Brewing for a wedding, first time kegging...pressure's on.

I am brewing three batches for a buddy's wedding at the end of March. The first batch has been in the fermenter for two weeks, and the next two are going to get brewed next weekend.

I have three five gallon corny kegs that I bought for this occasion (what a great excuse to get into kegging, right?). This will be my first time kegging. Here are my thoughts; I'm looking for feedback. I'd like to use corn sugar to carbonate all three, since I'll have to travel to another state with the kegs for the wedding, and I don't want to have them hooked up to CO2 the whole time. I am planning on putting all three in kegs when they're ready, then using the corn sugar to carb. I'll travel with the kegs, then hook them up to gas for the wedding. Does anyone see any issues with this? Any tips? Thanks!

A couple issues:

1) Many corny keg lids won't seal fully unless you blast them with 20-30 psi to help set the seals. You might be OK if you use the oversize soft silicone o-rings and tons of keg lube, but it's still a risk. It's also usually a good idea to purge the headspace a couple times; can't do that without CO2. Since you'll be moving the kegs afterwards, oxidation is a possibility.

2) Proper keg priming is a little tricky. Most people add about half the priming sugar they would for bottles, but I think it might be difficult to nail a proper carb level your first time around.

3) If you move a naturally carbonated keg, you'll have a ton of sediment that'll get kicked up. I'd make sure to give them plenty of time to chill and let the sediment settle before the wedding. A couple days at least. You don't want to serve cloudy beer, and you want everything to be equilibrated temperature and CO2-wise.

4) There can be a lot to troubleshoot with any kegging setup (leaks, clogs, plumbing issues, line balancing issues, faucet troubles) and you're going to be under a lot of pressure to nail it this time. I'd get your system set up now so you can troubleshoot it. Unless you happen to be some type of research lab engineer and you do liquid/gas plumbing as part of your daily job, but even then you'll have a bunch to figure out.

I brewed 8 cornies for a wedding that required me to travel through 6 states. A few thoughts:
1. Know the homebrew transportation laws in all states through which you'll travel.
2. If the kegs will be transported inside a vehicle lay tarps down.
3. I stored my kegs upright to avoid any leading through the lid or posts, so I used the big buckets with rope handles you see at hardware stores.
4. The wedding I did was in summer so I wanted to beer cold. I froze dozens of soda bottles full of water and then bought bags of ice along the way.
5. For clearer beer, jumper the beer from one keg to another before transportation. This will leave the sediment behind.
6. Have back ups of everything. I took an extra CO2 regulator, and extra CO2 tanks, Quick disconnects, picnic/cobra taps, etc.
7. Have time to setup and test for leaks. I also took a spray bottle of soap water for leak checking. I had a tool bag with everything I could need... o-rings, gas tape, plumbers tape, wrenches, keg lube, etc.
8. Enjoy all the kudos at the reception.

Here's some photos.

Beer looks great considering you kicked it up across six states. Kudos!

Wow, Luther...sweet setup. Thanks for the advice & the pics.

Why do you think you would need to have them hooked up to the co2 tank while traveling??

lutherslagers said:

...1. Know the homebrew transportation laws in all states through which you'll travel......

Click to expand...

Oklahoma Law: "The Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission is authorized to issue, upon application of a person who is twenty-one (21) years of age or older, an annual personal use permit which when granted authorizes the holder thereof to make, store, possess and transport for personal use, ...., beer as defined by Section 506 of this title......" from Oklahoma Homebrew Laws. Make sure you have your permit with you during transport, just in case.