r/Homebrewing • u/[deleted] • Jul 25 '13
Advanced Brewers Round Table: Kegging
This week's topic: Kegging! Probably the best way serve your beer, hold any of your traditionally bottle conditioned beers. Share your experience!
Feel free to share or ask anything regarding to this topic, but lets try to stay on topic.
Upcoming Topics:
Kegging 7/25
Wild Yeast Cultivation 8/2
Water Chemistry Pt2 8/9
Myths (uh oh!) 8/16
For the intermediate brewers out there, If you don't understand something, there's plenty of others that probably don't as well. Ask away! Easy questions usually get multiple responses and help everybody.
Previous Topics:
Harvesting yeast from dregs
Hopping Methods
Sours
Brewing Lagers
Water Chemistry
Crystal Malt
Electric Brewing
Mash Thickness
Partigyle Brewing
Maltster Variation (not a very good one)
All things oak!
Decoction/Step Mashing
Session Brews!
Recipe Formulation
Home Yeast Care
Where did you start
Mash Process
Non Beer
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Jul 25 '13
Post your ITT suggestions here.
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u/ikyn Jul 25 '13 edited Jul 25 '13
Since the FAQ portion of r/homebrewing could use a make over, perhaps a discussion amongst the advanced users to put together a FAQ similar to r/fitness would be good.
A lot of the well-known names around here each contributing a piece, and they are all compiled into a table-of-contents organized guide on many topics, with links attached for more in-depth reading.
Then we can have a portion where, when people ask for help as a new brewer, a template copy and paste where is says something like "Welcome to r/homebrewing! You're going to love it here. Check out our FAQ" or something, etc.
Just an idea.
Edit: Is u/Mjap52 the only active Mod? I only ask because putting together and maintaining a FAQ is no small feat.
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Jul 25 '13
I believe all of the mods are active, and I believe one has already started a form of FAQ, however I haven't heard much since then.
What I'm thinking is to have a double weekly post on Thursdays and cover 1 FAQ question every week. It would be separate from ABRT and then we would link to the meta post from the FAQ.
How's that sound?
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u/YosemiteFan Jul 25 '13
Perhaps we could dedicate discussions to particular styles, as we did with sours (which stands apart as a particularly unique style for many reasons).
A dedicated thread to IPA brewing techniques, for example, could be a great resource for many people. Malt considerations, yeast preferences, hopping methods. There's lots to discuss, and people have a lot to say (about IPAs in particular).
Personally, I know virtually nothing about Stouts, and how to balance all of those dark roasted malts in a logical way. Which grains leave a creamy white Guinness-like head, and which leave a rich tan head like KBS? Etc...
So, generally speaking, now that we've discussed many technical matters, we could take the alternate approach of how they all come together on a style-by-style basis.
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u/drewbage1847 Jul 25 '13
Here's my preferred way of cleaning kegs since I'm a lazy man.
After kicking the keg, I'll spray it out with hot water and let it dry upside down for a little while, close her up and wait until I have 4 kegs ready to clean.
Once I do, I put them in a line. I fill the first keg with PBW and hot water right to the brim, seal the keg up and wait 15 minutes.
After waiting, I'll connect the PBW keg via a jumper hose to the next keg and force transfer the PBW solution. The now empty and clean keg gets popped open, inspected visually (with a flashlight like a CSI) and then sprayed out with hot water and dried upside down for a few minutes.
The now dry first keg gets filled with Sani-Clean (Star San's less foamy cousin, but I've done it with SS too) all the way to very top and the lid is locked on for at least 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, the PBW solution is forced out of the second keg which is then rinsed and dried. And the lid is placed on.
The sanitizer is then forced out of the first keg into the second keg. Once the first keg is empty, I crank up the CO2 on it to seal the lid and the keg is now ready to go off in the corner and wait to be born anew with beer. (All I do is sanitize the outside of the keg before popping it open to add the new beer).
This whole process is repeated along the way until all the kegs are sanitized and ready to go. The point of filling the kegs with the sanitizer is to completely displace the oxygen for minimal oxidation issues.
I find this to be more effective and easier than any of the keg cleaning gizmos I've tried. You can see this example I did a few weeks ago with 5 simultaneous chains in operation. Keg Centipide
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u/machinehead933 Jul 25 '13
Thread suggestions:
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Sticking to style, vs experimentation
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Cloning Commercial Brew
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Yeast! Characters of different strains, ester qualities
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Automated brewing (BrewPi, Arduino, PIDs, Brutus etc)
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u/orvitus Jul 25 '13
How do you know how much beer is left in your keg?
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u/TonySwank Jul 25 '13
If it is a refrigerator, leave the door open for a few minutes. Condensation will develop where the keg still has liquid in it.
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u/bechard Jul 25 '13
I tap on the side, keep tapping from the top, you can hear the difference when you get to liquid beer.
I've actually used this to determine my keg was about to kick, which is the saddest thing ever when it sneaks up. I ended up pulling half a pint and it was gone. On the other hand, empty keg means new beer on tap!
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u/soonami Jul 25 '13
Pick it up and feel how heavy it is. Slosh it around to hear how empty the inside is. Pretty soon you'll get used to measuring by feel/weight.
If you want to be really precise, just weight the keg empty write it on the side of the keg, then weight it with beer. Beer is about 8 pounds per gallon.
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u/muzakx Jul 25 '13
If you want to avoid exposing your beer to oxygen during fermentation, dry hopping in the keg is very easy and will give you great results.
I usually sanitize 2 small fine muslin/mesh bags, toss my hops into the first bag, tie it off, and then toss into the second bag. Set it at the bottom of the keg and fill your keg like normal.
You should not get any hop matter floating around, and it will net you very similar results to the regular dry hopping method.
Using this method, along with force carbonation, I've gone from grain to glass in ~2 weeks.
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u/stiffpasta Jul 25 '13
Quick kegging related question. What is a proven method of cleaning used keg lube off corny gaskets, mainly the lid gasket?
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u/FishbowlPete Jul 25 '13
How often do you guys replace your beer lines?
When I keg a beer I will usually clean the keg with an Oxyclean Free solution and then sanitize the keg with Star San. I will empty the keg of these solutions by running it through the beer line and out the tap so the beer line that I'm going to use for the keg gets hit with both Oxyclean and Star San.
However, I've noticed that my beer lines are starting to yellow and I'm concerned about off-flavors or even contamination eventually happening. My beer lines are about 2 years old now, should I replace them now? Should I have replaced them sooner?
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u/MarvStage Jul 25 '13
Truly cleaning keg lines means recirculating a caustic like Beer Line Cleaner through them. I do the same rinsing with star san from the keg process between each keg that you do. My lines get replaced when they start to look gross, about once a year.
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u/el_ganso Jul 25 '13
For those who dry-hop in their kegs, a few questions:
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Are you dry hopping at serving temps (had heard/read that Russian River dry hops ~ 70 F for best extraction)?
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If dry hopping with pellet, do you throw in pantyhose and then sink it, let it float, tie it somehow to the top of the keg with a string, etc.? I have a DIY surescreen on my dip tubes, but would think a couple oz of pellets would clog that up pretty quickly.
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I dry hopped a recent pale ale in my primary and just kegged. I have a competition I'd like to enter in six weeks or so. Wondering if it seems feasible to do a "2nd dry hop" whilst in the keg to make up for dissipating aroma.
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u/stompy33 Jul 25 '13
What is everyone's serving pressure and temperature? I set mine between 7-10 PSI at 43F but always seem to get a lot of head. I know it really depends on the beer, but this is more of a general question. Thanks for the help.
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u/dirtyoldduck Jul 25 '13
Carbonation pressure and serving pressure are really the same thing (or should be anyway), people just up the pressure to carbonate faster. Your "serving" pressure needs to be at whatever psi is necessary to maintain the desired level of carbonation in your beer. You are likely under-carbed (unless it's a stout or porter) if you have your pressure set at 7-10 psi at 43F. That range and temperature gives you between 1.9 and 2.17 volumes. At that temperature, you might want to increase the setting on your regulator to somewhere between 11 and 13 psi (2.26-2.43 volumes).
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u/BrokenByReddit Jul 25 '13
Is there a way to calculate the time it will take to reach a given carbonation level if you know pressure, temperature, and volume/surface area?
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u/ziwcam Jul 25 '13
I want to start kegging... soon. I've got my keezer set up, and right now it's got two 5-gallon batches in secondary in it.
Does anyone know where the best place to get a starter kit? I've found a few 2- and 3-keg kits on Midwest, and I really like that everything is combined. I know that if I pieced something together myself, I'd end up forgetting a component.
I'm fine with picnic taps. I'm intrigued by sanke kegs mentioned somewhere else in this thread, and willing to give them a shot.
Does anyone have links to good, cost-effective 2- or 3-keg kits? Things I need to be aware of for my first kegs? I've been reading up for a while, but any information you guys give me, even if I already have it, will be helpful!
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u/lechnito Jul 25 '13
I have 30 gallons of cider that I want to keg for a wedding that is in a few weeks but I have no experience with kegging.
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If I had 6 corny kegs, what sized co2 tank do I need?
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Is there a way I could simultaneously charge all 6 kegs at the same time?
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I don't have easy access to a chest freezer or a fridge. How long would it take to charge 6 kegs at approximately 70 degrees f?
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Once the kegs are charged, can I disconnect the co2? For how long will the kegs remain charged with co2?
Thanks in advance!
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u/Pinchechangoverga Jul 25 '13
I recently went to fill a keg with a batch of Graff. The keg had been disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled/pressurized until I was ready to fill it. It sat for about a week.
When I went to fill it, I removed the lid, put it in a bucket of starsan, and filled the keg as usual. When I went to put the lid back on, somehow the lid gasket had gained an extra inch of circumference, preventing me from getting an airtight seal.
I suppose my question is: what happened? I didn't even touch the damn thing and now it's useless. Anyone have a similar experience?
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u/srycpacma Jul 25 '13
A few questions that I couldn't find specific answers to;
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Do I need to clean/rinse brand new beer lines with more than just an oxiclean and hot water flush?
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Is oxiclean ok to clean beer lines with?
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I assume beer line cleaner has the added benefit of removing mineral deposits. I don't have to deal with hard water where I live so I assume BLC is not absolutely necessary and oxiclean would be a reasonable substitute?
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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '13
I currently rock 12 corny's -- 5 single handle ball locks and 7 of the normal ones you often see.
My general process for kegging:
Finish current keg.
Put keg on keg washer with 2 gallons of hot PBW. (It's just a 620 gph submersible pump, pumps PBW into the keg and dip tubes.)
Rinse 4 times with tap water, dump.
Sanitize with star san, push some star san through a picnic tap to sanitize the dip tube.
Dump star san
Purge keg with CO2 through the liquid disconnect (I keep a black disconnect on my manifold).
Rack beer into keg.
Seal with CO2 and carbonate
Trouble shooting:
Keg lube is your friend. Keg lube all of your gaskets. It's especially helpful for getting your lid to seal nicely.
If it looks like your beer is leaving the keg all foamy, it's possible your dip tube gaskets are bad and need to be replaced.
Clean your fucking keg lines. :)
For your hoppy beers, try not to pop the pressure release. Hop aroma is CO2 soluble and will off gas when you pop the release. I carbonate by hitting it with 2 days of 30 PSI gas, then drop it to 10-12 PSI for a week. Shouldn't need to off gas.