New keggerator Help

I just put together my keggerator and dont have any beer ready.

Can I put commercial bottled beer in my cornys and try out my draft system?

The manufacturer of the regulator said to go 10-12 psi in my cornys do I adjust this down for the commercial carbonated beer bottles? thanks:rockin:

like dump 5 gallons of bottles into a keg? I probably would not do that....


patience!!! your homebrew is worth the wait!!
:rockin:

Yea thats pretty nuts. If anything go buy a 1/6 barrel of commercial and hook that up until your ready with homebrew. Unless you only have a corny setup. Then buy this

I am five miles from a local brewery (Michigan Brewing Company) and they'll fill a corny keg with their beer for a flat rate: $45. Not bad, IMHO. You have to supply the corny keg though, obviously.

If you live near a brewpub you might wanna check it out.

Still does not answer my question. I just want to (test) my draft system with real beer, not water, so who knows what happens differently when you put bottle carbonated beer in cornys vs. flat beer? My worries is if I put 15 bottled beers in for a test that the co2 will just turn everything into foam. Does anyone know?

No one in the regular forums seem to know the answer to this but I just built my kegerator and want to try out my draft system with real beer. I do not have a batch ready so I want to unbottle my bottle carbonated cider beer and dump it into the cornys to try the system out. My fear is since to beer is already carbonated that when i kick co2 to it that it will just turn everything to foam. Do you know what will happen?

WilliamstonBrew said:

I am five miles from a local brewery (Michigan Brewing Company) and they'll fill a corny keg with their beer for a flat rate: $45. Not bad, IMHO. You have to supply the corny keg though, obviously.

If you live near a brewpub you might wanna check it out.

Click to expand...

+1
I live in DesMoines, where we have like 7 breweries.

I called each one and found only one that would fill my cornys - $55

Like you, my pipeline is empty - 3 beers in secondary, but nothing ready for gas yet. So I have 5 gallons of Raccoon River Bandit IPA, and 5 gallons of Homestead Red on tap in the garage

To answer your question,
If you dump commercial beer into a keg, you're going to oxygenate it. You'll have to drink them quick! Not that that's a bad deal
You'll also likely flatten them a bit.

But, you'll have beer in a keg, that you can push out a tap with CO2 - If that's what you're after...

Make sure the keg is COLD or you'll foam the beer more, and load it as quick as you can.

A lot of foam is highly likely. But, perhaps, the biggest issue will be possible oxygenation of the beer when you pour it. Be patient, and get brewing.

Definately oxidation will occur, if the beer is not consumed within a week or two, add to that the loss if carbonation from foaming and it isn't worth the effort.

Brew a batch, it only takes a three hours if your extract brewing, oh; and the 14 day wait for fermentation!!

If you absolutely have to have draft beer right now, ask your local brewpub or micro if they'll fill your corny. Most that sell kegged beer will do it, IME.

Time consuming, but you could rack from the bottles into the keg. I agree with the above poster about finding a local micro or pub to fill your corny as I understand your eagerness to break your new system in.

mrbeachroach said:

No one in the regular forums seem to know the answer to this but I just built my kegerator and want to try out my draft system with real beer. I do not have a batch ready so I want to unbottle my bottle carbonated cider beer and dump it into the cornys to try the system out. My fear is since to beer is already carbonated that when i kick co2 to it that it will just turn everything to foam. Do you know what will happen?

Click to expand...

I merged the threads. This question is most certainly NOT a "brew science" question. It's a bottling/kegging question, and was moved here accordingly.

Go ahead and dump your bottles in the keg if you want. It won't improve the beer, but aside from oxidizing it and crazy foaming issues, it won't worsen it much either. I wouldn't bother. I know it's exciting to have the system up and running, but bad beer out of a keg isn't a treat. If you have a batch nearly ready to bottle, it can be kegged and ready in just a few days.

Pouring the bottles into the keg will cause some of the co2 to come out of solution, causing foaming. Then, you'll try to balance your draft system but be unable to due to all the foaming. So, "trying out" your new system seems like an exercise in frustration more than actually doing a trial run.

One more thing, as I empathize with your desire to try the new keg system. I too just got my kegerator, found a local paintball shop to fill my tank, and picked up an empty corny two days ago. So far it's just sitting there, waiting for the party to start.

That having been said...

If you're looking for something fast from brew to glass, here are two great recipes to try. I have them both fermenting right now (the Centennial is in secondary) and they're both just about ready to keg:

Arkador's Dunkelweizen

BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde (Extract version at the bottom of the first page, FYI)

Enjoy! Worth the (short) wait.