Searching, but unable to find the answer to this. Are there any problems that I can expect if I fill my 5 gallon kegs with, say, 2.5 or 3 gallons of beer? Are the processes for carbonating the same as if I used 5 gallons of beer?
A wee bit more oxidation potential...otherwise, not a problem...
You'll use extra CO2 doing 3 gal in a 5 gal corny, but other than that there should be no ill effects.
Couldn't you just purge the space with CO2 to fix that?
The key is, "maybe at first". That first bit will never be made up. Once the 5 gallon keg gets down to 3 gallon they should take about the same CO2. But, you served 2 gallons of delicious beverage. On the 3 gallon all you've done is fill up the headspace.
It will take more CO2 (per gallon) than the 5 gallon. Not that much though.
I think the potential for oxidation is going to be just a wee bit higher --- than if you filled the keg w/ 5 gals of liquid.
The key is, "maybe at first". That first bit will never be made up. Once the 5 gallon keg gets down to 3 gallon they should take about the same CO2. But, you served 2 gallons of delicious beverage. On the 3 gallon all you've done is fill up the headspace.
It will take more CO2 (per gallon) than the 5 gallon. Not that much though.
CO2 is heavier than air, so even if the head space it only half full of CO2, it is going to form a cushion over the beer, keeping the oxygen away from the beer.
Not true, actually CO2 is heavier than air, there is a village in Africa that lives at the base of a volcano that has a lake on the top of it. This particular volcano degases CO2 which collects at the bottom of the lake, when the pressure of CO2 gets high enough or if something disturbs the lake the lake overturns and releases the CO2. The CO2 being heavier than air runs down the mountain and collects in the lowest places. The whole village died because of this.
Anyway CO2 is heavier than air, I work at a brewery and when we clean our tanks I can see the CO2 running out the bottom or our fermenters. We still use dairy tanks for some of our primary fermentation and as long as we purge partially the tanks before we transfer we have that blanket of CO2 to keep the O2 from touching. If you where to shake that fermenter sure the O2 would get to the beer but if left untouched that CO2 will keep O2 from contact.
Enter your email address to join: