Keg Fill Left Overs

[davewalk]

Gday all,

Just wondering what everyone does with the 5 odd litres left over after they brew their 23 litres and keg the first 18. Even just mucking around doing about 8 stubbies is a pain so does anyone use an alternative.

Cheers
Dave

 

[browndog]

You'll find that a lot of keggers only brew 20-21L to allow for loss to racking and yeast cake etc to get one full keg. With a kit this means a slightly stronger beer.


cheers

Browndog

 

[Ross]

I have a "bitsa" keg - The left over bits get transfered to a spare keg & when it's full it goes on tap.
These mongrel brews can sometimes be rippers...


cheers Ross

 

[jpiwek]

19l kegs can hold more than 19ls if you top em right up. Sometimes thats what I do when I just need to get that last drop. Is this not a good idea for some reason?

 

[davewalk]

I have a "bitsa" keg - The left over bits get transfered to a spare keg & when it's full it goes on tap.
These mongrel brews can sometimes be rippers...
cheers Ross

Thanks Ross,

Sounds logical, only I'll need to get a 4th keg. Will have to convince the Minister of Finance that this will be in her best interest as I won't be using the laundry or bathroom to wash, sterilise and dry bottles. <_<

 

[facter]

Actually thats a great idea Ross ... i really do need to get a few more kegs, i think thats up next - by the same token, do you ever get any that just ... dont taste that great? hehehe - i guess that could always be the keg for the "visitors"

 

[Batz]

I have a "bitsa" keg - The left over bits get transfered to a spare keg & when it's full it goes on tap.
These mongrel brews can sometimes be rippers...
cheers Ross

This is a "Ross method" I have picked up,Ross told me sometime back he did this and it's the way to go :beerbang:
Really I chuck everything into a 'Batz Mongrel' keg,these kegs are great fun to crack,I throw lagers,ales,porters whatever together and are amazed at what results.If you have the keg room do it

Batz

 

[Doc]

I usually have my brews perfected to fit into a 19litre keg.
Although I have a couple of kegs with long gas dip tubes which can stuff things up.
I actually have a 45 litre keg I don't use all that regularly. I could keep adding to that until it is full and see what I end up with :chug:

Doc

 

[Tony M]

One of the labels on your keg fridge has to say "FINE CONSOLIDATED BEER" its amazing how often the bitza brew is choice of the night.

 

[Screwtop]

I have a "bitsa" keg - The left over bits get transfered to a spare keg & when it's full it goes on tap.
These mongrel brews can sometimes be rippers...
cheers Ross

Bindi introduced me to this method, I call the keg Top N Tails, whatever is left over in the fermenter, tip it in and put a bit of Co2 on top, leave it in the corner of the shed until full then chill and carbonate. As Ross says sometimes they're rippers.

 

[Kingy]

i usually fill my keg with cleaner and its usually a few days later i fill with beer. On the filling day ill run the cleaner through 1 of the beer lines and do the same when i rinse. Then run the sanitizer into the beer line as well and fill my 4 tallys from the beer tap. That way its all timed perfectly for when its time to fill the keg.

but then again after reading this and thinking what i do it would be easier to just top up another keg :lol:

 

[Wasabi]

I just bottle my extras, they make good travellers for parties or give aways to those who truly deserve them. And we're only talking 8-10 bottles right?

 

[user 1153]

I should bottle the leftovers but I am a lazy *******, so the dregs just sit there for the few days it takes me to get my arse into gear and clean the fermenter.

I do, however like the idea of a "bit of everything" keg. Wish I'd read this post yesterday Just kegged a brew out last night and wasted about 4 litres.

aaah well. next time.

 

[Steve]

I should bottle the leftovers but I am a lazy *******, so the dregs just sit there for the few days it takes me to get my arse into gear and clean the fermenter.

I do, however like the idea of a "bit of everything" keg. Wish I'd read this post yesterday Just kegged a brew out last night and wasted about 4 litres.

aaah well. next time.

Im spot on exactly the same troy. The thought of bottling now does me head in.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Thirsty Boy]

There you go. I usually try to brew a 1/2 dozen or so stubbies more than the keg. That way I have a few bottles on hand; and I can compare the difference (if any) between the bottle conditioned and the draught version of the beers.

Mind you , I sanitise my bottles in the oven whenever I get more than a dozen or so empty, then they live with foil on top, sterile till I need em, so they are instantly ready if I need 1 bottle or a dozen bottles when I am draining the fermentor.

TB

 

[Zizzle]

So what's the verdict on the taste difference thirsty boy? (at the risk of a thread hijack)

I do the same and do notice some differences. Probably mainly because the bottles are stored at room temp, while the keg stays cool. I had some bottles of APA last night since the keg of the same beer was empty. Seemed like the hops stood up better over time in the bottle, but it also had a more yeasty, dusty taste that the kegged version didn't.

 

[bugwan]

I've got a couple of methods for dealing with the extra volume I normally brew. (I don't want to downsize my batches, because I ALWAYS appreciate keeping those extra bottles...mmmm, aged beer!).

I usually bottle the spare beer. If I've filtered, I will fill the bottles with a sanitised pluto gun, straight from the filtered keg and prime individual bottles (generally less than 8 stubbies).

Another method I use is freezing the wort before it's fermented in a sanitised 5 ltr bucket. It can sit in the freezer for months and then I'll warm it up and pitch a small amount of left-over starter, or slurry from a previous batch. This small volume is then bottled.

Frankly, it all sounds a bit hard - I might try the ******* keg idea next time.

 

[therook]

I've got a couple of methods for dealing with the extra volume I normally brew. (I don't want to downsize my batches, because I ALWAYS appreciate keeping those extra bottles...mmmm, aged beer!).

I usually bottle the spare beer. If I've filtered, I will fill the bottles with a sanitised pluto gun, straight from the filtered keg and prime individual bottles (generally less than 8 stubbies).

Another method I use is freezing the wort before it's fermented in a sanitised 5 ltr bucket. It can sit in the freezer for months and then I'll warm it up and pitch a small amount of left-over starter, or slurry from a previous batch. This small volume is then bottled.

Frankly, it all sounds a bit hard - I might try the ******* keg idea next time.

Jeez you I.T blokes are getting slcker and slacker

rook

 

[KoNG]

i've got several of these 4 litre jobbies that make it perfect for the left overs.
i was doing 25-26 litres which meant i could fill 2 of these kegs, but i've dropped my batch size to 23 litres now, so its just the one mini keg. I usualy play around with dry hopping with these before deciding if i'll dry hop the corny.
Anything else left over is put into champagne bottles.

 

[bugwan]

Jeez you I.T blokes are getting slcker and slacker

rook

I'll cut any corner that wont sacrifice quality Rook!