How To Keg

[Kingy]

That's tops WG. I reckon most kegging newbs will be on their way in no time.

Warren -

Was always thinking of kegging but couldnt get my head around it all. WG explained it exceptionally well and in beer drinkers language

20 days on from the start of this thread = fridge getting picked up on saturday and kegs getting delivered in the coming days

huge thank you to WG for keg set up help and also to Ross at crafterbrewer who make it a smooth process :beerbang:

 

[Wortgames]

No worries KVB - glad to have helped. Congrats and welcome to the fold!

 

[Stickler]

Hey there kegging fence sitters, this is a link to a pic of my crappy set-up. I challenge anyone here to show me something more basic. It's ugly but it does the job.

linky

I'm not meaning for this to turn into a "show us your set-up" thread, that's been done, simply showing the absolute basics in action.

 

[royourboat]

WortGames, thats the best written guide I have found and I've read a few recently.

I still have questions tho!

If you have 2 kegs (a common scenario) and 1 gas bottle + reg (2 taps also..), then do you have to empty both kegs and fill both kegs together to carbonate simultaneously?

*I have 2 fermenters and wish to stagger my beer drinking so 1 keg empties per week give or take, how do I achieve this in practise? I foresee problems when I want to carbonate 1 keg and maintain another etc.


Damn, I have more questions about this scenario but too tired to remember what they are!

Could you also explain more complicated setups, ie. where you see a Kegerator/Freezer setup with multiple Regulators (which seem to be in series??) and 1/2 dozen kegs.


Cheers (to all that can help!) :beerbang: Ro.

 

[Ross]

WortGames, thats the best written guide I have found and I've read a few recently.

I still have questions tho!

If you have 2 kegs (a common scenario) and 1 gas bottle + reg (2 taps also..), then do you have to empty both kegs and fill both kegs together to carbonate simultaneously?

*I have 2 fermenters and wish to stagger my beer drinking so 1 keg empties per week give or take, how do I achieve this in practise? I foresee problems when I want to carbonate 1 keg and maintain another etc.
Damn, I have more questions about this scenario but too tired to remember what they are!

Could you also explain more complicated setups, ie. where you see a Kegerator/Freezer setup with multiple Regulators (which seem to be in series??) and 1/2 dozen kegs.
Cheers (to all that can help!) :beerbang: Ro.

Ro,

If you are happy for your 2nd keg to carbonate slowly over a week, just connect it up alongside the other one, no problem. If you wish to carbonate it quickly, simply disconnect the 1st keg & then force carbonate the 2nd keg using one of the high pressure methods. This should take you all of 10 minutes & you can then hook them both up together again. The beers can then be drank together, or one after the other, your choice.
You can connect as many kegs as you like to the one gas supply, but for varied carbonation levels you are better buying a dual pressure regulator - this will allow 2 different dispensing pressures. i use one of these & have my ales at 70kpa & my lagers at 110kpa.

cheers Ross

Edit: Speeling

 

[DarkFaerytale]

You can connect as many kegs as you like to the one gas supply, but for varied carbonation levels you are better buying a dual pressure regulator - this will allow to different dispensing pressures. i use one of these & have my ales at 70kpa & my lagers at 110kpa.

cheers Ross

thank you Ross you answered just the question i was about to ask as i usually have english style ales and wits on the go, deffinatly both sitting on either end of the carbonation spectrum

this kegging thing intruges me more and more everyday, perhaps i might leave the washing machine for later down the track and buy a freezer/keg set up instead...who needs clean clothes when you've got beer on tap in the lounge room... right?

-Phill

PS. bloody great thread :beerbang: keep up the good work Neil and Ross

 

[royourboat]

Cheers Ross!

Hopefully getting a fridge and another gas bottle soon and will post up a design for a gas manifold to distribute gas to future kegs aswell as current ones.

Another question on my mind is, how to stop a commercial keg pouring foam.

Last keg party I had a mate whose dad's equipment it was, hooked up keg and it seemed to pour foam for the first 10 L of beer (yes, panic sets in). Was this because it wasnt @ drinking temperature, was @ cool room temperature? Or does it need to be carbonated a bit on high pressure whilst @ a serving temperature (we stuck the 50L keg in a black garbage bag packed with ice) and then returned to pouring pressure and drunk? If it was Carlton Draught, what sort of numbers are we looking at?

:beer: again * Ro.

 

[royourboat]

BUMP

 

[Wortgames]

The keg may be overcarbonated, quite likely if it had been hooked up to the draught system in a pub.

Alternatively the beer line may be too short and wide, meaning you are having to use a low keg pressure to avoid spraying it everywhere. Low pressure means foam as the gas comes out of solution.

The trick is to have correct (or slightly low) carbonation in the keg, then use correct (or slightly high) pressure to dispense it, with correct (or slightly high) serving resistance to slow down the pour to a manageable level.