Should I get into kegging?

[theQuinny]

Excellent ! Thanks for the info - that makes sense.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Taps arrived today !

View attachment 113210

Guarantee you will not be disappointed.

 

[theQuinny]

Guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Don't you go stinking up my thread...

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Don't you go stinking up my thread...

Its not me its them. Enjoy the taps.

 

[garage_life]

You should not be asking,
"Should I get into kegging?"
but "Why am I not kegging already?"

I ask myself that every time I bottle. Or clean. Or sanitise. Or run out of caps...

 

[theQuinny]

I ask myself that every time I bottle. Or clean. Or sanitise. Or run out of caps...

You know you want to do it ...

 

[theQuinny]

So, just for fun, I thought I'd test my new co2 bottle ... I put a piece of tube with a gas disconnect on one end - connected to the regulator on the other end. Turned on the bottle & adjusted the pressure on the low gauge to 20 psi - the high pressure was reading 600 odd psi ...

Then I turned the bottle off and left it for 24 hours ... Obviously I have a leak somewhere, as the high pressure is reading zero, but the low pressure is still around 15 - 16 psi.

What is that telling me ?



Q

 

[garage_life]

You know you want to do it ...

Don't have to convince me!
Missus has given the all clear but now my chesty with a controller is full of food for the first time ever!
I guess now I need a 4th fridge for dispensing and conditioning. It never ends!

 

[FarsideOfCrazy]

Yes Q, sounds like a leak, spray all the fittings with detergent or starsan ants look for bubbles.

 

[theQuinny]

Missus has given the all clear but now my chesty with a controller is full of food for the first time ever!

Invite all the SEQ members around for a BBQ ... We'll have that chesty empty in no time ...

 

[theQuinny]

Yes Q, sounds like a leak, spray all the fittings with detergent or starsan ants look for bubbles.

Roger that ... will do.

 

[Schikitar]

I made a stupid mistake, I keg hopped a Red IPA with one of those hop big hop tubes you hang from under the lid - my brother was hassling me about getting him a few samples so I got home from the pub the night after I kegged it and decided I'd speed up the force carb by putting the keg on it's side and rocking it gently for a couple minutes. You may see where I'm going next but I forgot about the hop tube, it wasn't until a minute or so in I heard the rattling and I can only assume the lid had come off. Now every beer I pour has hop particles in it, hazy AF, it's kinda gross and I think I'll tip it out, don't make this same beginners mistake (I should have used a hop sock like I did in the other keg probably)!

 

[mashmaniac]

After years of many different set ups keezers and fridges, some I still have , my favourite is an upside-down 500L (odd), it'll fit six kegs(no hump in the way), I have 4 taps on it, and usually try to have two kegs filled and waiting . The freezer section is used for hops and Yeast, and the kids ice blocks in summer. No matter what size you go, the upside-down has big plusses in it's favour, and can be found at the right price on the usual sites, I picked the 500L up for $60 and it needed a fan replacing another $20.

$0.02

 

[munta]

I made a stupid mistake, I keg hopped a Red IPA with one of those hop big hop tubes you hang from under the lid - my brother was hassling me about getting him a few samples so I got home from the pub the night after I kegged it and decided I'd speed up the force carb by putting the keg on it's side and rocking it gently for a couple minutes. You may see where I'm going next but I forgot about the hop tube, it wasn't until a minute or so in I heard the rattling and I can only assume the lid had come off. Now every beer I pour has hop particles in it, hazy AF, it's kinda gross and I think I'll tip it out, don't make this same beginners mistake (I should have used a hop sock like I did in the other keg probably)!

Don't drink and carb! [emoji23][emoji482][emoji481]

 

[theQuinny]

Change of plan ....

Looks like I'm going keezer ...

142L posted on gumtree today - $170, brand new still in the box - half a kilometre from my house ... fits two 19L kegs + a 9.5 .... and a 6Kg gas bottle if I put a small collar on the top.

 

[theQuinny]

A question if I may ...

When I have bottled previously with carb drops - (750ml PET bottles) , I wouldn't try them for four to six weeks - let them sit on the shelf...

The word I'm looking for is "ageing" ...

I now have two kegs sitting un-carbonated, waiting for me to finish my keezer project.

I understand carbonation ... and I understand kegging is different to bottling ... Is the ageing process happening in my un-carbed kegs ?

To be be more specific ... If my kegs sit for 4 weeks, and force carb them - will that be favourable ?

Dunno ... any assistance appreciated ...


Q

 

[Rocker1986]

They will condition carbonated or not. I often leave kegs sitting uncarbed for a week or two or three, they're usually better by then than if I drink them straight away.

Interestingly, I just put a keg of pale ale in to carbonate on Wednesday after it had been sitting for about 3.5 weeks at room temperature, by Thursday night it was chilled and ready so I tried a glass and it had some weird flavor in it. By Friday night that flavor had disappeared. I don't know what it was but the beer is tasting great now.

 

[theQuinny]

Thankyou Sir Rocker ...

 

[theQuinny]

One thing I will not miss about bottling ... as you saw in a previous post, I have my bottles on a shelf system, all labelled with beer description, date of manufacture ... ABV etc, etc ... blah, blah ... I go in and pick a few off the shelf whack them in the fridge. By the time I get around to drinking them, I have no idea what they are.

As a new brewer, I'm experimenting with hops, basing them on a basic American Pale recipe. I'm thinking hmmm - that's nice beer - but have no idea what it is ...



Kegs - labelled

 

[Thomas Wood]

They will condition carbonated or not. I often leave kegs sitting uncarbed for a week or two or three, they're usually better by then than if I drink them straight away.

I just kegged my first beer last night, but didn't have a regulator so haven't carbed yet. I transferred from the spigot on my fermenter down into the bottom of the keg through some tubing. There was no splashing, but I could hear glugging through the fermenter, and when my IPA reached the top of the keg there was a thin layer of foam. I've sealed the keg up but now I am worried I have oxidised the crap out of it. Thoughts?