Leaving head-space in kegs.

Does anyone have opinions or facts on the leaving of headspace in kegs? I personally can't think of one and like to top them right off. However, for whatever reason it just seems natural to leave a wee bit of head-space. What do you guys do, head space or fill to the brim?

No facts in this post, just opinions...

There is usually a little head space in my kegs when they are filled, but I don't think it matters as long as the head space is Co2, not O2.

Once beer is in the keg, I hook it up to the Gas, bleed the keg once the gas stops flowing (to get rid of o2 in the keg) and then let the gas run till it is full again. Never had a problem.

While I'm all for cramming as much as possible in a keg, I'm not a big fan of beer in my gas lines. And check valves sometimes stick, so I strive to fill below the level of my gas dip tubes.

I used to be a habitual over-filler (hence putting check valves on every drop in my shop) to the point that I started shortening my gas dip tubes so I could fit another inch of beer. But I picked up a carbonator cap and now any extra goes in a liter or two liter bottle, carbed up and consumed. Less drama that way - and less cleaning of gas lines and QDs...

Cheers!

I fill to just below the gas dip tube as well. Any extra I just bottle with a little corn sugar, sugar, or whatever I have around to prime each bottle.

day_trippr said:

While I'm all for cramming as much as possible in a keg, I'm not a big fan of beer in my gas lines. And check valves sometimes stick, so I strive to fill below the level of my gas dip tubes.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Groovy, I use Sankes and usually push a bit out when I drop the tube in, so its really full! I hate beer in the gas lines too of course, but since I got a micromatic coupler with a floating ball I haven't had a drop go backward which is really sweet.
I've become a big fan of natural conditioning over force carbonating, but this keg I'm slow forcing over time in the fridge and thats really what made me think about putting a layer of CO2 on top. Thanks y'all!