New to Kegging

[Gregos]

Hi Guys,

I've been bottling for many years, and now have taken the plunge and set myself up to keg. I'm about to keg my first brews, and I'm looking for some advice on how to best condition/carb/store in a keg.
To date I have fermented, dry hopped and cold crashed my beer and now about to keg it and condition it.

Looking for some sound advice on what to do and what not to do.

Thanks in advance to replies
Grego

 

[Josh SA]

G day grego

im also relatively new to kegging (poured about a doz kegs so far).
I rotate 3 kegs through my fridge & therefore have time for 2 to cond and carb while i drink the other.

I went for a balanced system, so carbing & serving at the same temp. If you have the time I think this is most reliable & predictable way to go.

My beers are usually primary fv only, then cold crash then into keg. Usually first half glass is cloudy.
Once kegged beer remains chilled.
josh.

 

[Gregos]

Hi Josh,

How do you carb? and how long do you let the kegs condition?

Grego

 

[Crusty]

I do exactly what Josh does. FV for a couple of weeks & cold condition the FV for 1 week @ 1degC.
Transfer to waiting sanitized keg, set reg to 75kpa, burp it a few times to make sure the headspace is saturatedwith Co2 & leave @ serving pressure in the fridge.
This is where it get's a bit challenging. The regulated pressure you want will depend on a few things & it can be a little trial & error.
My setup has 4 x Andale Floryte taps, 2.5m of 5mm JG beer line & my reg is @ 75kpa. This gives me around 2.4, 2.5 vol/Co2.
Your beer temp plays a part in that as well & my fridge is set @ 2degC.
You may wish to start with 3m of beer line & see if that works for you. It's pretty easy then to trim it back till you are happy with the pour & your taps.
You will probably end up between 2 & 3m of line if you don't have flow control taps.
@ 75kpa, my beers are well & truely carbed after 7 days & I sample the keg then. I find from 2 weeks onwards is the best.

 

[Josh SA]

Grego

my fridge sits at 5 deg & i set my reg to 85-90 kpa. Two weeks under those conditions(slow force carb) is the earliest ive tapped a keg. the beer is def drinkable at this point, however over the next 5 days as more beers are poured & headspace in the keg increases, then beers seem to pour & head perfect. my system has 5m of 5mm beerline & picknic tap. compared to a real beer tap, mine is prob much more forgiving.

2-3 weeks in primary only, then keg& carb. thats my beer conditioned (all ales).
Because i dont brew as often as id like, i usually tap a keg after 3-4 weeks.
josh.

 

[Josh SA]

Grego sorry to interrupt but...

crusty. Would you recommend the floryte taps?
they seem to be top quality and they are australian (at least i think they are)
dont understand why everyone is crazy for perlick taps. if everyone else has them, i dont want them, unless there is good reason.
thanks.

Back to cond/carbing/storing kegs

cheers.

 

[Gregos]

Hey Josh and Crusty,

Thanks for the replies,

I have made Pale Ales, fermentation temp 18 deg, when I was bottling I would bulk prime, then put bottles back in Temp controlled freezer at 18 deg for 2 weeks.

Question: can I force carb, and then put back in my temp controlled freezer at 18deg for conditioning like I would when I was bottling, any benefits in doing so?,will the kegs hold pressure?? etc

Grego

 

[Josh SA]

Grego.

I cant think of a good reason to do that. At 18 deg your pale ales would age quite fast. You should prob drink these younger/fresher.

If u want to store ur kegs out of the fridge then I would suggest a short chill (48hrs. to drop most of the yeast) then rack to keg. purge with co2. Leave until rquired.
Suspect this wont improve the beer, probably the opposite.Dont keep too long unrefrigerated.

follow crustys' procedure. Just remember the same beer kegged rather than bottled, tastes heaps better. dont worry about this conditioning thing.

josh

 

[maxim0200]

Your kegs shoud hold pressure if the seals are good and nicely lubed :lol:

As a suggestion why not do the same as your bottles and rack to your keg + bulk prime and leave to carb up at your 18deg?
Only downside is a little sediment that gets sucked out with the first beer and the time for it to carb up.
No need to force carb at all, just vent and serve at your nornal pressure.

Edit: it saves a fair bit of gas to.

Off toppic @ josh and crusty: I to would like to hear more about the floryte taps, I do the idea of supporting aussie made instead of those bloody yanks and their fancy feminine looking taps *poke*:lol:

 

[Gregos]

Hey thanks guys I'll give Crusty's regime a try, and also bulk prime a keg of the same Ale to see if there is any difference

 

[Crusty]

I can't comment on the quality of the Perlicks but when I was looking at which taps to go for, a few members I contacted had some issues with dripping taps & also commented on the number of drips or dribbles after shutting off the tap. They look pretty good & quite a lot of brewers have them & will probably tell you how good theirs are. The main reason I went with Florytes was the intention of possibly running a flooded font & having commercial brewing gear at home. These taps are used all over the place in Pubs, Clubs & Taverns & are very popular for very good reason. They are forward sealing, excellent to pour with & do not drip or leak. When you shut that tap off, it's off, period. I know Yob has 3 on his fridge & I have 4 on mine & I highly recommend them.
All snaplock fittings so you can take them on & off in half a second & if you need to take them apart, it's pretty simple. I just run some line cleaner through mine after I blow each keg & empty the line with Co2. I then run some Starsan through the line when I'm ready to serve the next beer. Awesome taps.......... :beerbang: