Bottling To Kegging

[Georgedgerton]

I have just recently changed from bottling to kegging and it has been suggested my secondary and cold crash technique can be changed.

The old process for ales was:
Primary fermentation about 18C
Transfer to secondary after primary stops and leave for another week at 18c
Cold crash secondary for another week and bottle - all worked well with good results

It been suggested that with kegging (because of the different carbonation and aging process) that I can cold crash immediately after I transfer to the secondary and then keg after its been there for a week. In other words don't bother to leave in the secondary at 18 for a week as it's no longer achieving very much.

So what do you guys think?

 

[muckey]

I'm assuming that the transfer to secondary was to ensure fermentation has finished prior to bottling. From that perspective with kegs it doesn't achieve much because the keg is a pressure vessel and wont have any issue with a bit of CO2 buildup. You are really only losing a week of aging that can be done in the keg anyway. Having said that, you wont hurt the beer by sticking with your current regime

What I normally do - primary fermentation for at least 7 days (usually longer). meaning that the beer has reached FG and had a few days to be sure. Crash chill, (fine and polyclar if required and then leave for another 2-3 days at least and then keg. All of this is dependant on when I have time to do it and how much beer I have on tap at the time

wouldn't be surprised if I've been beaten to the punch here

 

[EZE-09Z]

what i do is ferment as normal and then put the fermented batch into a keg and burp with Co2 and then put that is a cold place till my other kegs in the kegerator are finished.

pretty much like a secondary ferment just its sitting in the kegs ready to go.




Ernie

 

[MarkBastard]

I only use primary. Leave for approx 10 days at 18 degrees then when ferment is finished I crash chill to about 1 degrees for a few days until it clears up and the yeast etc drops out and compacts on the bottom. Then I keg.

 

[brando]

I only use primary. Leave for approx 10 days at 18 degrees then when ferment is finished I crash chill to about 1 degrees for a few days until it clears up and the yeast etc drops out and compacts on the bottom. Then I keg.

I do the same as Mark - primary only. I can't see that the benefits of using a secondary fermenter outweight the extra effort.

 

[Georgedgerton]

thanks for the input. At the moment I am not worried about the overall time it takes, just trying to free up the fridge I use for controlling the fermentation temp to get ahead for a little extra stock over the coming Silly Season.

 

[riverside]

I only use primary. Leave for approx 10 days at 18 degrees then when ferment is finished I crash chill to about 1 degrees for a few days until it clears up and the yeast etc drops out and compacts on the bottom. Then I keg.

Same primary only ! i just leave it in the fermenter for about a week longer.

 

[scott_penno]

I only use primary. Leave for approx 10 days at 18 degrees then when ferment is finished I crash chill to about 1 degrees for a few days until it clears up and the yeast etc drops out and compacts on the bottom. Then I keg.

+1

sap.

 

[Bribie G]

I use the same basic method as Muckey - ferment out almost completely in primary and cold crash, but I do it for about 2 weeks in a cube as I fortunately now have a bigger fridge that can hold 3 cubes. The idea of the long cold crash, even for ales, is to get basically crystal clear beer into the keg. On kegging day I draw off a jug of beer first until it's running bright then fill the keg. The jug doesn't get wasted, I bottle it and the last part of the fermenter and would get four or five bottles in addition to the kegful. I normally fine and polyclar a few days before keg day. Then I let the beer just carb up in the keg under pressure in the kegerator for a few days before tapping and drinking.

I have done a few sugar primed kegs and find that it takes quarter of a keg before it's running bright, as the secondary fermentation in the keg has produced extra yeast and sludge. Saves some gas but I'd rather pour bright beer from the first glass onwards, gas isn't all that dear.

 

[The Big Burper]

I used to use only a primary and chill it before kegging, but found still too much crap in the keg.

So I do 2 weeks primary, rack off to secondary for a week in the fridge, and
then keg.

Doing it this way the beer is brighter (I do not fine) and there is absolutely
no sediment left in the keg. Makes for a better tasting beer IMO.

cheers
BB

 

[Georgedgerton]

Many thanks to all the contributors and their perspectives.