Good Idea, Bad Idea: Cutting the dip tube

I want to transfer a batch of cider from a few months ago into a corny keg for long term bulk aging. Since I think that there wil be more sediment/yeast to fall out of suspension in the next few months I was wondering if I should cut a little bit of the dip tube off in order to be able to transfer to another keg under pressure w/o picking up the sediment. If this is a bad idea thats fine but if you think it is a good idea how much of the tube should I cut off?

I have three kegs but only room for two in my keezer. I would like to duplicate this process for future brews as well.

All opinions are welcome. Thnx.

I don't know why people do this or advocate it as there are less intrusive ways to take care of the situation. You can let the beer/cider/whatever settle out in a carboy or other container before kegging and leave most of the sediment behind, then transfer to the serving keg. Another alternative is simply to dispense the sediment from the keg with the first quantity pushed through the serving tube. After that it is just cleared product.

What I usually do is gellatin my brews, there is less sediment poured from my kegs and what its left sticks nicely to the bottom of my keg.

+1 to just letting it sit or using finings.

But it doesn't matter much to me... The first couple pints are just going to have a few floaties

I cut an inch and a half off of one of mine and used it as a brite tank. Gelatin in and then rack the beer into the keg. I usually do 2 weeks at room temp to condition and then cold crash 3-5 days. Then I push it in to a serving keg to carbonate. It makes for very clear beer and leaves lots of funky stuff in the brite tank (about 22oz total).



Well, that's how I did it for a year or so. But now I just ferment, keg and drink. Got the big pipeline established and I've discovered that if I just let the beer sit a little longer it clears itself. It sure is a lot less work.

I have a few kegs that I use a secondaries for big beers, cider, mead, etc. I like them for this due to no light or o2 exposure. I just bend the tubes rather than cutting them though so I can just straighten them if I want to use them as a serving keg.

I'll never do it, and can't advocate it, as I really don't care about sediment at all. If the first few pints are more yeasty than I want, I dump it and keep pouring till it's clear. I just don't think it's worth it as it forces you to leave something behind.