Filling Kegs From Fermenter

[opposition]

Hi guys,

Is there any help section on this, or is it as simple as food grade hose from fermentor into keg and seal asap?

Thanks in advance.

Dean

 

[danman]

i use some silicone hose and a bit of plastic form the "little bottler" thingys you get if you buy a fermanter kit from coopers or there abouts. cut off an inch or two from the end of your bottler and jam it into a length of hose,then stuff the plastic bottler piece into your fermenter tap. easy peasy

cheers,dan

 

[Prawned]

I use this at the moment, its great. beer goes straight down the "out tube" no splashing or anything bad

 

[imellor]

Also make sure your hose reaches the bottom of the keg and fills from the bottom. Make sure your hose is fully sanitised inside and out. Avoid splashing as this can introduce oxygen to your beer and this will create off flavours.



Cheers,
Ian

 

[danman]

also it is good practise to *burp* your keg to flush out any unwanted oxygen
burping means to hold your relief valve open whilst slowly filling your keg dead space with your CO2
if you also use a beer out disconnect to prime your keg with gas you carbonate quicker

cheers,dan

 

[Prawned]

Prawned, I like the look of your transfer hose, but how do you go about sanitising the quick disconnect and hose sections?

Wally

All the hose pieces come apart, so its really easy to clean them up.. and with the disconnect i just spray it with some starsan after giving it a good scrub

 

[Mitternacht Brauer]

All the hose pieces come apart, so its really easy to clean them up.. and with the disconnect i just spray it with some starsan after giving it a good scrub

Is "starsan" a brand name ? I've heard it used else where here and wondered?

 

[geoff_tewierik]

Is "starsan" a brand name ? I've heard it used else where here and wondered?

Brand name. Product is made by fivestar chemicals, http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/products.asp?id=2

 

[Barramundi]

Is "starsan" a brand name ? I've heard it used else where here and wondered?

its available from craftbrewer if your lookin for an aussie supplier ...

 

[Mitternacht Brauer]

its available from craftbrewer if your lookin for an aussie supplier ...

Thanks guys

 

[tdack]

After I've cleaned and sanitised my keg, before filling, I fill it with CO2 to about 50PSI. Then when I'm ready to empty the fermenter into the keg I lift the relief valve and depressurise the keg. To fill the keg I use a sanitised length of food grade hose that reaches the bottom of the keg through the lid. I find that if I remove the lid straight after depressurisation I get a layer of CO2 in the keg that slowly rises as the beer goes in. After that it's simply a matter of pressurising again, lift the relief valve a couple of times to make sure that only CO2 is in the head space, chill then carb up.

 

[troydo]

Love the idea prawned! hmm now i need another disconnect....

 

[Fatgodzilla]

I use this at the moment, its great. beer goes straight down the "out tube" no splashing or anything bad

What have you used to connect the beer line and the fermenter hose - can't make it out in the photo .

 

[ozpowell]

What have you used to connect the beer line and the fermenter hose - can't make it out in the photo .

Hey FG,

I use exactly the same setup (except I also include a peristaltic pump to speed up the transfer). The connection is made using a normal 1/4" male JG straight adaptor - link.

Works a treat.

Also, once I've sanitized it, I never open the keg during the transfer. Just burp and leave the pressure release valve open.

Cheers,
Michael.

 

[ozpowell]

Hey FG,

I use exactly the same setup (except I also include a peristaltic pump to speed up the transfer). The connection is made using a normal 1/4" male JG straight adaptor - link.

Works a treat.

Also, once I've sanitized it, I never open the keg during the transfer. Just burp and leave the pressure release valve open.

Cheers,
Michael.

Also just noticed this. Already made up with a length of tube. Personally, I'd just buy the fitting and buy the tube separately - the $2 difference seems like a lot for about 10cm of tube...

Cheers,
Michael.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Also just noticed this. Already made up with a length of tube. Personally, I'd just buy the fitting and buy the tube separately - the $2 difference seems like a lot for about 10cm of tube...

Cheers,
Michael.

Knew I should have gone to Craftbrewer's site - Ross has everything

My next toy will be a filtering system so will catch up with all that then. So many toys, so little money !

Thanks Michael.

 

[Ross]

Also just noticed this. Already made up with a length of tube. Personally, I'd just buy the fitting and buy the tube separately - the $2 difference seems like a lot for about 10cm of tube...

Cheers,
Michael.

The reason it's more expensive, is we use high quality silicon hose (not pvc) which fits tighter & on a greater variety of taps

Cheers Ross

 

[ozpowell]

The reason it's more expensive, is we use high quality silicon hose (not pvc) which fits tighter & on a greater variety of taps

Cheers Ross

Knew there'd be a reason

Cheers,
Michael.

 

[WitWonder]

I use this at the moment, its great. beer goes straight down the "out tube" no splashing or anything bad

Prawned how long does the transfer take using this method? I've previously tried using a length of hose reaching to the bottom of the keg however this doesn't seem to work once the level of the beer covers the end of the host (or maybe it's just really slow and I'm impatient). I usually end up continually lifting the host out of the beer to ensure it flows faster.

 

[cdbrown]

Prawned how long does the transfer take using this method? I've previously tried using a length of hose reaching to the bottom of the keg however this doesn't seem to work once the level of the beer covers the end of the host (or maybe it's just really slow and I'm impatient). I usually end up continually lifting the host out of the beer to ensure it flows faster.

As long as you have the base of the fermentor higher than the top of the keg, it will flow by gravity. Lifting the hose out could introduce oxygen. Leave it at the bottom and the beer will flow.