Cider kegging

Hey everyone,
I am wondering if anyone has kegged cider? I have a good understanding of force carbonation and brewing cider, I just don't know if I should condition in the keg or fermentor? I have a really good recipe for a roasted pecan and Vanilla hard cider. I don't know if leaving the cider in the keg for months will make it taste funny? Any suggestions would be great!!!

Thanks

Not to hi-jack, but I have a question as well on kegging cider. What PSI should it be set at in order to ensure a strongly carbonated (read commercial) bubble?

Kegging cider is easy, and it won't go bad in the keg. It will actually last longer, since it's protected from light and oxygen.

For a really bubbly carbonation, at 40 degrees about 20 psi will make it very bubbly. You'll probably need long serving lines to balance that pressure.

For soda, which is very highly carbed, I used 30 psi at 40 degrees with 25-30' serving lines.

Thanks Yooper. I have had a pearcider on 20psi for weeks and it just doesn't have much zip. It sure shoots out of the gun with only a few feet of line though!

tokerlund said:

Thanks Yooper. I have had a pearcider on 20psi for weeks and it just doesn't have much zip. It sure shoots out of the gun with only a few feet of line though!

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Yes, it would. With 20 psi, you need like 20' of 3/16" beverage line to get a proper pour with the proper carbonation since a short hose causes the co2 to get knocked out of solution.

Good to know. . . off to the brew store I go.

Cider101 said:

Hey everyone,
I am wondering if anyone has kegged cider? I have a good understanding of force carbonation and brewing cider, I just don't know if I should condition in the keg or fermentor? I have a really good recipe for a roasted pecan and Vanilla hard cider. I don't know if leaving the cider in the keg for months will make it taste funny? Any suggestions would be great!!!

Thanks

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I keg condition my cider, it works great. I cold-crash the primary and then transfer into a keg and force carb/age at the same time at ~38 degrees.

My kegerator setup is not currently set up for multiple pressures, so my cider ends up being less bubbly than commercial ciders, but I actually prefer it that way. I carbonate mine to the same level I do my ales.

Yooper said:

Yes, it would. With 20 psi, you need like 20' of 3/16" beverage line to get a proper pour with the proper carbonation since a short hose causes the co2 to get knocked out of solution.

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Thanks Yooper for the great info!!! Another question?

What if I force carb with 30 psi for a week or two and then condition.. Once complete ill purge the co2 and turn down the psi to 12-14 and the just treat it like a keg of beer? Do you think it will keep a good carb that way with a 5-7 foot serving hose?

Cider101 said:

What if I force carb with 30 psi for a week or two and then condition.. Once complete ill purge the co2 and turn down the psi to 12-14 and the just treat it like a keg of beer? Do you think it will keep a good carb that way with a 5-7 foot serving hose?

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Not sure why you are force carbing at 30psi and then purging/setting to 12-14 psi...eventually the cider will reach equilibrium at 12-14 in that scenario, so carbing at 30psi initially is kind of pointless. It will not retain all the carbonation you started with. You would get the same results just force carbing at 12-14, and skipping the rest.

hunter_la5 said:

Not sure why you are force carbing at 30psi and then purging/setting to 12-14 psi...eventually the cider will reach equilibrium at 12-14 in that scenario, so carbing at 30psi initially is kind of pointless. It will not retain all the carbonation you started with. You would get the same results just force carbing at 12-14, and skipping the rest.

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I guess I figured that I would treat it like a keg of bud light or miller lite? I set my psi at around 12-14 when drinking normal beer so I figured I would do the same with my cider.. I like my cider to have a good carb to it that is why i was planning in force carbing at 30?
I plan on doing this for a week or two then closing it all off with it still set to 30psi or so tell October for conditioning.

Thanks all for your input.

Cider101 said:

I guess I figured that I would treat it like a keg of bud light or miller lite? I set my psi at around 12-14 when drinking normal beer so I figured I would do the same with my cider.. I like my cider to have a good carb to it that is why i was planning in force carbing at 30?
I plan on doing this for a week or two then closing it all off with it still set to 30psi or so tell October for conditioning.

Thanks all for your input.

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30 psi will get you a well carbed cider, but if you bring the pressure back down to 12-14 for serving then it will lose carbonation until it reaches the same level of carbonation you would have achieved by just initially carbonating at 12-14. It's simple physics. The gas in your cider wants equilibrium, so it will eventually settle on what pressure you set it to. 30psi cider put under 12 psi pressure = 12 psi cider once equilibrium is reached. I guess I just don't see the point of highly carbonating a beverage only to bleed most of it off. It's best just to carbonate your beverage to the pressure you intend to serve it at.