Any advice on taking kegs on the go.

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zanemoseley

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I've been kegging for a while but they usually just sit in the fridge until fully consumed. This Sunday I took a 1/2 full keg of Ed's Haus Pale Ale to a friends house for a football game and the beer didn't clear until half time. I racked the beer straight from the primary to the keg and it had been in there for about 3 weeks but the car ride stirred it up. Are there any tricks to taking kegs places aside from trying to get there 1-2 hours before its tapped?
 
Even with primary only there is no reason to get sediment into the keg. I would suggest possibly leaving more of the beer behind in the primary to avoid dipping into the yeast/trub. I have scaled all of my recipes up to 6 gallons to avoid this. I leave half a gallon in the kettle along with the hops and junk and then when I rack to keg I leave half a gallon in the primary to prevent any more junk going into the keg. The marginal expense for the extra grain is worth it to have clear beer.

When I keg I tend to leave it for a week before I start pouring. What little residual gunk is in there usually comes out in the first pint or so. I think instead of worrying about letting kegs settle at a party I would focus more on not getting so much trub into the keg. That should help!
 
I'm pretty lazy for the most part, so I'm all about doing things the easy way. Even if you let the beer sit for a long time, you'll still get sediment in the keg. As you've found, it'll settle and you can pour clear beer, but if you move it, it'll be cloudy again. Even moving it in the kegerator stirs it up.

So, I found a super easy way to take beer to go in a keg! I bought two black quick disconnects (both for the "out" side) and about 3 feet of beerline. Put those together to make a beer line jumper cable.

My procedure is this: Make sure the first keg hasn't moved and is pouring clear beer. Sanitize a second cleaned keg, and then put some co2 in it.Turn off the gas to the first keg. Hook up the "jumper cable" to the first keg and pull the pressure relief vavle on the second keg. Hook the second black QD from the jumper cable to the "out" line of that second keg. Turn on the gas to the first keg, and pull the pressure relief valve on the second keg and the beer will flow. Keep pulling the pressure relief valve on the receiving keg so it will keep flowing.

This keg will have very little yeast still in suspension, and will pour clear after you move it. Those steps I typed up seem complicated, but this literally takes a minute to do once the jumper is made. I just sanitize the jumper line when I sanitize the keg, and I keep it on hand.
 
zanemoseley said:
Great idea Yooper, I could even keep a sanitized keg ready to go for such an occasion.
Click to expand...

Sure you could. And to sanitize the "jumper", you can just unscrew the disconnects and keep them apart and sanitize right before using. I don't know if you knew it (and forgive me if I'm telling you something you already know) but you can use a flat-head screwdriver to take apart the QDs. There are some small parts, so do this over a table not over the sink. (don't ask! :eek:) Anyway, there is a "pin", a spring, and a little gasket inside that QD. If you remove them from each QD, and keep them in a baggy, you can simply sanitize those parts in a little bowl and pour sanitizer through the "jumper" and put it together super quick. So, about a 10 minute job total from start to finish, and a clear keg of beer to transport.

It's kind of like a filtering set up without a filter in the middle, I guess.
 
YooperBrew said:
I'm pretty lazy for the most part, so I'm all about doing things the easy way. Even if you let the beer sit for a long time, you'll still get sediment in the keg. As you've found, it'll settle and you can pour clear beer, but if you move it, it'll be cloudy again. Even moving it in the kegerator stirs it up.

So, I found a super easy way to take beer to go in a keg! I bought two black quick disconnects (both for the "out" side) and about 3 feet of beerline. Put those together to make a beer line jumper cable.

My procedure is this: Make sure the first keg hasn't moved and is pouring clear beer. Sanitize a second cleaned keg, and then put some co2 in it.Turn off the gas to the first keg. Hook up the "jumper cable" to the first keg and pull the pressure relief vavle on the second keg. Hook the second black QD from the jumper cable to the "out" line of that second keg. Turn on the gas to the first keg, and pull the pressure relief valve on the second keg and the beer will flow. Keep pulling the pressure relief valve on the receiving keg so it will keep flowing.

This keg will have very little yeast still in suspension, and will pour clear after you move it. Those steps I typed up seem complicated, but this literally takes a minute to do once the jumper is made. I just sanitize the jumper line when I sanitize the keg, and I keep it on hand.
Click to expand...

That's brilliant!
 

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