Prep Water for Kegs

**deezy** · 06-27-2011, 04:43 PM

Wanting to put one keg on with carbed water for sodas; gonna scoop crystal light into glass and fill from tap.

Are you boiling your water before kegging or buying water to keep any nasty stuff out? How long of 3/16 ID do you recommend, and what pressure for serving?

Thanks!

-Denver

**EFaden** · 06-27-2011, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deezy

Wanting to put one keg on with carbed water for sodas; gonna scoop crystal light into glass and fill from tap.

Are you boiling your water before kegging or buying water to keep any nasty stuff out? How long of 3/16 ID do you recommend, and what pressure for serving?

Thanks!

-Denver

Boiling your tap water?.... where exactly do you live? Kidding. If you can drink it it should be fine for seltzer. Since you aren't adding anything to the water in the keg (e.g. sugar or something for bacteria to eat) there should be no real growth (similar to the pipes in your house).

I usually carb seltzer at 30PSI. I serve using 1/8" line using about 6 feet. If you are using 3/16" I would use 15 to 30 feet.

My process for seltzer is fill keg with water from tap. Run CO2 @ 30PSI into the liquid in side and shake for a few minutes (to speed up the process). Then stick it in the fridge with the gas and liquid lines connected. Wait 2 days.... and serve.

**deezy** · 06-27-2011, 08:02 PM

Ha, just going off searched threads...I didn't get why folks were boiling it.

Thanks; exactly what I needed to know!

**EFaden** · 06-27-2011, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deezy

Ha, just going off searched threads...I didn't get why folks were boiling it.

Thanks; exactly what I needed to know!

No problem. Unless Crypto or Giardia are a concern for you I would say boiling the water is a tad excessive... but by all means feel free..

Let me know if you have any other questions. A ton of people on here do seltzer (me included).... Wife loves it.

MrFoodScientist · 06-28-2011, 05:41 PM

I tried hotfilling my keg as a means of extra sanitation. The near boiling water seems to have picked up an off flavor, maybe from contact with the o-rings, I'm not sure.

**EFaden** · 06-28-2011, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrFoodScientist

I tried hotfilling my keg as a means of extra sanitation. The near boiling water seems to have picked up an off flavor, maybe from contact with the o-rings, I'm not sure.

Shouldn't have. As far as I know the O-Rings are Buna-N (e.g. Nitrile). They are stable up to 108C... this assumes they are black. If they are red (some people use these now, including me) they are silicone and should be stable up to well over boiling... Anyone else weigh in on this?

MrFoodScientist · 06-28-2011, 06:34 PM

Good thing I dumped it then. Good thing to know.

**jonp9576** · 01-20-2012, 06:00 PM

not sure if anyone is going to check out this thread since its so old, but if i take one of those 5 gallon jugs from work and dump it in a clean corny, will the water last for the 6 months or more it will take for me to drink 5 gallons of seltzer?

nothing is gonna grow in there, right? its sealed and refrigerated.

**jonp9576** · 01-20-2012, 07:54 PM

anyone???????

**EFaden** · 01-20-2012, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonp9576

anyone???????

Should be fine... It is under CO2 pressure so basically most bacteria wouldn't grow anyways. Anaerobic bacteria in theory could grow in the CO2 environment, but if you clean and sanitize your kegs I can't imagine much could grow in there.