“Real Ale” kegging questions

So, my son is getting married! I told him that I would do the beer for the wedding (Irish Red Ale of course). I bottle, much more convenient for me, and I have no plans to change at this point. Bottles at a wedding however, seem like an intense PITA….. (and I have visions of a bunch of idiots running around drinking it out of the bottles…grrrrr) What I would like to do is keg, prime and naturally carbonate, and serve without CO2…. Gravity feed? I do not want to invest in a bunch of equipment that will only be used once… how is the best way to do this? What kind of keg should I hunt for? Oh, I was thinking 10-gallons…. Help me!!!

Hmm... Not sure about the gravity feed issue. If you dont drink it fast enough I think it would get flat pretty quickly. They do make portable systems for kegs. Someone here might know of something better but check out rebelbrewer or morebeer .com and look in there kegging sections.

As far as the equipment, I would look for used Cornelious kegs (due to ease of use) and get the adapter for use with threadless co2 canisters that you can inject into the keg.

However, as I am writing this I am realizing you said you want to make 10 gal so then you would need 2 kegs at 30 bucks each plus disconnects, faucets, and portable co2 so this might not be best for you.

If you plan on starting to keg I would go this way but if not they do make plastic (party kegs) that are around 2 to 3 gallons each that might be better for you. I'm just not sure if there any good because I've never used them before. Hopefully someone else here has some experience in them.

Just thinking out loud.... Why not a keg. Place the keg upside down. That way the OUT dip tube would be up in an air pocket. You could vent the OUT disconnect with a QD. Then just let gravity do its thing. You could go as cheap as a picnic tap. Call it the little Beer Engine that thought he could... You'll want to kill the kegs that night or they'll get stale from the O2.

maybe but most corny kegs don't stay sealed without atleast 5 psi on them

DustinHickey said:

maybe but most corny kegs don't stay sealed without atleast 5 psi on them

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They should if you hit them with 30 psi when initially kegged or just let the natural carbonation pressure seal them up. YMMV

Good attempt but I think you would have a few issues.

1) he is trying to avoid the issue of having to buy equipment (no co2 tank ect to initially charge tank...)

2) This works until a few beers are poured and then the whole thing empties onto the floor when the pressure drops to low.

I think you would want something like this. Never shopped at this place but two 5 gallons would cost you about 130 or 140 with shipping.


http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=9

If it didn't look so redneck, I'd suggest simply using 2-liter soda bottles. No new equipment, virtually no cost.

Worked great for me when I bottled 8 2-liter soda bottles & dispensed at a recent fund raiser, but it wouldn't look very nice for a formal event like a wedding (to pour beer from soda bottles).

DustinHickey said:

I think you would want something like this. Never shopped at this place but two 5 gallons would cost you about 130 or 140 with shipping.


http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=9

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+1.

You're guests are likely not going to be Cask / Real Ale fans. Naturally carbonate is fine and you can initially seal with the above pictured CO2. It can get to a very vigorous pour though once your guests gain control of the trigger. my first time using mine and I squeezed it until the pressure equalized. Fill my cup in about a second or 2.

hamiltont said:

Place the keg upside down.

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No need to invert as long as the tap is below beer level (and cask pressure is used to initiate siphon). Use larger beer line to keep delivery rate reasonable with gravity pour.

944play said:

No need to invert as long as the tap is below beer level (and cask pressure is used to initiate siphon). Use larger beer line to keep delivery rate reasonable with gravity pour.

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Some Googling came across this idea, similar to what you're saying. Producing and Serving Homebrewed Cask Ales

Thanks guys! Lots of "food for thought".

Is there a homebrew club or a friend that you could arrange to borrow the equipment needed?

There is a homebrew club in Hagerstown called HOPS
http://thehops.org/wp/
This may be a good source for borrowing equipment for the wedding.

This is easy.

For 10 gallons of cask conditioned ale, get two 5-gallon Fort-Paks.

LINK

The large cap is threaded to accept the spigot below.

LINK

You need to get a spigot for each Fort-Pak. Drill a 3/4” hole in the cap to allow liquid to pass through. If you prefer, you can use the faucet below.

LINK

Buy two cheap Styrofoam coolers, cut a hole in the side for the spigot, lay the Fort-Paks on their side, open the smaller cap to allow Oxygen to enter, keep the beer at 50-55 degrees with freezer packs or something and you’re done.

For conditioning- leave your beer in the primary for two-three weeks, depending on gravity. Afterwards, rack to the sanitized Fort-Paks that have the spigots installed. Add finings and .3 ounces of table sugar per- then store at 64 degrees. After about a week, using the small cap, bleed off most of the CO2… but save just a bit of pressure. Place the Fort-Paks as you’re going to serve and cool to 50-55 and let stand *undisturbed/unmoved* for 1-3 days. That’s it.

It would be a good idea to practice this technique a few times before the big event. You can buy a couple of the 2 1/2 gallon Fort-Paks for this.

SBC said:

Is there a homebrew club or a friend that you could arrange to borrow the equipment needed?

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+1 My thoughts exactly. Rent or borrow the equipment...maybe kegs too.