Travelling with kegs

[kalbarluke]

Fellow keggers,
Tomorrow I am going to a party and I want to take my 19L keg that is 3/4 full of dark ale. I'm wondering if travelling with the keg will shake up the contents and make it really frothy. Should I de-gas the keg first and re-gas it when I get to the party or am I worrying about nothing?

 

[citizensnips]

Not that I'm an expert on kegs but your keg should only contain co2 so it shouldn't really have a problem, Think about CUB and the big boys sending truck loads huge distances. I'd just let it sit there for a while once you get there to settle.

 

[surly]

I have done it once. Had no problems, though DID let the keg sit for 30mins or so before first pour

 

[trevgale]

As the keg draws beer off from the bottom and any foam will be on top I think the worst that will happen is that the beer will end up a little undercarbed. Degassing will probably just make it worse as it will allow more CO2 to come out of solution.

 

[lukiferj]

No worries at all. I do this all the time. Assume you're taking gas with you. First couple of beers might be a little cloudy and frothy but shouldn't affect the beer at all and will settle down pretty quickly.

 

[kalbarluke]

Thanks for the quick responses. Won't worry about degassing. Will let it settle for 30 mins first and then I'll make sure I have the first two or three glasses (plastic cups) if it's cloudy.

 

[barls]

get it cold before hand pour off your sediment if you have any before moving and then sit for a couple of minutes before pouring thats it.

 

[manson81]

When I pull my keezer out to put a new keg in, I notice to on tap kegs pour a little cloudy from being disturbed. They settle down soon after.

Strange though that it draws from the bottom where all the shit settles and moving them makes a difference.

Doesn't worry me either way

 

[carniebrew]

I do this deliberately to my weissbeir kegs. Give 'em a shake around before I start pouring from them to get the yeast back into suspension. No froth or hassles, it's only co2 in there.

 

[woodwormm]

In my group of mates there's 6-8 brewers, last boys trip we had 6 cornies and 2 commercial kegs all pouring.. and we often take kegs camping etc..

my observations are that any keg brewed with good processes for clarity (ie temp control and crash chilling) and/or filtering with correct carbonation levels, will pour quite well pretty quickly after the journey stops. Those brewed to be cloudy (either on purpose or by virtue of technique) can take an hour or 2 before they settle and pour like they did at home.

Also, don't forget that if you're pouring a warm keg through a miracle box, you'll need a lot higher pressure than you do at home. Usually around 2-3 times higher than a refrigerated system. Some of my mates still freak when I just crank the gas up and up to get it pouring correctly through the miracle... they must've seen it work half a dozen times and still freak!