Kegging

[meatabolism]

Hi All



A noob here to the forum and it would also seem to the lastest home brewing stuff.



I have been interested in getting back into brewing afer a 10 - 12 year sabbatical and the kegging thing has got me very interested.


In a nut shell can you really pull a brew from your fermenter, got thru the kegging process with Co2 and pretty much well enjoy your brew after the day or so of carbonation?



If that is the case I wish I knew about this years ago!



Cheers

 

[woodwormm]

In a nutshell - yes - if you employ some kind of force carb method.

Do some searching on here - i believe the shake/roll method can have you drinking in a few hours

or you can crank high psi for a day and drink

or as I do , pouring pressure for 4 days and it's good (i've done the others but i prefer the slow n steady)

everyones got their own favourite method and you'll find yours.

you're right though... you'll LOVE kegging

 

[seemax]

something like a Hefe you can brew, ferment, keg and drink before a weeks up!!

 

[bignath]

In a nut shell can you really pull a brew from your fermenter, got thru the kegging process with Co2 and pretty much well enjoy your brew after the day or so of carbonation?

Welcome to the madhouse mate, there's a metric shitload of info on this forum about kegging your beers.

Yes, you can absolutely be drinking your beer after a day of carbonation.
I routinely force carb (pushing CO2 into a keg at a much higher pressure than serving pressure) and CAN drink my beers within an hour after doing so.

I'd be lying if i said my beer didn't get better with age, but we've all been in the situation where we've needed beer NOW, and therefore can't wait, but yes, it is entirely possible. And easy too.
Here's my standard procedure....

I'll ferment my beer, and then put the fermenter in my fridge in the garage and drop the temp to 1deg for a few days. Usually about a week, but that depends on my beer stocks...
From there, i take my cold fermenter to the other side of the garage to my kegerator and fill my keg.
Then i hook it up to the gas at 250kpa and shake for 60seconds vigorously. I'm a drummer (music teacher actually) so i shake at a certain speed - back and forth two times per second.
Then i disconnect it from the gas, and walk away for 20mins.
Come back after that, and release the gas from the keg (burping the keg).
Then i repeat gassing procedure.
After "burping" the keg for the second time, i drop the regulator to serving pressure and reconnect the gas - pour myself a beer. Less than an hour after transferring from the fermenter.

It will (and does) taste better if you can leave it in the keg for a week or two, in which case you don't need to force carb at a higher pressure...just hook up gas and set regulator to serving pressure for a week or so, but if you're in a hurry, force carbing is fine.

 

[stux]

If you crash chill the fermenter you can be drinking beer within an hour of kegging. That's with the rock and roll method. Ie oh s#!t I don't have enough beer for the party today!

Or you can use high pressure and have the beer mostly ready in 24 hrs. Will improve over time. Set to 300 kpa for 24 hrs then serving pressure.

Or you can slow carb at serving pressure. Will take the longest time 4-7 days? But there is no risk of over carbing. More risk of a leak blowing your c02 bottle tho.

Kegged beer seems to improve over a week or two, but its drinkable immediately.

Worth adopting a 'long' fermentation process. I ferment ales for 10-14 days in primary, then crash chill for a few days

 

[DU99]

For Starters where do you live.i natural carb mine.which means adding about 51grams of sugar a letting it sit for a few weeks.then all you use the co2 for is pushing the beer out of the keg.but each to there own method

 

[meatabolism]

Thanks guys, goddammit it sounds so good.


My biggest issue is I live in Darwin and the only way I can get my brew temp down is to do it in the aircon but the only one we really run 24/7 is in mine and the war offices bedroom so I guess I will have to hide it under some dirty clothes.



The mission is on to find a 4 keg fridge, the freezer at the top for the glasses and giddy it up!!!!!!


Any other advice I could wean from you experienced blokes?



Cheers



Jim

 

[adryargument]

The mission is on to find a 4 keg fridge, the freezer at the top for the glasses and giddy it up!!!!!!

I would suggest looking at a keezer.
Saves some cash for running the aircon 24/7.

 

[dkaos]

I would suggest looking at a keezer.
Saves some cash for running the aircon 24/7.

Yeah don't worry about a freezer for the glasses, just keeping them in the fridge should be fine, otherwise you won't taste the beer for the first 5 minutes.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Up until recently I force carbed all my kegs, but recently I have been natural carbonating, using 2/3 cup of dextrose per keg and I am actually happier with the outcome. My suggestion is force carb if you need to have your beer ready to drink asap, otherwise natural carb.