Kegging my first batch tonight

Hey everyone,

I finally bit the bullet and bought some kegging gear. I've spent the last couple days cleaning labels of my kegs, and doing overnight soaks of each individual keg. I plan on replacing all the O-rings tonight and am going to keg my first three batches.

I know I need to purge each tank with CO2 so there is a cake in the bottom that will rise as I siphon beer into each keg. I think need to set the lid and hit it with a bit more co2 to get a nice seal. Then spray all the connections to make sure I don't have any leaks.

Anything else that I am missing about the kegging process? I'd hate to not have everything go perfect on this first attempt. =/

Thanks as always,

Jek

Sounds like you've got it down. I don't bother adding CO2 before I rack, but it can't hurt. Make sure you purge the oxygen with CO2 a couple times after you fill up the keg.

Sweet! :rockin: Hopefully I'll be joining you as a kegger fairly soon.

ohiobrewtus said:

Sweet! :rockin: Hopefully I'll be joining you as a kegger fairly soon.

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:rockin: Me too... Ordering a dual tap kegerator in the very near future and buying a couple cornies... :rockin:

Let me know when you get that Kegger up and running, Give me a call if you got any questions.

Cheers

Once everything is cleaned and the seals are replaced...you might consider hitting the keg with 15-20 pounds and checking for leaks before you fill.

If you have a poppet that is leaking, it's a lot less headache to remove, clean and replace when the keg is empty.

wop31 said:

Let me know when you get that Kegger up and running, Give me a call if you got any questions.

Cheers

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Will do man. I actually had a setback because I somehow misplaced the new o-rings that came with my kegs. I went to Butler today though and they had everything I needed and at 20% off! I actually got the o-rings cheaper then I would have online and have them today! My GF is headed off to Indy to see a friend and I'm going to keg my stout and her pumpkin wheat later today! I'll let you know how everything goes.

BierMuncher said:

Once everything is cleaned and the seals are replaced...you might consider hitting the keg with 15-20 pounds and checking for leaks before you fill.

If you have a poppet that is leaking, it's a lot less headache to remove, clean and replace when the keg is empty.

Click to expand...

Good idea! I'll hit each keg with some co2 before I fill and give it the old spray bottle soap test. See how everything goes and then keg from there! Now I just have to unload my mini-fridge of beer and toss my first keg to force carb in the chill.

Just pressurized each keg and checked for leaks on the poppets with a bit of slightly soapy water. Great advice Bier, I had one of the poppets on each keg need to be unscrewed and re-attached to achieve a good seal. Although somtimes it just involved me depressing the poppet on the in valve with my nail to reset it and achieve a solid seal.

Is it very likely that the large o-rings on top will leak? I'm a bit hesitant to soak the entire lid in soapy water. Is that the best way to check?