Kegging and Bottling

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MNBugeater

MNBugeater

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Im about to bottle/keg my first brew ever (India Pale Ale).

I have a Corny Keg & CO2. I have bottles. Im ready...but I have a delima and a couple quesitons.

Is it possilbe to both bottle SOME and keg the rest? I'd lke to be able to take a few over to a buddies house and even keep a bottle for posterity. Yet Im looking to keg this for a party the end of February [assuming it turns out]. :)

If I bottle 12, will there be TOO much extra room in the keg ?

Finally, I dont have a dedicated keg fridge yet. But I have two rooms in my house that stay around 63F-64F. Thats where ive been doing my secondary fermentation. I was going ot store the keg in there until its ready to be served. Will this work for storage? And finally, can I just cool down the keg a few hours prior to serving it ?

Thanks

MNBugeater
 
MNBugeater said:
Im about to bottle/keg my first brew ever (India Pale Ale).

I have a Corny Keg & CO2. I have bottles. Im ready...but I have a delima and a couple quesitons.

Is it possilbe to both bottle SOME and keg the rest? I'd lke to be able to take a few over to a buddies house and even keep a bottle for posterity. Yet Im looking to keg this for a party the end of February [assuming it turns out]. :)

If I bottle 12, will there be TOO much extra room in the keg ?

Finally, I dont have a dedicated keg fridge yet. But I have two rooms in my house that stay around 63F-64F. Thats where ive been doing my secondary fermentation. I was going ot store the keg in there until its ready to be served. Will this work for storage? And finally, can I just cool down the keg a few hours prior to serving it ?

Thanks

MNBugeater
Click to expand...
Yes, you can bottle and keg the same batch. How you do it depends on how elaborate you want to get.

Most of us who use cornies force carbonate using a CO2 tank. If you go this method with your keg, then to carbonate the bottles you'll have to find some way to prime the beer you are putting into the bottles, but not what you are putting into the keg. You can do this with carbonation "drops" or "pills". You can also wait until the keg is carbonated, then use a counterpressure bottle filler.

It really doesn't matter how much you bottle, although the emptier the keg the more gas you'll need to purge the headspace initially, so you'll go through your CO2 a bit faster.

Another thing to remember: if you don't have a dedicated cooling system (refrigerator, kegerator or chest freezer) then you have to crank up the CO2 pressure to achieve your desired carbonation level. Why? CO2 absorbs much faster, at lower pressures, in cold solution than in warm solution.
 
Put the ale in your keg along with the primer. Attach CO2 and put a little pressure (3-4 psi) on the keg. Fill bottles with party tap & cap. Put keg in cool place.
 
One last possibility is to prime your brew in the bottling bucket as usual, fill however many bottles you want then keg the rest. The keg and the bottles will naturally carbonate in the fermentation room.
You'll need to purge the O2 from the keg with CO2 and at the same time, put a little extra pressure (about 30#s) to help seal the keg. When purging the O2, drop the pressure in the keg to 10#s and let carbonate.

Good luck,
Wild
 
wild said:
One last possibility is to prime your brew in the bottling bucket as usual, fill however many bottles you want then keg the rest. The keg and the bottles will naturally carbonate in the fermentation room.
You'll need to purge the O2 from the keg with CO2 and at the same time, put a little extra pressure (about 30#s) to help seal the keg. When purging the O2, drop the pressure in the keg to 10#s and let carbonate.

Good luck,
Wild
Click to expand...


This sounds like a great option, would you mind describing how to go about purging the O2. This is done after kegging I assume, as O2 would obvioulsy get in during the process of transferring the beer to the keg.

Thanks
 
To purge the O2 off first lock the valve on top the corny keg open. Blast about 30psi into keg. During this the O2 will escape through the valve. This process works because the CO2 is heavier than O2 thus allowing the keg to fill with CO2 from the beer surface up to the valve. This only takes a few minutes. Cheers!
 
wild said:
One last possibility is to prime your brew in the bottling bucket as usual, fill however many bottles you want then keg the rest. The keg and the bottles will naturally carbonate in the fermentation room.
You'll need to purge the O2 from the keg with CO2 and at the same time, put a little extra pressure (about 30#s) to help seal the keg. When purging the O2, drop the pressure in the keg to 10#s and let carbonate.

Good luck,
Wild
Click to expand...
The reason I don't like this option is that increases the sediment in the keg. Lots of folks get into kegging to decrease sediment. It's hardly every zero, of course, but by not priming when racking into a keg there is only a tiny, tiny amount of sediment, usually just in the first glass poured.
 
MNBugeater said:
Im about to bottle/keg my first brew ever (India Pale Ale).

I have a Corny Keg & CO2. I have bottles. Im ready...but I have a delima and a couple quesitons.

Is it possilbe to both bottle SOME and keg the rest? I'd lke to be able to take a few over to a buddies house and even keep a bottle for posterity. Yet Im looking to keg this for a party the end of February [assuming it turns out]. :)

If I bottle 12, will there be TOO much extra room in the keg ?

Finally, I dont have a dedicated keg fridge yet. But I have two rooms in my house that stay around 63F-64F. Thats where ive been doing my secondary fermentation. I was going ot store the keg in there until its ready to be served. Will this work for storage? And finally, can I just cool down the keg a few hours prior to serving it ?

Thanks

MNBugeater
Click to expand...

I always bottle a few in clear corona bottles (at leat 6) and keg the rest. I like being able to see the color, clarity etc as it ages and also have a quick 6 to carry along when I leave home to get evavuations with. Although I have just aquired a bunch of 3 gallon kegs to make that easier!

If you use clear bottles keep them in a light tite box the UV rays mess with beer.
 
MNBugeater said:
This sounds like a great option, would you mind describing how to go about purging the O2. This is done after kegging I assume, as O2 would obvioulsy get in during the process of transferring the beer to the keg.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Sorry this took so long. I could have sworn I answered this post yesterday.
After your keg is clean and dry, seal it and add a few pounds of CO2 in it. (2, 3, maybe 4) Let it sit while you get the rest of your tools cleaned and your secondary racked onto your priming sugar. As mentioned, air is lighter than CO2 and will be pushed out when you pull the preassure release valve on your keg. (This is purging the O2). Now that the preassure has been released, open the keg and fill it with the rest of your beer (after you've already filled your bottles). Since you had purged the O2 from the keg, all that is in it is CO2. As you rack your beer to it, CO2 will be pushed out. When done, close keg, increase CO2 preassure to 30#s to seal keg, release preassure to 10#s and put in conditioning room to carbonate.

bikebryan said:
The reason I don't like this option is that increases the sediment in the keg.
Click to expand...
I'm not a big fan of sediment either but if you want a real ale or are trying to create a traditional brew, you'll have to put up with the first pint being yeast.

Good luck,
Wild
 
wild said:
Sorry this took so long. I could have sworn I answered this post yesterday.
After your keg is clean and dry, seal it and add a few pounds of CO2 in it. (2, 3, maybe 4) Let it sit while you get the rest of your tools cleaned and your secondary racked onto your priming sugar. As mentioned, air is lighter than CO2 and will be pushed out when you pull the preassure release valve on your keg. (This is purging the O2). Now that the preassure has been released, open the keg and fill it with the rest of your beer (after you've already filled your bottles). Since you had purged the O2 from the keg, all that is in it is CO2. As you rack your beer to it, CO2 will be pushed out. When done, close keg, increase CO2 preassure to 30#s to seal keg, release preassure to 10#s and put in conditioning room to carbonate.


I'm not a big fan of sediment either but if you want a real ale or are trying to create a traditional brew, you'll have to put up with the first pint being yeast.

Good luck,
Wild
Click to expand...
Huh? If I understand what you are saying correctly, you are saying that only naturally carbonated beer is "real?"

The beer doesn't care where the CO2 comes from, be it from priming with sugar or force carbonating. CO2 is CO2 regardless of the source...the only real difference in the keg is the amount of sediment you'll get, not in flavor or "authenticity."
 
bikebryan said:
Huh? If I understand what you are saying correctly, you are saying that only naturally carbonated beer is "real?"
Click to expand...
What I was saying is Real Ale not real beer. See CAMRA for more information on Real Ale as Cask or Bottle Conditioned.

bikebryan said:
The beer doesn't care where the CO2 comes from, be it from priming with sugar or force carbonating. CO2 is CO2 regardless of the source...the only real difference in the keg is the amount of sediment you'll get, not in flavor or "authenticity."
Click to expand...
You're right, beer doesn't care but those who are drinking it can. There is very much of a difference in beer served by CO2 (pushed) and those that are pumped from cask. The differences are found in flavor, mouth feel, head, and aroma. Stop by a pub and give a try.

Wild
 
wild said:
What I was saying is Real Ale not real beer. See CAMRA for more information on Real Ale as Cask or Bottle Conditioned.


You're right, beer doesn't care but those who are drinking it can. There is very much of a difference in beer served by CO2 (pushed) and those that are pumped from cask. The differences are found in flavor, mouth feel, head, and aroma. Stop by a pub and give a try.

Wild
Click to expand...

Wild is dead on RIGHT about the difference between a pushed beer versus a pumped cask ale. When I drank cask conditioned ales in London, I was amazed at difference. When I got home, I cracked open a bottle of homebrew and was amazed at the similarities. Don't get me wrong. I love homebrew on tap, (CO2) but it turns out, I love the naturally carbonated stuff even better. That's why, when I start kegging, I'm going to cask condition all my ales, and serve them CAMRA style.
 
Sorry to dredge up this old post, but I'm doing the same thing tomorrow...bottling a few and kegging the rest. I have 3 24oz, and 3 16oz bottles I'd like to fill with brew before kegging the rest for a party this weekend. If I were to pour DME or priming sugar into the bottles before filling them, how much should I use? A tsp? a tbsp? And which is the preferred method? Sugar, DME, or tablets (assuming my lhbs has them tomorrow)?

I will force carbonate the keg until Saturday night when I take it to the party. Since I don't have a fridge to store it in atm, I plan on putting the keg on ice in a small trashcan and shaking a few times a day, and re-icing it once/twice a day. I figure if it's in the <40 degree range, it will carbonate sufficiently at a constant 12 psi over the course of 72 hours. Am I correct in assuming this, or should I bump up to a higher psi?

BTW...this is a Munich Dunkel that spent 2 weeks in primary, and 2.5 weeks in secondary.
 
You can also use the BeerGun to bottle out of the keg... I have been reading up on the BeerGun and just bought mine yesterday... we'll see...
 

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