Blending Beers In Kegs

[nick_wilko]

Ok here's the situation:

Earlier in the year I brewed a belgian golden ale that is way too sweet :angry: . I've given it a number of months to age now, and it's still just too sweet to drink more than a small glass. No idea what happened - must've screwed something up on the brewday...

To combat this sweetness I've been playing around with various blending options - e.g. chamomile tea (interesting, but doesn't help reduce the sweetness), extra hop tea, and also other beers. I've landed on an 80/20 blend of the belgian and a pale ale that actually turns out REALLY well.

I've read Ross's post on how to transfer between kegs, BUT this doesnt seem like an exact science especially if I'm aiming to hit an 80/20 blend as you can't see the volumes on the inside!

Realistically what would be the problems/issues of just opening the belgian keg and pouring in the pale ale? Oxidation comes to mind - but is it worth worrying about? I'd hate to ruin the keg.

I'd be interested to see what others have done when blending beers in kegs.

 

[MarkBastard]

If you're going to do it that way just connect the beer posts of both kegs, open the pressure relief valve on the belgium, and connect gas up to the gas post of the pale ale. This should transfer to the bottom of the belgium keg and reduce any chances of oxidisation.

 

[brettprevans]

oxidisation, meh! ive literally just upturned kegs and poured it into another keg for a mongrel keg. no noticable oxidisation.

re exact measurement i can only suggest pour 20% of pale into a glasss and 80% belgian into glass. done

 

[argon]

oxidisation, meh! ive literally just upturned kegs and poured it into another keg for a mongrel keg. no noticable oxidisation.

re exact measurement i can only suggest pour 20% of pale into a glasss and 80% belgian into glass. done

Yeah that's what i'd be doing.. if you can spare the extra keg and or tap. Just blend at serving time. Added benefit is you get to keep your Pale as is. Done this plenty of times... and with my 4 taps i have an exponential amount of blended beers available at any one time!

 

[under]

I have a keg where all my leftovers from the ferments go into. Sometimes they are bloody beautiful, sometimes not

 

[nick_wilko]

I'm going to need the extra keg space shortly so I reckon I'll have a go at transfering, possibly skipping the keg transfer and just pour it in...depends if I can make it to the LHBS to get some extra beer out QDs.

As a side note - definitely going to try blending the beers on tap more often!

Thanks
Wilko

 

[MarkBastard]

Has anyone used a Y adapter to connect two kegs to one tap, so that there's in-line mixing? Wouldn't mind giving it a go one time hahaha. Deliberately make a black and tan or something.

 

[nick_wilko]

Haha, I like it. Adjust the mix by varying the serving pressure.

 

[Brewme]

Ok here's the situation:

Earlier in the year I brewed a belgian golden ale that is way too sweet :angry: . I've given it a number of months to age now, and it's still just too sweet to drink more than a small glass. No idea what happened - must've screwed something up on the brewday...

To combat this sweetness I've been playing around with various blending options - e.g. chamomile tea (interesting, but doesn't help reduce the sweetness), extra hop tea, and also other beers. I've landed on an 80/20 blend of the belgian and a pale ale that actually turns out REALLY well.

I've read Ross's post on how to transfer between kegs, BUT this doesnt seem like an exact science especially if I'm aiming to hit an 80/20 blend as you can't see the volumes on the inside!

Realistically what would be the problems/issues of just opening the belgian keg and pouring in the pale ale? Oxidation comes to mind - but is it worth worrying about? I'd hate to ruin the keg.

I'd be interested to see what others have done when blending beers in kegs.

Why not just pour 1/2 glass of the sweet stuff and fill the glass with another beer.

Cheers

 

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Why not just pour 1/2 glass of the sweet stuff and fill the glass with another beer.

Cheers

That what I'd too
Cheers