Carbonation Of A Warmed-up Keg

[jonocarroll]

Let's say you're going camping. No. Wait. Let's say I'm going camping.

Of course there will be at least one keg of beer on hand. That keg will be carbonated as normal then cooled to a respectably low temperature before being wrapped in some sort of insulation (either a keg-jacket or otherwise) before departure. It's fair to assume that my beer fridge won't fit in the back of the Jazz, as much as the ad might inspire someone to believe.

Now, although my mates and I will be doing our utmost to empty the keg as soon as possible, what happens if the keg does eventually warm up? I presume that with the rising temperature, the equilibrium will shift such that the dissolved CO₂ will create an increased pressure in the headspace. Given the amount of froth I get from warm taps on my cold fridge, I'm guessing this causes its own share of froth issues too.

Option 1: Vent some of the gas until you get a good pour going again, and top up once it slows?

Option 2: Retain the high pressure, but pour into a jug and allow the excess head to fade on its own, hoping that the pouring pressure will eventually return to the sweet spot on its own?

(Note: Option 3 is not HTFU and drink the frothy beer from the tap!)

I'll be using gas bulbs, and while I don't mind using them up to get a good beer out of its steel prison, they don't come cheap.

What do you in such a situation?

 

[komodo]

How long you camping for? an ice bath temp mate and a warm keg isnt a better option?

 

[jyo]

 

[jonocarroll]

So, the solution to my problem is to not have the problem to begin with... great.

Humor me for a moment. Let's say it's more than 3 days with no access to fresh ice. Does no one have this issue?

 

[JestersDarts]

If it were me, and I was camping with my mates - The keg wouldnt last the first night.. :chug:

 

[MarkBastard]

Humor me for a moment. Let's say it's more than 3 days with no access to fresh ice. Does no one have this issue?

Can't see how this wouldn't result in hot beer?

If you have to keep a keg for 3 days with no access to ice during the three days the best bet would be to have an eski good enough to keep ice unmelted for 3 days.

But yeah I don't see that happening.

People that want to drink from warm kegs use miracle boxes but they require ice or electricity.

 

[jyo]

So, the solution to my problem is to not have the problem to begin with... great.

Humor me for a moment. Let's say it's more than 3 days with no access to fresh ice. Does no one have this issue?

Sorry if I'm reading this incorrectly, QB but are you saying that when (or if) your beer warms up that you will still try to drink it luke-warm?

I would imagine the head/froth would be shocking, regardless of venting the keg and readjusting your flow rate.

Why not start deep freezing blocks of ice, enough to fill an esky to the top, and take that with you? An esky full of block ice last for dayssss. Chuck the keg in a vessel similiar to what I have and as long as say the bottom 1/4 to 1/2 of the keg and your beer gun and line are in the ice, you should be all go.

Cheers, John.

 

[daemon]

Maybe you could take the fridge with you? Don't let it deter you that you only have a Jazz, here's some inspiration:

 

[JestersDarts]

hahah gold

 

[SirDrinkalot]

Even if the keg is warm... chuck it in a gargbage bin then add ice... throw heaps of salt on top of the ice so it melts fast.
Its an old fishermans trick... salt water freezes at a lower temp than normal water, so the ice will melt but the cold temp will immediately transfer to the keg!
in half an hour you will have an ice cold keg!!

 

[Wortgames]

Hi QuantumBrewer, I've been in this situation many times, so here are my thoughts.

Essentially you have three main options. The first (and worst) is to accept that the beer will warm up over the duration, and that foaming will be a problem. Do whatever you can to keep the keg cool obviously, if you are near a body of cool water then immerse the keg in that. Forget about trying to 'balance' a warming system though, it ain't going to happen. You can probably take the gas off after the first night, the warming beer will just about dispense itself.

As for foam management, your jug idea is perfectly valid, but what I've found works well is simply to rotate 2 glasses. Each time you go for a fill, run off the initial foam into an empty glass, put it aside, then top up the settled one you prepared earlier.

The second (and much preferred option) is to improve your supply of ice, and get a jockey box. You could fill it with ice at the start of the trip and not even use it until the second or third day when your pre-chilled and well-insulated keg starts to get warm. Depending on the nature of your camping trips and the number of people involved it's often the case that somebody or other is doing a run into town every couple of days or so. If so, make them bring back ice.

The ultimate solution is to be able to chill on demand. What would be really 'cool' would be a solar-powered Engel set up as a jockey box. I use a converted chest freezer with a generator on a trailer. The chest freezer has the advantage that I only need to run the genny for a couple of hours a couple of times a day with the thermostat turned right down and it will suck out plenty of heat each time. Obviously this isn't entirely appropriate in public camping spots but if your group are the only ones there most people are willing to accept a few hours of genny noise in the middle of the day as the price of cold beer...

:beer:

 

[jonocarroll]

Hi QuantumBrewer, I've been in this situation many times, so here are my thoughts.

:beer:

Thank you WortGames - that's the kind of answer I was looking for. Of course the best option is to keep the beer as cold as possible, but thank you for your suggestions for when that's just not possible.

I certainly wouldn't be taking a beer that becomes undrinkable as it warms (no one thinks a porter would be perfect for camping?) and it's good to know what to expect in terms of froth.

Cheers muchly!

@Daemon - LOL. That's priceless.

 

[jonocarroll]

Success!



A great weekend up at Loch Luna Game Reserve on the river, and better weather than Adelaide anyway. Apart from me pretending that a fully loaded-up Jazz will remain comfortable on coarsely graded track or have a suitable ride-height for water-channeled tracks, all went fine. The keg was carbed for weeks, topped up to drinking pressure, then crash chilled down to 0*C, wrapped in a camping mat and packed into the car. The mat was appropriated by another camper later that night, but with the cool weather the keg stayed pretty cool (in the shade) right through the second night.

As for pouring issues, the first night saw pours of 90% head (which settled down in the glass) up until I vented a small amount of gas... perfect pours for the rest of the night. By the next day the extra gas released by the slight warming was enough to ensure good pouring pressure, and in the end I dispensed the entire 3/4 of a keg without ever touching a gas bulb. Noice! The last of the beer was warmed up and given a good shake to mix up the yeast and used to make a perfect APA damper (tigger-style crust no less).



Dawn service in Barmera was bigger than expected, but a perfect morning for it. All in all, camping with a keg is awesome, and the pouring vs. carbonation was a non-issue.


Yes, I probably could have acquired some ice on a trip into town, but I liked that I didn't have to. Besides, we showed up as the sun was setting, and with a 15 minute drive just to get back to the park gate, and another 10 into the nearest town, I had no intention of going to pick up some ice on the first night.



Cheers for the advice, everyone.