Filling Kegs

I notice that some kegs have fairly long diptubes (about 3 inches) at the "In" connection, while others are much shorter. The long ones mean that you can't fill them as full, since the volume should be below the level of the diptube.

Is there any particular reason why these tubes should be of any particular length? I was wondering if I could cut them all to a shorter length to allow for more beer to be aded to the keg. As it is, I cannot get all of the five gallons from the fermenter (minus the trub) into the keg. There's always a pint or two left over.

Sure, cut it.. No big deal.

Be sure to clean it well so it won't rust after you cut it.

I usually cut them so they are about 3/4" long. They barely stick inside the keg and you can fill it pretty high

Thanks FATCITY and JRems. I'll cut them short. No idea why they were long to begin with.

Perhaps a silly question, but why can't you fill a keg above the gas in tube? The pressure will drive in the co2 to fill the remaining head space regardless, No?

I'm guessing it works either way...on a sanke keg the beverage tube and gas tube are the same, and go to the bottom of the keg FWIW.

wilserbrewer said:

Perhaps a silly question, but why can't you fill a keg above the gas in tube? The pressure will drive in the co2 to fill the remaining head space regardless, No?

I'm guessing it works either way...on a sanke keg the beverage tube and gas tube are the same, and go to the bottom of the keg FWIW.

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I have heard people say that beer can get sucked back into the regulator and CO2 tank if you fill up to the gas tube.

I have also filled all my kegs above the bottom of the dip tube. I have never had a problem. If you ensure you don't let the keg pressure get above the gas pressure, while liquid is above the bottom of the tube, you won't have to worry about beer flowing into your regulator.

Think about the people that attach a carb stone to a long dip tube. They don't open the keg up and take it out when the keg is ready they just serve with the stone in the beer, unless you use the carbing lid.

I say leave it and put a check valve on your gas line so you don't worry about beer flowing back into your regulator if something goes wrong.

Check valve definitely. If not, it really depends on your practices. If you force carb rather than set and forget you will probably have a higher chance of getting beer into the gas lines when you hook them up.

When I fill past the dip tube I can't get the lid on without dunking it in the beer, but I fill with the lid completely off.

I use sanke kegs so this is less relevant to me but you should definitely have check valves. Even just the beer warming up a bit can cause the pressure to increase above the level of the regulator, causing back pressure to the co2 line. Obviously if the co2 tube is in the beer its worse, but I wouldn't want anything going into the co2 system (manifolds, reg's, whatever) once its been in the keg.

Thanks for the additional advice. It still seems as though the best option is to cut the dip tube short, perhaps down to an inch or so, although the additional head space would likely make it easier/quicker to carb the beer initially. Having the beer go up the CO2 line is not too much of a worry, since I generally don't leave the line attached. I usually give the keg a shot of pressure a couple of times a day, each time removing the CO2 line. This seems to work, and I have managed to pressurize the keg in this way over a period of several days. One of the reasons I don't keep the line on all the time is that there is no room for the 20 pound CO2 tank in the temperature-controlled freezer along with my kegs.