Filling kegs only half way?

I'm thinking about upgrading into a kegging system because I'm tired of filling bottles. But I'm worried about portability since we don't get many visitors to our house but we do go meet people elsewhere.

So what I'm thinking is a party-pig for portability and a real keg system for the other half of my batches to keep at home. However, with the cost of 2.5 gallon kegs, it's a lot cheaper to get a 5 gallon corny keg.

So, that's a long way of getting to my question about only filling a 5 gallon keg halfway. Is there any disadvantage to doing that? Thanks.

Just did this w/ my last two batches. My brewpartner gets half of my beer, and up until now has not had corny connections for his kegerator. His cooler STB so we got him a fridge and building him one, but we still need to split a couple 5 gal batches. I did my last 2 batches this way, 2.5 gal in each. Now that we've upgraded to 10 gal batches life will be much sweeter.

You can also fill completely, then just fill a couple growlers to take on the road w/ you. I do that alot. Or get a beergun, maybe cheaper than a pig setup and give you more versatility.

^^^what he said! That's how I've been doing it for years.

I just dispense from keg into cleaned out 2 liter soda bottles - works well if the beer isn't heavily carbed. If you need more carbing you can buy one of those attachments that goes onto top of all standard 2 liter bottles and force carb it in about 3 minutes with about 50 psi and some good shaking. Then let it sit about 2 minutes, take off the "special" cap and screw on the regular cap. You can do this for several bottles, depending on how big of a party you're attending!

^^I've been meaning to try the PET thing for a couple of years now. I might just bite the bullet and do it. I did just get two quarters of commissions... HMMmm

or get a portable dispenser for $20. carb off the main CO2 tank, then take it remote with a bucket of ice and a CO2 charger/dispenser.

I keg everything and then about 1/3rd the way through consuming the keg, I bottle up a twelve pack and store it away.

The only consideration is purging the air before filling. I just connect the CO2 at 3 psi and purge the keg with the lid off just before filling. I've found that a half-full keg will have enough CO2 in it to dispense the ale without having to drag the tank to a party or club meeting.

Ingenious, a growler! Why didn't I think of that? Or a two liter PET bottle would be great too. Alrighty then. It's settled. It's a keg system for me. Huzzah!

A busted racking cane fits very nicley into the mouth of a picnic tap. Drop regulator to ~4-5 PSI, vent dispensing keg down to new dispensing PSI, pours nicely.

Just remember to cool/freeze the growler to minimize foaming. I sometimes lose a quart due to foam/overfil/stupidity each time, but it's worth a lossed pint to take a growler or two with me.

krispy d said:

^^^what he said! That's how I've been doing it for years.

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I'll 3rd the growler method. I even picked up some one gallon jugs. They're very easy to take with you :rockin:

Soulive21 said:

I'll 3rd the growler method. I even picked up some one gallon jugs. They're very easy to take with you :rockin:

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Hehehe, "gallon jugs".