Some Kegging Questions

[ShredMaster]

Hello!

Yes, I have read HEAPS about kegging systems and many different variations and opinions. I'm pretty sure I've got enough info to give it a crack and hope for the best.

This past weekend I managed to pick up an absolute bargain Keg fridge where the bloke who owned it seems to have gotten all excited about homebrew and then found the novelty wore off a few months later and flogged the lot off cheap. Scored the fridge with the tap and lines installed, brand new co2 bottle and regulator (I don't see a check valve in there though), 2 corny kegs, complete fermenter "start-up-kit" (spare hydro, bucket, paddle, airlock etc etc) and got the whole lot to my house for a song (I sang both parts of the harmony and even danced a bit too).

So yeh, the actual questions, right.

1. How do you people store your spare kegs? Ultimately the answer will be "full of beer and in the fridge" but in the meantime, do you leave the empty ones just empty and open? Empty and pressurised? Full of water under pressure etc?

2. I have read mixed opinions of keeping the bottle and regulator inside the fridge or outside the fridge. The bloke who owned the fridge rigged up the gas line through the side of the fridge to keep the bottle on a nearby bench but that's not quite gonna work the same in its new home. My concern is getting condensation in the reg and killing it but some people seem to keep theirs in the fridge all the time. I would rather keep it in the fridge just so it won't get knocked over or damaged but keep in mind I'm in Far North Qld with ridiculous humidity so I'm not sure if this will affect it.

3. When I get some more kegs I intend to have several different beers maturing while one of them is connected (until I can fit more taps and gas lines). So I fill my spare keg, label it, stick the lid on the keg and stick a bit of gas in there to seal it up or do I actually pressurise the keg fully and let it mature pressurised? At this stage the fridge holds only 2 kegs so both kegs will be kept cold.

I'm looking forward to being able to tap my beer and I reckon it won't be long before I do the Barney and stick my mouth directly under the tap..... Please don't tell me not to, I need to learn that for myself :beerbang:


Cheers,
Shred.

 

[MarkBastard]

1 - Doesn't really matter how you store your kegs. If you're OCD you'll come up with your own system, if not who cares as long as they're clean before you use them.
2 - I have kept my gas bottle + reg inside my chest freezer for about 2 years now, no issues.
3 - A few different ways to do it. I'd probably carb the head space up to 300kpa or so.

 

[Snow]

Shred,

Congrats on getting kegged up! In answer to your Qs:

1. I store mine upside down and open. I feel they dry fully this way and don't grow mould. Saves on CO2, as well.

2. gas bottle in the fridge just takes up beer room. This is not good. I store mine outside, hard up against a wall so it has little chance of getting bumped.

3. If you are keeping the maturing keg cold, then it depends if you are using lager yeast or not. If you are maturing a true lager, i would leave it un pressurised (but purge the O2 with a blanket of CO2), as CO2 is toxic to yeast. If it is an ale, then carb it up no worries, as the yeast is dormant at cold temps anyway.

Cheers - Snow.

 

[Pennywise]

I store my spare kegs as is, so they come out of the fridge after use and don't get cleaned or opened till' I need them, never had an issue doing this. Can't comment on keeping the reg/bottle in the fridge as I've always kept mine outside of it. Storing full kegs I just purge the headspace and leave intill I need it, no need to carb them.

 

[Amber Fluid]

I store my spare kegs as is, so they come out of the fridge after use and don't get cleaned or opened till' I need them, never had an issue doing this. Can't comment on keeping the reg/bottle in the fridge as I've always kept mine outside of it. Storing full kegs I just purge the headspace and leave intill I need it, no need to carb them.

I'm glad I'm not the only one then.... i.e. when a keg is finished I just store it until I need it again then give it a good clean. I can be a lazy buggar and can't understand why in the world someone would want to clean them twice. (once when finished and again before use) I understand it is pressurised and nothing can get in or out so I see no harm doing this and I too haven't had any issues.

I have always kept my reg outside the fridge but will be putting it in the keezer when I change over soon.

I understand it doesn't matter how you stiore your full kegs, whether gassed or not, as long as they have no O2 in there.

 

[ShredMaster]

Cool! Thanks for your help.

Now I've run into another hitch: I can't seem to get any gas to come out of the cylinder. It's not exactly rocket science and the bloke put pressure into a keg in front of me before bringing it all over to my place so I have seen it work. He said he's only run a 1/2 dozen kegs or so through with it since he bought it new so there should be plenty of gas left.

I hook the gas line up to the bottom of the Tesuco regulator and the gas in on the keg, turn on the main cylinder knob, turn on the regulator knob slowly.

Nothing. No noises, no dial movement, no gas coming out at all...

I've disconnected and reconnected everything multiple times to check if it was done right, it is or seems to be. The HP dial on the reg is just over 6000kpa whether the main cylinder knob is on or off, that seems a little odd to me. It's a standard 2.6kg bottle, what should the HP dial read for a bottle with gas in it? There feels like liquid in the bottle.

I'm just hoping that its not a busted reg....

Any ideas what to try would be awesome.

Cheers,
Shred.

 

[Pennywise]

Does gas come out of the bottle with nothing hooked up to it?

 

[ShredMaster]

Nope.

And the dial still reads 6000kpa when it's all turned off too....

 

[Pennywise]

Well if nothing is coming out of the bottle with nothing hooked up to it, it's empty. By nothing hooked up I mean not even the reg, just bare bottle...Just to clarify

 

[ShredMaster]

Well if nothing is coming out of the bottle with nothing hooked up to it, it's empty. By nothing hooked up I mean not even the reg, just bare bottle...Just to clarify

Heh, yeh I'm not that bright when excited.

Ok so I just undid the reg a bit and the HP guage is working. Gas comes out without the reg. Seems like its the LP side of the reg.

Now just in case I'm missing something, the gas line has a brass nut which simply screws onto the fitting at the bottom of the reg. There is nothing in either the nut or the fitting in the reg like a pin or anything, not sure if there is supposed to be or if they are just holes.

 

[ShredMaster]

OK solved it thanks to the bloke at the local HBS giving a few tips - turn on the cylinder, turn on the regulator knob fully (which is about 5 tiwsts or so) and leave for a few minutes connected to a keg. Sure enough, started pumping gas after 1/2 a minute or so. He reckons that the reg may have either had something sieze slightly from being unused for a while (which could be the case) or that I simply hadn't turned the regulator knob far enough (which I think is more likely). Turns out that this silly regulator needs to be just about fully opened up to let ANY gas through it, which I find a little odd but I guess I'll get used to it.

Time to go get me some beer into that there keg!

Cheers,
Shred.

 

[bignath]

OK solved it thanks to the bloke at the local HBS giving a few tips - turn on the cylinder, turn on the regulator knob fully (which is about 5 tiwsts or so) and leave for a few minutes connected to a keg. Sure enough, started pumping gas after 1/2 a minute or so. He reckons that the reg may have either had something sieze slightly from being unused for a while (which could be the case) or that I simply hadn't turned the regulator knob far enough (which I think is more likely). Turns out that this silly regulator needs to be just about fully opened up to let ANY gas through it, which I find a little odd but I guess I'll get used to it.

Time to go get me some beer into that there keg!

Cheers,
Shred.

G'day Shred,

if it was me, i'd keep thinking about this problem of yours with the regulator, as i would hate it to be something else as a problem and for you to find out the hard way if something goes bang 'cause you regulator is almost fully opened.

To me this sound really dangerous. I know there are only a few things that the problem could be, but keep thinking about it to see if it could be anything else -even if it sounds remotely impossible. It would be disasterous if there was a blockage in your regulator somewhere, or a part inside (of which there are apparently a lot of) suddenly shifts, and next thing you know, your throwing an uninterrupted gas pressure straight into a keg. Actually it probably wouldn't go that far, you'd probably bust some clamps and gas line before it comes to that, but still, dangerous.....

Maybe see if you can borrow someone else's regulator with your bottle.

I'd feel real uncomfortable knowing my regulator is almost maxed, just to carb a beer. I have a micromatic regulator, and from completely shut, i reckon (although i haven't tested this) it only takes maybe 1 turn to get gas flow.

Just don't want to see or read about anyone getting hurt that's all dude...

Nath

 

[real_beer]

OK solved it thanks to the bloke at the local HBS giving a few tips - turn on the cylinder, turn on the regulator knob fully (which is about 5 tiwsts or so) and leave for a few minutes connected to a keg. Sure enough, started pumping gas after 1/2 a minute or so. He reckons that the reg may have either had something sieze slightly from being unused for a while (which could be the case) or that I simply hadn't turned the regulator knob far enough (which I think is more likely). Turns out that this silly regulator needs to be just about fully opened up to let ANY gas through it, which I find a little odd but I guess I'll get used to it.

Time to go get me some beer into that there keg!

Cheers,
Shred.
..............(I don't see a check valve in there though),

Hi,
If beers got into the regulator at sometime you may have a problem. Why not take it to your local home brew shop and have them look at it for you just to make sure. Even if it starts working okay you could be feeding all sorts of nasties into your beer.

 

[ShredMaster]

That's some good advice Big_Nath! I took it into the local HBS yesterday and after looking at it and talking about it with me he said it was fine.

Looks like I've encountered a textbook ESTO error often found in the IT industry - Equipment Smarter Than Operator.

Turns out that with this unit, when the keg is empty and unpressurised you have to open the regulator a fair way until the keg gets some initial pressure into it (something about backpressure?). Once the keg has some pressure, you can feel the resistance through the regulator knob when turning it (similar to a tap with water running through compared to the tap when disconnected from the water) and the LP dial reads correctly. Now that there is pressure in there, I only need to do a small turn of the regulator knob to adjust or set the pressure.

real_beer, this Tesuco regulator has a built-in check valve, apparently.

Got a keg filled and is chilling now to carb up over the next few days, unless I get all excited again and decide to force carb!

Thanks for your help and ideas!!

Cheers,
Shred.