Keg Top Up ?

[crells]

Can you top up a keg with excess litres once its down a bit, or would this just be accident waiting to happen ?

 

[Jase]

Can you top up a keg with excess litres once its down a bit, or would this just be accident waiting to happen ?

G'day crells,

What volumes are you talking? Where and in what are you storing the excess litres? If the excess litres is from the same brew that is in your keg, you can either bottle the remaining beer, or freeze to use as starters for future brews.

Personally, for the sake of a few litres I wouldn't bother.

Cheers,
Jase

 

[crells]

Hi Jase,

For my latest brew I had 4 litres left over which I will probably bottle (not that I want too)..

But for the next batch I have about 10-11 litres left and no keg to put it in.

But freezing some of it is a great suggestion and I might do that (which will still leave me with some).

 

[Jase]

Hi Jase,

But for the next batch I have about 10-11 litres left and no keg to put it in.

crells,

Are you AGing??? If so, you can upsize your brew by a few litres, and after the boil, dump 15 litres in a cube (no chiller method) and you'll have a brew ready to ferment when your keg is ready to go again.

If your not AGing, and are K&King, then reduce the volume of your brew, to suit the keg. You should end up with a nicer brew and avoid this issue. Win-win. :beer:

Or third option is to buy another keg!

Cheers,
Jase

 

[Darren]

Can you top up a keg with excess litres once its down a bit, or would this just be accident waiting to happen ?

Crells,

It is a valid thing to do.

I heard wine judge say once: If you mix all the wines that are left after a wine show and drink them together it is generally better than most of the wines by themself.

Also some people start with a strong ale in a keg then continually add to it. Apparently helps young beer mature and it develops a character of its own.

cheers

Darren

 

[crells]

Yes these are AG brews....

I think the ultimate will be to upgrade the batch size. But in the mean time I will either try the no chiller method or bottle the remainder (if its not too many)

A 3 gal keg just seems to fit the situation though doesn't it !

Thanks, Crells.

 

[Ross]

Crells,

I often brew 26L, whereas the keg only holds 19L - I use the balance to top up the original keg or make small additions to other kegs to tweak the beer. On 1 occaision I made up one full keg from 4 left overs & called it my alliance ale - an English bitter, Irish Kilkenny, German spalt & American Pale ale - it was a top drop. Blending beers is a great way of experimenting, without having to make a new brew - I do it all the time.
So in answer to your question - yes, no problem.

Cheers Ross

 

[Darren]

Whats the no-chill method? Sounds a bit risky!

cheers

Darren

 

[Batz]

Whats the no-chill method? Sounds a bit risky!

cheers

Darren

Darren,
The no chill method....risky!....shoot yourself in the foot now mate

You must have seen it :lol:

Batz

 

[crells]

Thanks Ross..

Is there any special way to do it ? or is it just depressurise, top up, seal and pressurise.

 

[Ross]

Thanks Ross..

Is there any special way to do it ? or is it just depressurise, top up, seal and pressurise.

No special way, just as you describe - I top up & leave it, i prefer my beers with less carbonation - easy to carb it up a bit if needed...

cheers Ross

 

[Uncle Fester]

All, A tack in a slightly different direction....

Is is valid instead of mixing fermented beers together to make a blended product, to save all of the excess worts, and blend them to ferment together? Or is it just going to be too bloody difficult to decide on a yeast etc....

Given the apparent success of the no chiller method, cold you not have a 15 litre cube in the corner that you add to each brew until you have enough to ferment?



M

 

[bindi]

Crells,

I often brew 26L, whereas the keg only holds 19L - I use the balance to top up the original keg or make small additions to other kegs to tweak the beer. On 1 occaision I made up one full keg from 4 left overs & called it my alliance ale - an English bitter, Irish Kilkenny, German spalt & American Pale ale - it was a top drop. Blending beers is a great way of experimenting, without having to make a new brew - I do it all the time.
So in answer to your question - yes, no problem.

Cheers Ross

I have keg like this at the moment, I call it the 'Brumby brew' <_< Stout, AAA,APA, Porter and Alt all mixed and will have more AAA after today which will fill it, might give it a taste this weekend.
I am also tempted to use a filter for the first time. Off topic; What PSI/KPA do you push the beer through the filter? I know has to be less then 25 Psi, might try 10 Psi.

 

[Ross]

All, A tack in a slightly different direction....

Is is valid instead of mixing fermented beers together to make a blended product, to save all of the excess worts, and blend them to ferment together? Or is it just going to be too bloody difficult to decide on a yeast etc....

Given the apparent success of the no chiller method, cold you not have a 15 litre cube in the corner that you add to each brew until you have enough to ferment?



M

Certainly possible, but you wouldn't want to be saving the last bits from each cube for any length of time having opened them. Also will make the result more of a gamble (not necessarily a bad thing), i like to blend at the tap & taste before mixing the left overs. Choosing a yeast though should be pretty easy.

cheers Ross

 

[Tony M]

I run a leftovers keg which gets all the tail ends of brews and even old bottles of stuff that are lying around. Ales, lagers, whatever. It is empty at the moment as it was the most popular beer last friday night. (doesn't say much for the quality of the other stuff, does it)

 

[crells]

Its funny how that works out. Last week I mixed an APA with a dry stout. A great way to test how cascade/willamette tastes in a stout. And amazingly, a great drop...

 

[bindi]

Crells,

I often brew 26L, whereas the keg only holds 19L - I use the balance to top up the original keg or make small additions to other kegs to tweak the beer. On 1 occaision I made up one full keg from 4 left overs & called it my alliance ale - an English bitter, Irish Kilkenny, German spalt & American Pale ale - it was a top drop. Blending beers is a great way of experimenting, without having to make a new brew - I do it all the time.
So in answer to your question - yes, no problem.

Cheers Ross

I have keg like this at the moment, I call it the 'Brumby brew' <_< Stout, AAA,APA, Porter and Alt all mixed and will have more AAA after today which will fill it, might give it a taste this weekend.

Bump, Just tasting the 'Brumby' keg YUM what a complex mix , never to be repeated, that's 2 out of 2 Brumby kegs so far that are winners, you would never waste it on a beer judge or the style police ie; What style is it?....BEER stupid :angry: and yum.

 

[colinw]

No need to do it in the keg if you have enough taps. I've had some amazing complex beers just by part filling the glass from more than one tap.

Brown Ale + Hefeweizen = chocolate banana.
Bitter + a splash of Stout = slightly roasty ruby red ale
Bitter + a splash of APA = slightly citrusy bitter

 

[bindi]

No need to do it in the keg if you have enough taps. I've had some amazing complex beers just by part filling the glass from more than one tap.

Brown Ale + Hefeweizen = chocolate banana.
Bitter + a splash of Stout = slightly roasty ruby red ale
Bitter + a splash of APA = slightly citrusy bitter

Very true do that also but have only three taps, good fun hey? just mixed the brumby with the Belgian on tap strange but still good.

 

[bindi]

Bump: Update on the 'top-up' Brumby, a mix of beers after almost 3 weeks in the keg this is a great beer, dark amber in colour, a mix of malts you can't pick, hops all over the place, yeast from everwhere No way could I do this again, a real BRUMBY beer, and loving it.
And why not? I am a mix of Irish, scott, German and Murrie and more I don't know about <_< , we are the future.