Filling a keg from commercial bottled beer

[Lobsta]

Hi there,

Sorry if this has been covered, but I couldn't find anything with a basic search.

My brother is having a house-warming party in 2 weeks and I'm making him a kegerator, but he hasn't given me enough time to brew a beer to fill it.

He managed to get 3 cartons of beer thrown in with settlement, so I had the thought that we can fill the keg from the bottles.

My question is, how do I go about carbing up the beer again considering that some carb will be lost when pouring into the keg?

I generally use the Ross method on my beer which works well for me. Is it just a case of just skipping the first step ("After filling the keg (upto the weld mark just below the top) with cold beer turn pressure upto 300 kpa & rock keg back & forth on its side (inlet at bottom) for 50 seconds.") and going from there or is there more to it?

To protect the innocent, I will not mention the brand of the commercial beer he wants to put into the keg.

Lobby

 

[RdeVjun]

Why not drink (or dispense) the beer from the bottles? Saves a lot of farting about, plus you can just take your time with the keggerator and do it properly.
If you must though, open the bottles as cold as you can get them and tip em in gently on the day before the event, just bung it back on the gas for a bit and it should be adequate, it's not as though it will completely decarbonate instantly.

 

[Lobsta]

Why not drink (or dispense) the beer from the bottles? Saves a lot of farting about, plus you can just take your time with the keggerator and do it properly.
If you must though, open the bottles as cold as you can get them and tip em in gently on the day before the event, just bung it back on the gas for a bit and it should be adequate, it's not as though it will completely decarbonate instantly.

He wants to show off the Kegerator, and I wouldn't mind him showing it off if it gets some of his mates interested in getting me to do one for them.

2 weeks is plenty of time to convert the fridge but not enough to make a beer.

So just whack it up to serving pressure and it should be good?

Lobby

 

[woodwormm]

2 weeks is enough time for an extract brew or a fresh wort kit. Just use Nottingham yeast.

 

[RdeVjun]

Yeah, that's fair enough Lobby, mind you I keep hearing echoes of Butters (long lost forum pioneer) back when Wy1469 came on to the market he was overjoyed that it only took five days from grain to brain!
Maybe give the method a try a day or two beforehand, probably won't hurt to sit at serving pressure until the soirée, although all that oxygen would be a worry. YMMV is about the best I can do.

 

[Mickcr250]

I just built my keg fridge recently and didn't have a beer ready for it but managed to get a simple pale ale grain to glass in 8 days and it was great. Us 05 will usually finish most beers in 3-4 days then bump the temp up for a day or 2 to clean up. Crash chill for 2 days then carb up with the Ross method. That would be my preference over filling a keg with bottles.

 

[schoey]

Some mates and I did this a few years ago. We sampled the day we did it and it was OK (although we were probably drunk and delusional) but then left it for about a week and it was terrible. If you have to do it, do it the day of.

 

[RdeVjun]

Yep, like schoey says, or get the digit out!

 

[Jimrtl81]

You could do spirits and mixer, or punch if you want to be cheap.
Or you could ring around ubrewit or similar and see if they have any beer that hasn't been picked up.

 

[Pogierob]

I just built my keg fridge recently and didn't have a beer ready for it but managed to get a simple pale ale grain to glass in 8 days and it was great. Us 05 will usually finish most beers in 3-4 days then bump the temp up for a day or 2 to clean up. Crash chill for 2 days then carb up with the Ross method. That would be my preference over filling a keg with bottles.

also throw in some gelatine when you keg the beer and you will have crystal clear beer by the end of the week.
If you plan to move the keg though it will cloud up again unless you syphon it into a secondary keg prior to moving

 

[Pogierob]

Pouring beer from a bottle into a keg just invites oxidising the beer, you won't be showing anything off if you end up with a keg of cardboard flavoured beer.

 

[zarniwoop]

I want to know how you get beer as part of a settlement?!

 

[S.E]

I just built my keg fridge recently and didn't have a beer ready for it but managed to get a simple pale ale grain to glass in 8 days and it was great. Us 05 will usually finish most beers in 3-4 days then bump the temp up for a day or 2 to clean up. Crash chill for 2 days then carb up with the Ross method. That would be my preference over filling a keg with bottles.

Did you filter that or had it dropped clear by itself in 8 days?

Though Us05 is good fool proof yeast and will ferment fast I find it takes forever to drop clear.

My preference is S04 as it will ferment just as fast but drop like a stone when the jobs done. I’m sampling an AG Pale ale I brewed last Sunday(6 Days) with S04 and it almost there but could do with another couple days.

 

[Mickcr250]

No I didn't filter but wile it wasn't crystal clear it wasn't too bad either.

 

[tavas]

Why not get a commercial keg? Bottle shops used to do them

 

[Topher]

Brew a hefe. Use wb06. Always drinkable in 7 days for me. .... Or a simple pale.

Do not fill from bottles.

Or go to one of those 'beer shed' type places....or even some micros will fill a corny for 100bucks.

 

[Benn]

Tell all the tightarses to **** off down the bottlo and get their own beers!

 

[Grott]

If you must though, open the bottles as cold as you can get them and tip em in gently on the day before the event, just bung it back on the gas for a bit and it should be adequate, it's not as though it will completely decarbonate instantly.

Do the above but to reduce oxidation purge the keg first with co2. I would do this as close as possible to the event so that cold beer in the keg from the bottles can be placed into the now working and cold kegerator. Let the beer settle, test at dispensing pressure, if it need a bit more judge whether to leave on at that pressure for a while or use a modified force carb to suit.
Cheers

 

[buckerooni]

were 3 slabs part of the T&Cs on the Contract of Sale? What else was negotiated as part of the settlement?!

is there a local brewery who can sort you out with some unpackaged ale?

 

[tugger]

If you send gas down your dip tube you can drive out the oxygen.
Give it 2 bar and lightly vent so it bubbles.