Kegerator Owners - Can we talk about various processes?

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sonvolt

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So, my kegerator is up and running. I am trying to figure out how it is going to affect my whole brewing process. For instance, in the absence of bottling :ban: , I have been wondering some things about storage, conditioning, etc. I thought it might be nice to hear some of you long time keggers to let the rest of us nooobs know how you do it. I guess I am trying to get a little "best practices" discussion going here.

How do you carbonate your beer? force carb/natural?
What method of force carbing do you use?
How/where do you store your ales prior to putting them on tap?
How long do you let your beers sit in a keg prior to drinking?
Do you store them carbonated or flat?
At what temp is your kegerator set to?

Etc.
 
sonvolt said:
So, my kegerator is up and running. I am trying to figure out how it is going to affect my whole brewing process. For instance, in the absence of bottling :ban: , I have been wondering some things about storage, conditioning, etc. I thought it might be nice to hear some of you long time keggers to let the rest of us nooobs know how you do it. I guess I am trying to get a little "best practices" discussion going here.

How do you carbonate your beer? force carb/natural?
What method of force carbing do you use?
How/where do you store your ales prior to putting them on tap?
How long do you let your beers sit in a keg prior to drinking?
Do you store them carbonated or flat?
At what temp is your kegerator set to?

Etc.

How do you carbonate your beer? force carb/natural?

I hook it to the gas, set it at about 11 psi and wait a week or 2..... then its ready.

How/where do you store your ales prior to putting them on tap?

After I am done fermenting I rack it to a corny that has the dip tube cut about 1 inch shorter (my brite tank) and let it sit about a week to settle. Then I use a jumper to xfer it with CO2 to a new keg and hook up the gas for carbing.

How long do you let your beers sit in a keg prior to drinking?

This really depends on the beer but usually at least 3 weeks.

Do you store them carbonated or flat?

After I xfer from the brite tank it gets gas.

At what temp is your kegerator set to?

The freezer I carb and settle in is set to about 36F but the kegerator is at about 40F.
 
1.. I force carb.

2.. I use the shake method. PSI at 30 and shake until no more gas can go in.

3.. Ales are stored in my basement at about 64f

4.. They are stored until I can find an empty keg in my kegerator.

5.. They are stored carbonated.

6.. 38f, I like my beer cold, damn cold.
 
sonvolt said:
So, my kegerator is up and running. I am trying to figure out how it is going to affect my whole brewing process. For instance, in the absence of bottling :ban: , I have been wondering some things about storage, conditioning, etc. I thought it might be nice to hear some of you long time keggers to let the rest of us nooobs know how you do it. I guess I am trying to get a little "best practices" discussion going here.

How do you carbonate your beer? force carb/natural?
What method of force carbing do you use?
How/where do you store your ales prior to putting them on tap?
How long do you let your beers sit in a keg prior to drinking?
Do you store them carbonated or flat?
At what temp is your kegerator set to?

Etc.


I set my reg at 25 psi for 2-3 days, turn it down to serving pressure and good to go. Although I've been scolded by some here for not being "patient" enough.:p

I keep my beers in cornies until I'm ready to carb them. I put them on the gas & purge out the regular air and then I will store them for anywhere from 1-6 months. I also lager in my cornies. I store them flat, but I put enough pressure initially to seal the lid & then like I said I purge out the air so there is nothing but co2 and beer in the keg.

My kegerator is around 35-38 deg. Dunno for sure-haven't checked it in awhile.
 
1. Force
2. Regulator set to about 12 lbs.
3. Secondary (usually)
4. As long as it takes to carb up (a week)
5. Store carbed
6. Don't have a thermometer in there. It was set so low that stuff was freezing, so I changed the setting. I'd say it's below 40 still.
 
It sounds like a lot of you guys will store your ales in corny kegs off of the CO2 - just a shot to seal the cap and purge the O2 . . . right?

I want to build up a supply - so I always have beer on hand and so I don't have to brew in the winter. If I brew up say . . . 5 or 6 batches, I can rack to cornies after secondary, purge the air, and store this beer for long periods of time before connecting to the CO2 and force carbing. Does this sound about right?

I thought I read somewhere on a post a few weeks ago that ales would not "condition" correctly without the presence of CO2. So, will these longish storing periods affect the flavor of the ale?
 
Let me add another question - what are ya'll doing about drip collection? Drip trays are really expensive :( . If I buy a decent one, it will be the single most expensive item on my kegerator.

Does anyone have a good DIY project for drip collection? Well . . . besides putting a bucket on the floor beneath the taps?
 
sonvolt said:
Let me add another question - what are ya'll doing about drip collection? Drip trays are really expensive :( . If I buy a decent one, it will be the single most expensive item on my kegerator.

Does anyone have a good DIY project for drip collection? Well . . . besides putting a bucket on the floor beneath the taps?

Man this is why I love the wife. She picked up a stainless steel sponge tray for the kitchen for $5 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. When I first saw it I thought, "That tray looks just like a drip tray for a kegerator!"

Needless to say, with those drip trays costing upwards of $50-60, I'll be getting another one from BBB for my kegerator.
 
How do you carbonate your beer? force carb/natural?
Force
What method of force carbing do you use?
Place in kegger & connect to CO2.
How/where do you store your ales prior to putting them on tap?
Aging chest
How long do you let your beers sit in a keg prior to drinking?
1-30 months
Do you store them carbonated or flat?
Sealed, I apply a little CO2 to ensure the lid is set.
At what temp is your kegerator set to?
45F

Drips on the floor, hose off every brewsday.
 
Orpheus said:
Man this is why I love the wife. She picked up a stainless steel sponge tray for the kitchen for $5 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. When I first saw it I thought, "That tray looks just like a drip tray for a kegerator!"

Needless to say, with those drip trays costing upwards of $50-60, I'll be getting another one from BBB for my kegerator.


oooh! You got a link/pic of that bad boy?
 
sonvolt said:
oooh! You got a link/pic of that bad boy?

Here you go good sir. I put a beer mug beside it for good "measure." :D

driptray2.JPG
 
I almost always naturally carbonate. It makes me wait a week longer before I drink my beer, and I like the results. If I force carbonate, I use 30 psi and shake the $hit out of a chilled keg. I store everything in the closet or the guest bath with plans to store full kegs in a brew closet with temperature control. I like to wait at least a month before drinking my beer, but I've been known to start drinking it at the 2-1/2 to 3 week point. I keep everything carbonated and under pressure, though it may not always be connected to a regulator. I serve at 10-12 psi and 38 degrees.
 
I use a rubber bar mat for a drip tray. I got it from a site called www.barproducts.com for $2.45. It comes in a variety of colors too.

If you go to that website and click on the left under "bar supplies", then "bar supplies 2" they are a little ways down, called "shaker mats". Just a suggestion.
 
Check this thing out:
drippan300.jpg


Barproducts.com is selling that for $15.00. There has to be a way to attach that to my kegerator under the taps.
 
i set my regulater at 40 then shake it till it won't absorb any more gas then let it set a day and do it again...let age for a week or 2 and serve at 10 psi...i don't know if anyone else does this but i set my reg at 10 psi and and shut all my tank valves and serve beer till it looses some flow then i give it another shot when it needs it...also the 40 ponds you put in it at the beginning helps to seal the o ring on the lid..pull the pop off valve for a sec to purge out the o2..
 
sonvolt said:
How do you carbonate your beer? force carb/natural?
Both, depending on the outcome I desire combined with my current level of patience.
sonvolt said:
What method of force carbing do you use?
High pressure, low temp, shake, and repeat.

sonvolt said:
How/where do you store your ales prior to putting them on tap?
Anyplace out of harm's way.
sonvolt said:
How long do you let your beers sit in a keg prior to drinking?
Depending on the style, anywhere from 6 hours to 12 months.
sonvolt said:
Do you store them carbonated or flat?
Carbonated.
sonvolt said:
At what temp is your kegerator set to?
47°F
sonvolt said:
Let me add another question - what are ya'll doing about drip collection?
I call it a dog.

Wild
 
That's one HAPPY dog!!! I'm getting ready to jump into kegging and was suprised that hardly any of you naturally carbonate. Can you do both? I mean, if you prime it with sugar, seal it up, and then give it a shot of C02 to seal it good, then you have a little of both. Will that affect the brew? I keep seeing kegging as nothing but one big ass beer bottle. So if you prime, and then let it sit like bottles, should be no difference. The difference would come when serving of course. What about when done drinking and naturally carbed, how much CO2 would you shoot it with? Is there such thing as over carb??
 
Ol' Grog said:
I mean, if you prime it with sugar, seal it up, and then give it a shot of C02 to seal it good, then you have a little of both.

I have been kegging for quite a while, but I just recently got a keg fridge. Prior to getting the keg fridge, I naturally carbonated all of my kegs - its called cask conditioning. You should use about half of the priming sugar you would normally use to do this however.

I actually think that this method produces a more flavorful beer; however, I suspect that part of this may be due to the fact that I let my naturally conditioned kegs sit longer than my force-carbed ones, which I can't stay away from once they have CO2 in them.

There is substantially more sediment in cask conditioned ale, too. When I naturally carbonate a keg, it takes about 3-5 pints before the beer gets clear - not really an issue unless you are serving to a beer-noob who does not appreciate yeasty beverages, etc.

Recently, I have been force-carbing for two reasons. First, now that I have a kegerator, I can get the cold temps needed for force-carbing. Secondly, it is a new process that I want to learn about. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will return to cask conditioning once I start to stockpile kegs for storage, etc.
 
Mixing in priming sugar just gives you one more chance to conttaminate the beer. Force carbing a keg is the way to go.

Someone mentioned storing kegs with no CO2 pressure in them. You can do it, but your beer will not age correctly without co2 present. It will slowly age but it will take pressurizing it with co2 and aging for a couple of weeks before it is right. If you flat age it, it will have a sharp co2 bite after you force carb it.... until it ages a little more and the bite mellows.

As far as those drip trays.....make sure you raise one side a litte so the spilt beer will go toward a drain hose that you put on the bottom of it.
 
OK, good point and we are at a point that I want to discuss. First, why use half of the amount of sugar? Same amount of beer as you would use for bottling, so why the lessor amount? I can see how cask conditioning will result in more sediment, as I said earlier, this is like just making one big ass bottle of beer. All the bottled beer has a little bit of dead yeast on it eating the priming sugar.
Second, from the charts I've seen, you can force carb up to 80F or so, you just have to use more psi. In other words, no refrigerating at this point is required.
But can anyone answer my question on what happens if you prime with sugar, then what about when it's half empty and it sits for a couple of days or weeks, would you still pressure it up with CO2? Won't that make for over carbonated brew????
 
Ol' Grog said:
OK, good point and we are at a point that I want to discuss. First, why use half of the amount of sugar? Same amount of beer as you would use for bottling, so why the lessor amount? I can see how cask conditioning will result in more sediment, as I said earlier, this is like just making one big ass bottle of beer. All the bottled beer has a little bit of dead yeast on it eating the priming sugar.
Second, from the charts I've seen, you can force carb up to 80F or so, you just have to use more psi. In other words, no refrigerating at this point is required.
But can anyone answer my question on what happens if you prime with sugar, then what about when it's half empty and it sits for a couple of days or weeks, would you still pressure it up with CO2? Won't that make for over carbonated brew????


Whew....brain strain.....

Why only use half the sugar if you are priming a keg? It has to do with headspace. Per volume the bottle has more headspace therefore takes more co2 to build up pressure. The keg has less headspace and takes less.....That is a full keg has less headspace. If the keg is not full the it needs to be primed with more sugar than a bottle.

Yes you can force carb at 80 degrees by using more pressure. Charts are available everywhere. But DO NOT store kegs at 80 degrees. It is not good. It degrades the beer faster. Never store at temps over 70.

Pressure is pressure! It does not matter how much pressure is already in a keg. If you hook up a co2 tank with the regulator set on 10 lbs then it will only let 10 lbs of pressure build up in the keg. Now if the keg already has more than 10 lbs of pressure in it then nothing will leave the tank and go into the keg. I always release pressure on the keg before I hook up the tank to it.....just incase it is overcarbed.
 
dougjones31 said:
Why only use half the sugar if you are priming a keg? It has to do with headspace. Per volume the bottle has more headspace therefore takes more co2 to build up pressure. The keg has less headspace and takes less.....That is a full keg has less headspace. If the keg is not full the it needs to be primed with more sugar than a bottle.


Would you believe that this is the first satisfactory answer I have ever heard about this issue. Thanks!!!!
 
I'm looking at buying a home-made kegerator with a stand and two faucets. The guy is going to check it out for me to make sure everything works (it hasn't been used in over a year). What are some things I should pay attention to when checking it out? He only wants $150 for it and since it's dorm-fridge sized, it's a good deal in my estimation.
 
Cheesefood said:
I'm looking at buying a home-made kegerator with a stand and two faucets. The guy is going to check it out for me to make sure everything works (it hasn't been used in over a year). What are some things I should pay attention to when checking it out? He only wants $150 for it and since it's dorm-fridge sized, it's a good deal in my estimation.

At 150 you pretty much have to do it unless the inside looks and smells like a crime scene.
Other than the real obvious, here's what has the potential to tick you off in the long term:

How loud it is and how often it runs.
Does the door seal well.
What's the coldest temperature it can hold when full.

The weak link is the fridge... which can be replaced. You'll have way over 150 worth if salvageable parts if it all goes to SH**.
 
But more pressure from sugar would, at least to me, equal more CO2 dissolved in the brew. Also, most kegs have a pressure release valve. Don't get me wrong, very good answer on the priming sugar/keg thing. Makes sense, but seems like one could over condition a keg if using the same about of priming sugar for bottling.
Now on storing, I TOTALLY forgot that storing brew at that temperature is like breaking the laws of thermodynamics, you just can't do it. Guess I need to really get looking at a chest freezer here pretty fast.
 
The pressure in the keg and amount of co2 that dissolves into the brew is directly related to the pressure in the headspace, Temp, and movement of the keg. change anything and pressure changes.

You can prime a keg with sugar and overprime and get too much co2 in suspension but beer does not hold co2 in suspension without pressure. You may get 20lbs of pressure by priming with sugar, But if you burp the keg(pull the pressure relief valve), you will reduce the pressure in the headspace which will cause the beer to off-gas and reduce the overall pressure. This is the key example that I use for reasoning to other people not to prime a keg with sugar.

Why risk infection just to over or undercarb a keg? You can simply hook up a co2 tank and regulator and get exactly the carbonation and pressure that you want.

If not having a co2 tank and regulator is you reasoning for wanting to prime a keg with sugar.....then that is the one I hear most. I say go for it and buy one of those quick release prssure guages for kegs. Then prime with 1 cup of sugar and overcarb the keg. after 2 weeks then check the pressure and release the pressure down to your desired pressure and check it over the next few days and make sure the pressure does not creep back up as co2 off-gasses.

Now you have to find a way to get the beer out of the keg. Remember you do not have a co2tank or regulator. You have to buy one of those little cartridge thingys for kegs.

By the time you buy the pressure guage and the cartridge thingy.....you will have spent the same amount of money that you would spend on a used tank and regulator on ebay.
 
dougjones31 said:
The pressure in the keg and amount of co2 that dissolves into the brew is directly related to the pressure in the headspace, Temp, and movement of the keg. change anything and pressure changes.

You can prime a keg with sugar and overprime and get too much co2 in suspension but beer does not hold co2 in suspension without pressure. You may get 20lbs of pressure by priming with sugar, But if you burp the keg(pull the pressure relief valve), you will reduce the pressure in the headspace which will cause the beer to off-gas and reduce the overall pressure. This is the key example that I use for reasoning to other people not to prime a keg with sugar.

Why risk infection just to over or undercarb a keg? You can simply hook up a co2 tank and regulator and get exactly the carbonation and pressure that you want.

If not having a co2 tank and regulator is you reasoning for wanting to prime a keg with sugar.....then that is the one I hear most. I say go for it and buy one of those quick release prssure guages for kegs. Then prime with 1 cup of sugar and overcarb the keg. after 2 weeks then check the pressure and release the pressure down to your desired pressure and check it over the next few days and make sure the pressure does not creep back up as co2 off-gasses.

Now you have to find a way to get the beer out of the keg. Remember you do not have a co2tank or regulator. You have to buy one of those little cartridge thingys for kegs.

By the time you buy the pressure guage and the cartridge thingy.....you will have spent the same amount of money that you would spend on a used tank and regulator on ebay.

Actually I would imagine it would be quite common to carb a keg with sugar if you have more kegs than you have fridge space. I only plan on having 2 kegs at a time in our fridge, but I plan to have backup kegs aging in the basement. As I understand it that means I can either prime the keg with sugar, or I'd need to be a second co2 tank, regulator, lines, etc to hook up to the tanks conditioning in the basement. Since that would get pricey, I plan to just naturally carb them with corn sugar and then when I'm ready to drink them, hook them up to the gas in the fridge for dispensing.
 
Just grab a carbonation chart and figure out what temp you are going to store your kegs at. Then just hook up the one CO2 tank to the keg and pump it up with the require amount of pressure for the temp. Shake the crap out of the keg so that the beer absorbs the co2. Now store the unhooked keg until you need it.

It only takes a few mins and the co2 bottle is not tied up on that keg. I would hook the keg up at the end of week ane and week two just to make sure you have enough co2 in the beer. You might notice that the headspace pressure drops during the first week as co2 is absorbde into the beer from the pressure in the headspace.
 
dougjones31 said:
Just grab a carbonation chart and figure out what temp you are going to store your kegs at. Then just hook up the one CO2 tank to the keg and pump it up with the require amount of pressure for the temp. Shake the crap out of the keg so that the beer absorbs the co2. Now store the unhooked keg until you need it.

It only takes a few mins and the co2 bottle is not tied up on that keg. I would hook the keg up at the end of week ane and week two just to make sure you have enough co2 in the beer. You might notice that the headspace pressure drops during the first week as co2 is absorbde into the beer from the pressure in the headspace.

Ok that could work, I wasn't sure if you could just give it a shot and take it off the gas and actually have it carbonate...

I'm curious though, why would carbing it with sugar cause more sediment? All it adds to the beer is sugar, which will almost entirely be converted to alcohol and CO2, neither of which will form sediment... Does the extra sugar somehow cause yeast that is in suspension to drop out of suspension and settle to the bottom? Wouldn't the yeast settle out anyway, since they don't have any sugar to eat and nothing to do?
 
Have you ever bottled? That's what is going to happen inside the keg if you natural carb it. Just look at the keg as one big ass beer bottle. When using priming sugar, your actually giving the yeast in suspension some "food" to eat. The eat and convert that sugar to alcohol and CO2. That CO2 is what gives the brew carbonation.
 
Sugar makes yeast reproduce which forms more yeast which causes more sediment when it dies and/or drops out of suspension.

Read a little more and you will eventually grasp the whole concept.
 
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