the first prerequisite is that I need to be able to source CO2 at a reasonable price. I hit a few brick walls. I live near Mackay. Elgas don't supply it here. BOC only refill their own cylinders and charge $15 per month cylinder rental. Blacksmith Jacks charge $0.58 per day cylinder rental.

 

I eventually found a company called Fire Systems which will charge $92 to refill a 6kg cylinder. That is all I can find and can live paying this considering I should be able to get at least 12 months from a cylinder.

 

Just wondering what other brewers are paying on here for CO2 and what cylinder arrangements they have. Eg : ownership or rental.

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

I went through Brewers Choice for mine, although I'm not sure if they're up that way. I paid a $300 refundable deposit and it operates on a swap and go system, so I guess technically I do own it as I don't pay a monthly or yearly charge for them. The price for each swap must have gone up since the last time I swapped one, this time I paid about $65 for a 6.8kg cylinder swap. But yeah, they last about a year so it's not too bad really.

 

Unrelated, my O2 is on a rental thing from BOC for $80 a year which includes a free refill/swap. I don't think I'll be needing to swap it for a while though.

[Morrie]

I think your deposit system is a good arrangement as you never have to pay for a hydrostatic test. I have the same arrangement for my argon/CO2 mix cylinder for gas metal arc welding, just have to pay for the refills. We don't have Brewers Choice up here Kelsey so I guess that Fire Systems may be my only choice for now.

[Swill Bill]

I bought a 2.6kg bottle from Keg King when I purchased my kegerator and was keeping it inside the kegerator. I have since moved the bottle external to the kegerator as it is a PIA to get to the regulator when you have several tanks in there and I also now run 2 regulators and the Fekker don't fit to good with 2 regs. My LHBS does swap and go for $40 and if going to town I go to Keg King and they're about $30 for a swap.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Yeah I've always had mine on the outside for obvious reasons It's connected to a 4-way manifold with three lines going into the kegerator through the hole in the back which has had its plastic insert removed to fit the lines through, and the 4th line is a spare that I use for purging kegs, although it has a keg of water connected at the moment for use with cordials when one of the beer kegs runs out. Figured I might as well throw some gas in it now, that way when it chills down it's already carbed as it will absorb it more as it chills.

[Morrie]

I have found some 23 litre kegs on the market. Just wonder what you keggers think about that idea. Also I welcome any opinions on what to steer clear of and what you think are desirable products and brands to look for re taps kegging and the whole kaboodle.

[Swill Bill]

I only have 2 lines in the back of mine as thats all that would fit with the plastic insert in. I did consider removing it but didn't have the hardware to facilitate the 3 lines, although I probably should have done it with just the 3rd line free until I purchased the hardware. I have an Andale twin font and have 2 kegs on tap at once and a 3rd gassed and conditioning but would like it carbonating aswell. My kegerator sits inside a custom made bar for the kegerator and a hole in the bar top for the font so its not an easy job to remove it and make the changes but they will happen.

 

 

 

 

I have found some 23 litre kegs on the market. Just wonder what you keggers think about that idea. Also I welcome any opinions on what to steer clear of and what you think are desirable products and brands to look for re taps kegging and the whole kaboodle.

 

Bigger is not always better(did I just say that) Depends how many kegs you want inside your kegerator and the size of the kegs in question.

[Morrie]

I have ideas of running 2 kegs and a CO2 cylinder inside an upside down fridge. If that sounds strange its one of those fridges with the freezer down the bottom. I have visions of just running the taps directly attached to the kegs. That way nothing is exposed to the outside of the fridge and no frothing due to warm taps or not having to pre-chill a font tower prior to pouring. Just a cold beer anytime I want.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Yeah I'd imagine they'd be fine depending on what sort of fridge set up you use for chilling and dispensing them. The dimensions would be different to the usual 19L corny kegs. Do they use the same liquid and gas posts as the cornies?

 

As for taps I have only used Perlick SS flow control taps, so I have nothing to compare them to but they've been great over the last year and a bit. Probably due for a dismantle and clean properly though, might do that on my holidays as the current block of three kegs should be running out around that time.

 

Beer and gas lines are 5mm ID. Valpar Flexmaster II. It's pretty much top of the range stuff.

 

Other than taps and lines it doesn't really matter because the other items are basically the fridge, kegs and gas bottle. I'd recommend the Micromatic CO2 regulator, although the Harris ones are well regarded as well. Would probably steer clear of the Keg King regulators, supposedly not as high quality as the others. Personally I figured buy once, buy quality.

 

If you go for a kegerator, a flooded font might be a better option than the standard font and fan set up. It has definitely worked better for me since I replaced the standard font with the flooded one. I only use chilled/ice water with it, but it still works better than a font fan.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[Morrie]

Yeah I'd imagine they'd be fine depending on what sort of fridge set up you use for chilling and dispensing them. The dimensions would be different to the usual 19L corny kegs. Do they use the same liquid and gas posts as the cornies?

 

As for taps I have only used Perlick SS flow control taps' date=' so I have nothing to compare them to but they've been great over the last year and a bit. Probably due for a dismantle and clean properly though, might do that on my holidays as the current block of three kegs should be running out around that time.

 

Beer and gas lines are 5mm ID. Valpar Flexmaster II. It's pretty much top of the range stuff.

 

Other than taps and lines it doesn't really matter because the other items are basically the fridge, kegs and gas bottle. I'd recommend the Micromatic CO2 regulator, although the Harris ones are well regarded as well. Would probably steer clear of the Keg King regulators, supposedly not as high quality as the others. Personally I figured buy once, buy quality.

 

If you go for a kegerator, a flooded font might be a better option than the standard font and fan set up. It has definitely worked better for me since I replaced the standard font with the flooded one. I only use chilled/ice water with it, but it still works better than a font fan.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey[/quote']

 

Thanks for your information Kelsey. I'd have to find out about the ball lock fittings. According to their info they are compatible with corny stuff. At the moment nil stock on the 23 L kegs. 23 Litre Kegs URL

[Otto Von Blotto]

Yeah they look the same as the usual ball lock posts from the pictures. Should be sweet with the fittings then. They look the same diameter as the 19L ones too, just taller. Shame that, they wouldn't fit in the kegerator but it'd save bottling altogether if I had a couple of them for the 25L batches I brew.

 

As for the taps, even if they're just door mounted on the outside you probably wouldn't get too much frothing since all the beer line up to the inside of the door is chilled. It's different in a font where you have about 30cm or more of line that isn't actually inside the fridge. The frothing you'd get on a door mounted tap would probably only serve to provide some head on the beer. Even in my set up it doesn't froth too much although I can control it with the FC taps. I start out with a little more than a dribble and gradually increase the flow as the tap cools. It foams but ends up with about 10mm or so head on the beer by the end of the pour.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[Michael1986]

I have found some 23 litre kegs on the market. Just wonder what you keggers think about that idea. Also I welcome any opinions on what to steer clear of and what you think are desirable products and brands to look for re taps kegging and the whole kaboodle.

i haven't seen any of those 23 litre kegs before so can't comment on them. I have a keg king fridge that came with 2 of those taps shown on the link you posted and they were ok but they would stick all the time and weren't that easy to clean. I ended up buying a perlick 525ss and a perlick 575ss (it's the one that you can push the opposite way to get a nice creamy head on a stout).I bought perlick taps because they were recomended to me, I was also told that stainless steel taps are better to use with stainless steel kegs. I have had them for about 4 years now and haven't had any dramas other than cleaning every now and again and replacing the rubber o rings once a year. They don't make the 525ss anymore but they have an upgraded version out now. Any way i recommend perlick as a good reliable tap in my experience not that i have used that many different brands. I'm sure there's plenty of other good ones out there.

[Michael1986]

My brother is also in the process of turning his tucker box freezer into a keezer. He wants to get a stainless Pluto gun so he can keep all dispensing equipment inside the freezer

[Otto Von Blotto]

Yeah those brumby taps seem to be a bit hit and miss, probably depends on the manufacturer too. I decided to skip all the replacement cost BS and went straight for Perlick 650SS flow controls. They've been excellent so far.

 

Andale gets a good wrap as well although I haven't used them myself.

[Morrie]

The Perlick 650SS look the goods and I am leaning towards those without the flow control. Do I really need flow control once I have everything fine tuned? CraftBrewer are selling 6.8 kg alloy CO2 cylinders that weigh only 8.3 kg. That swap and go one of yours Kelsey, is it steel or alloy?

 

That's my idea with the 23 litre kegs too is that I won't need to bottle at all. Not sure when they will have those in stock but I am prepared to wait.

[Michael1986]

The perlick 630ss would be the way to go if you don't want the flow control. As far as I'm aware the 630ss is the upgraded version of the 525ss.

I mainly use the 525 and only use the 575 for stouts. Good luck mate. Also make sure you buy plenty of beer line, it's a lot easier making it shorter if you need too.