Fermenter To Keg Transfer

[suchidog]

Hi all,

I have searched the site for an answer to this question with no luck.

Can someone tell me the best way to transfer between a fermenter and a corny? What tools do I need to best achieve a good clear beer?

Cheers,
Ben

 

[mika]

Fermentor above corny, gravity is your friend. Plastic beverage tube from Bunnings (sanitised prior to use of course) from tap of fermentor into the bottom of the corny. Open tap on fermentor (after removing the airlock) and wait for keg to fill. Don't tilt the fermentor and just learn to live with the 1/2-1L of beer you leave behind.
I know I've simplified that a lot and there's a few steps in there that you'll need to work out, but I think you're up to it, unless you're a little more special than I first thought.

 

[suchidog]

Fermentor above corny, gravity is your friend. Plastic beverage tube from Bunnings (sanitised prior to use of course) from tap of fermentor into the bottom of the corny. Open tap on fermentor (after removing the airlock) and wait for keg to fill. Don't tilt the fermentor and just learn to live with the 1/2-1L of beer you leave behind.
I know I've simplified that a lot and there's a few steps in there that you'll need to work out, but I think you're up to it, unless you're a little more special than I first thought.

thanks mika.

Are people transferring to a conditioning keg first and then into a serving keg or missing this step out?

 

[litre_o_cola]

I filter mine as I am sure a few others do.
In side of filter has 1/2" tubing and Out side has beer line size tube and a liquid disconnect.
Set it up as a 3 tier gravity feed, crack all valves including pressure relief valve on keg and let it do its thing while I have a beer.

 

[suchidog]

I filter mine as I am sure a few others do.
In side of filter has 1/2" tubing and Out side has beer line size tube and a liquid disconnect.
Set it up as a 3 tier gravity feed, crack all valves including pressure relief valve on keg and let it do its thing while I have a beer.

thanks litre

you filtering straight from the fermentor to a keg and then serving from that?

 

[litre_o_cola]

thanks litre

you filtering straight from the fermentor to a keg and then serving from that?

Yep, crash chill, filter to keg, chill, gas and serve.

I use a tap on the OUT side of the filter to regulate the flow and to stop any sediment being forced through the element.
Exactly the same in the brew shops but I made mine up so it was only $65.

 

[suchidog]

Yep, crash chill, filter to keg, chill, gas and serve.

I use a tap on the OUT side of the filter to regulate the flow and to stop any sediment being forced through the element.
Exactly the same in the brew shops but I made mine up so it was only $65.

Sounds good! Thanks litre

 

[MarkBastard]

Try and get the tube from the fermenter all the way to the bottom of the keg, and then only allow a slow flow so that the beer doesn't splash. Once the beer has covered the bottom of the tube you can open the tap all the way as there is less chance of splashing.

Splashing the beer will oxygenate it which you want to try to avoid.

 

[barls]

you can also purge the keg with co2 to prevent oxidisation

 

[Screwtop]

Standard procedure:

Once fermentation has ceased allow a further week for the yeast to clean up.
Crash chill to 1 - 2 for 3 days
Remove fermenter from fridge and place on bench
Open tap on fermenter and run off 100ml, toss this out it will be mostly yeast.
Take off another 200ml and use to make up gelatine solution (search) for fining in the keg
Pour gelatine solution into keg and place below fermenter on floor
Attach beverage tubing (long enough to reach the bottom of the keg) to fermenter tap
Transfer from fermenter to keg, stop 25mm below gas in tube (stop draining before drawing off any yeast sediment from the bottom of the fermenter)
Add a little gas to keg, then purge using the relief valve on top of the keg
Gas keg to 300kpa and put away to CC

Cheers,

Screwy

Tip: If you have any beer left over, transfer this to a spare (bits) keg, gas up and put away to CC. Add any extra from the fermenter on each keg fill. You will be surprised how good (never repeatable) these bits beers can be. Everything goes in - Ales, Lagers, Dark, Pale, Wheat, whatever.

 

[ben_sa]

Screwtop - do you mean the remaining 2-4 litres of each batch, every batch, then once its full of the last 6-8 brews to carb it up and away she goes?

If so, thats a different idea id never thought of, Since i went to kegging, i get p1ssed having to clean the 10-15 stubbies lol, i cant fathom how i used to clean 60 per brew! No wonder i didnt brew as much as i do now LOL

and when you add each brew, do you just purge the Oxygen out and then wait for the next batch, then repeat til she's full?

Could be onto something here mate

 

[raven19]

Ben, yup Screwy (and others - iirc from his previous posts) just open the relief valve on the 'bits' keg, then open the lid and rack any remaining beer into it.

If force carbonating, it can then be drunk pretty much straight away. So the level of the bits keg is alway rising and falling depending on how it tastes, how much brewing is happening, and how many friends pop over! :icon_cheers:

 

[Bribie G]

I do a two stage process.

• Nice long primary fermentation (usually around 10 days for an ale)
• Transfer to a 23 litre cube and add gelatine at that stage
• cold crash at 4 degrees for a week to 10 days, adding polyclar on day 8.

I have fitted my cubes with taps so on kegging day:

• As screwy does, chuck the first glass of yeast
• Fill three primed bottles and cap them.
• Then fit hose (get one that goes on the outside of the tap, not the inside)
• Make sure the hose goes right to the bottom
• Fill to below the gas-in dip tube - an idea to have a torch handy and sit with the gas pipe away from you so you can get a good view, you don't want beer getting up the gas tube.
• Seal Corny then flush headspace with CO2.
• continue to fill the other bottle or two out of the cube.

The advantage of doing it out of the chilled cube is that you already have a cold keg to pop into your kegerator. Bottling off a couple first means that you are getting the clearest beer into the keg. I normally get a cornie plus five bottles out of a brew.

 

[mika]

Screwtop - do you mean the remaining 2-4 litres of each batch, every batch, then once its full of the last 6-8 brews to carb it up and away she goes?

If so, thats a different idea id never thought of, Since i went to kegging, i get p1ssed having to clean the 10-15 stubbies lol, i cant fathom how i used to clean 60 per brew! No wonder i didnt brew as much as i do now LOL

and when you add each brew, do you just purge the Oxygen out and then wait for the next batch, then repeat til she's full?

Could be onto something here mate

Why not just size your batch to fill a keg ? I've got mine worked out for 20L into the fermentor which after filling a 19L keg leaves 1L behind to keep the yeast.

 

[Bribie G]

Why not just size your batch to fill a keg ? I've got mine worked out for 20L into the fermentor which after filling a 19L keg leaves 1L behind to keep the yeast.

Having a few tallies over is great for me, I put them in a 'beer library' and go back to try them later when the keg has run out. It also gives a bigger selection, say if I have a lager and a stout on tap but feel like a bitter or a pale ale which I could well have in a bottle.

 

[mika]

For sure, but ben_sa was complaining about the need to deal with the remainder, when there appears to be a simple solution, even if he's doing kits.
I still bottle the odd batch of beer, especially the stronger stuff that handles my less than perfect storage conditions a little better. But for everything else, it goes in the keg with nothing left over. If I want to enter a comp, I just fill from the tap.

 

[suchidog]

Thanks guys for all your posts, really helpfull!

 

[churchy]

Screwy just wondering if there is any benefit in using the 200mls of beer to gelatine instead of using straight water?


Cheers Andrew

 

[WildWill]

How do you keep the inside of your tube clean - I've cleaned and sterilised a couple before storing and they still get a little mould type growth in them - PITA to get a new metre each time. Seems that I'm missing something. Cheers

 

[stux]

Hang it up to drip dry

Make sure it's bone-dry before storing

...

I rinse mine, run water through it, then let it soak in pbw ( I always have a bucket laying around )

Rinse again, then dry