Beerlust Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 ...Where's the UNDEAD reference come from' date=' all of the live yeast?[/quote']Undead Saison? You made a couple of posts there. I nick-named it that due to commercial bottle yeast I had sitting in the back of the fridge for nearly 3 years that really should have been dead, but miraculously was able to be revived & stepped up to some degree. I didn't step it up enough though as it turned out, as the Wild Beer co. yeast stalled @ approx. 1.026 (from memory), & I had to finish off the brew with some Danstar Belle Saison dry yeast. I'm hoping to get a little spice on the palate from the Ella as well. Will update when it's on the pour. Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 I put the kegs of Bo Pils and Citra pale ale in the kegerator yesterday about 2pm and hit them with CO2 at 40PSI until about 12.30pm today, when the gas was turned off and they were left to sit for another 9 hours or so. At this point they were bled of the small amount of pressure left and the gas turned back on at normal serving pressure where it will stay from now on. These kegs are actually in there earlier than I'd planned, but SWMBO wanted something on tap for NYE pre-drinks so I put them in. The Simcoe pale ale batch is only just under two weeks until kegging anyway so it's no biggie. The 10L keg has about 5L of the Citra pale ale in it currently, and will be filled with about 5L of the Simcoe pale ale when it's time to keg it, so in a way I've ended up with a third beer out of these two batches by blending them in that smaller keg. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry's Cat Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 I'm guessing this thread is the place to ask as the experienced keggers seem to hang out here ! So, I did the right and proper thing and bought myself a kegerator for Christmas - twin tap with 3 gas connects so I can have a 3rd keg sitting on gas in reserve. All connections are John Guest push in with screw on attachment to disconnects. I have a gas leak ! Everything that can be dipped has been dipped in a bowl of water but I can't pinpoint where it is at. Next step will be spray with soapy water - I've been trying to avoid this because I don't like the idea of dish washing liquid getting near my beer - but needs must. Real question though - is there a trick to those JG fittings ? the push fit just doesn't give me confidence , just seems to easy ! Your thoughts would be most welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrie Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 HC - I'm running John Guest fittings on my beer and gas lines without any issues. You need to make sure the lines are pushed in all the way and that the locking circlips or C clips are fitted so the lines cannot be dislodged from the fitting. I've had them on a couple of caravans and rate them very highly. I can't see an issue with spraying on detergent as long as you have a positive pressure in the system then no detergent can ingress. It can be all washed off later anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 You can spray Starsan instead of detergent if you like, it will have the same effect in finding a leak. I did that when I found the leak on my manifold after losing half a bottle of gas in 2 or 3 days; the bubbles were small but I could still see where it was leaking. As for the location, it could be anywhere from the outlet of the CO2 cylinder (unlikely) through the regulator connections to the non return valve (assuming one is in place) to the manifold if you use one, to the push in fittings to the gas posts on the kegs themselves, or even the keg lid/relief valve. One thing I did notice with those push in fittings is that they need to be screwed on tight to the disconnects - hand tight just doesn't cut it. When I first set up my system I noticed a gas leak from these points straight away because I could hear it, so that was promptly fixed. Originally I didn't use a manifold, I had T-piece splitters inside the fridge to turn one gas line into three, but it was more of a PITA. I now have a 4 way manifold mounted on the outside with 3 lines going into the kegerator and the spare 4th line used for purging kegs. I suppose the thing I like the most about the push in fittings is that either they or the lines themselves are easily removed if the disconnects need to be cleaned not in place. I'll be doing this soon myself as they are starting to stick when I try to remove/attach them to the keg posts, so a little soak in some sodium perc is on the cards next time the kegs are emptied. In this instance I'll leave the lines in the fittings and just take the disconnect itself off, as the fittings themselves should get a good enough clean just by running it through from a keg. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry's Cat Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Thanks for your input Morrie and Kelsey. Good idea on the starsan Kelsey - I work in the food industry so have fairly unlimited supply at the right price (sanigard, essentially the same stuff) - shall get to work with the squirty bottle. I got those screw in fittings nice and tight and they were easy enough to check by dipping in a bowl of water. So, will start at the regulator and work through the system from the non return valve onwards. Don't have a manifold yet as I figured a couple of T pieces would be easier to start with but can certainly see the attraction down the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 All connections are John Guest push in with screw on attachment to disconnects. I have a gas leak ! Everything that can be dipped has been dipped in a bowl of water but I can't pinpoint where it is at. Next step will be spray with soapy water - I've been trying to avoid this because I don't like the idea of dish washing liquid getting near my beer - but needs must. Have no fear of using a regular detergent based liquid for spraying your C02 lines etc. looking for possible leaks as it has no chance to infiltrate past the exterior of your beer lines into the beer itself provided you maintain the gas lines open. The use of a detergent based liquid is simply to create an obvious bubble or stream there of where a leak is occurring. The fact that C02 or some other gas is pushing outward from that point tells you nothing can possibly be sucked inward to taint your beer in any way. A Starsan based solution can certainly be used for the ultimately paranoid. Cheers' date=' Lusty.[/size'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 My Undead Saison is pouring & drinking well atm. It has some interesting undertones from using the different yeasts throughout the brewing process. The Ella hop has worked well as a more aromatic substitute for Saaz whilst maintaining some spice. I had harbored some thoughts about kegging this beer when it came to a couple of areas. They being yeast character, & carbonation level. Pouring the beer from the FV into the keg at ambient temperature has helped transfer more yeast in the beer, before cold crashing it in the keg & then carbonating. I found my typical 10-12 psi carbonation level that I use for my pale ales to be not enough for this style. I had to up it to have the beer pour & present better in the glass. Stinking hot weather here in SA atm (40°C) over a few days, so these are going down a treat! Cheers & good brewing, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan8 Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I have a gas leak ! I would first disconnect all my kegs, to prove the lines. Then turn the gas cylinder valve off, monitor for pressure drop if all good then its one of your kegs, connect them back 1 at a time re-pressure with a little more gas and again monitor for pressure drop. Check that you have a good seal on the lid as they can be a little tricky to position correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 10, 2017 Author Share Posted January 10, 2017 Kegging day today! My Simcoe pale ale is ready to be kegged. I have 26 litres in the fermenter, so I'll drain off a litre or so to clear the sludge and other crap away from the tap, transfer approx. 5 litres into my 10L keg which already has 5L of Citra pale ale in it, and then fill the 19L keg with the rest. The keg will then go straight into the kegerator and gas up at 45PSI until tomorrow morning, and I'll sample a glass tomorrow night. The 10L blended keg will go on tap when one of the other kegs runs out. It's pretty cool having this blended keg. Mixing ~5L of two batches together effectively gives me a small 3rd batch from two existing ones. It'll be interesting mixing something like an ESB or my red ale with an APA though . With lagers I'll continue to bottle the excess rather than blending it, though. This arvo I'll also be pitching the yeast into the batch I brewed yesterday. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Yesterday I kegged and bottled my amazing Bright Ale. Started at 11am and finished at 8pm. In between filling the keg with 19 litres and filling 6 Coopers Long Necks I went down to Blundstone Arena to see the Hurricanes get smashed. First time in a while (since Otto's Red) that I have made enough beer to bottle some, I hope the bottles turn out OK. After all it was a right PITA bottle brushing and sanitising, luckily that had 9 hours or so to drain. Cheers & Beers Scottie Valley Brew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenon Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Well I've finally jumped onboard the kegging train guys! Bought a two tap Mark4 from KegKing at xmas and got my first beer into it earlier this week. My fermenting fridge died in the midst of one of our crappy hot Adelaide days (luckily I had only bottled beer in it at the time) so I used the kegerator as a fermenting chamber , which it did really well. This is the beer in question : Estimated OG: 1.055 SG Estimated Color: 16.0 EBC Estimated IBU: 47.5 IBUs Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 % Est Mash Efficiency: 72.8 % Boil Time: 75 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ Amt Name Type # %/IBU 5.70 kg Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) 0.40 kg Caramalt Malt - 55L (Bairds) (108.3 EBC) 0.20 kg Acidulated (Weyermann) (3.5 EBC) 7.00 g Calypso [13.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min 7.00 g Mosaic [13.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min 0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) 17.00 g Calypso [13.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min 17.00 g Mosaic [13.80 %] - Boil 15.0 min 25.00 g Calypso [13.30 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30 25.00 g Citra [12.80 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30 25.00 g Mosaic [13.80 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30 1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) 25.00 g Calypso [13.30 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days 25.00 g Citra [12.80 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days And here it is going into my keg : It turned out delicious!! Gave it 30 psi for 24 hours then turned it down to 10/12 and gave it a taste. WOW. Very impressed. So fruity and flavoursome yet the respectable bitterness of it gives you a nice kick in the taste buds. Why haven't I kegged sooner? ( well, money , obviously ). How nice does this look? hmmm ... what to brew next ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Good stuff. I have the same type of kegerator. The Intertap taps are pretty good. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Good stuff mate! Welcome to the dark side I have my 10L blended keg (Citra PA and Simcoe PA), the Simcoe PA and a Bo Pils on tap currently, although I'm not drinking the pils at the moment as I want to empty the front two kegs first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swill Bill Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Just kegged Otto's Red Ale, been looking forward to this as well as I'm down to my last keg due to brewing down time over xmas. I've got 40psi on it and will give it 24 hours and see how the carb goes. Usually needs a few days more at serving pressure but will be drinkable hopefully after 24 hours. Cheers Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 It's kegging day today, I'm taking advantage of a 5 hour break in my shift to get the lawn cut (already done) and keg my XXXX Bitter rip off so I don't have to do it over the weekend. Originally I was gonna bottle the surplus of about 7 litres, but since I'm low on kegged beer and I have a 10L keg now, I decided to bang the 7 litres surplus into the small keg and stick it straight into the kegerator to carb up over the next week rather than faff around with bottles. The next batch to go into the FV is my porter which is only going into a 19L keg, so it will be a few weeks before the small keg will be needed again for surplus of another batch, and I expect it will be empty well in time for that . Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan8 Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Great thread and should be made sticky. Valuable info for those who are thinking of kegging. So I will bump this one up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 Yeah it's kind of morphed from what it originally was into a thread about what just went into the kegs although sometimes practical questions pop up as well, but all the info in the initial pages is obviously still there. It was helpful to me to get some advice in the beginning too. It's simple once you've got it all set up but it can be daunting at the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Kegged my session IPA after 2.7 weeks in the FV, turns out my SG was spot on when tested today. Poured a glass a sampled it while brewing, doesn't everyone. Saaz is a lovely companion for Cascade, I have a nice beer but I'm not sure its like what I was trying to emulate. Cheers & Beers Scottie Valley Brew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyh77 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Just kegged my Cooper's Devils Brew Porter. Will now sit in garage till June/July. Even got 4 PET bottles extra. I'm going to try for the first time to wash the yeast so I can use in a my milk stout. I've got 3 1l mason jars. Going to fill 2 with the yeast slurry and try to get the 2 into 1 jars after draining. You need to make a starter when you use it though, do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyh77 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Oops double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Matty, it depends how long it's kept for before you use it again but if you are using it again quite soon then you probably don't need a starter. Scottie, I always pour a glass from the FV when I keg a batch too, actually I pour several glasses to clear the muck from the tap, but given this usually happens on work days I can't drink it. I do have a small taste test but the rest unfortunately goes down the drain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Just kegged my Ace of Spades porter, which is sitting on the spare gas line at the moment. I'll probably leave it on there until tomorrow morning. Even though it will warm up at least there is some gas in it. That keg will then be stored away until June/July when it will go on tap. Now to rinse and soak the FV and harvest this bloody yeast from a starter I've got going for tomorrow's pitching of the next batch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 Just kegged my English ale with home made crystal. I put about 4.5L into the little bastard keg which will be blended with the excess from the next batch (APA) when it's ready in a couple of weeks or so, and obviously 19L in to the main keg, had about a litre left over so I didn't end up dragging trub into the keg. I did drain 3 glasses through the tap before putting the excess into the little keg, and the taste is really nice. Looking forward to this one being on tap in about 3 weeks! Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpaca Brew Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 For the moment I have 2 kegs. I will be buying more soon but my co2 regulator only has two outposts. Can I unhook one, fast carb for 48 hours, then unhook it from the Co2 tank and let it condition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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