procedures for kegging?

Let me start by saying that I'm just in the research phase of brewing. I haven't purchased a single piece of equipment yet, but don't mind spending a little more to get it right from the start.

I'm thinking that I'd rather keg beer than bottle it. I've read all the beginner guides and done some other searches for kegging information and haven't really found the answers I'm looking for, so I figured I'd ask.

I'm using the John Palmer guide for starters. What do I have to do differently to keg beer?

Also, if there are any basic steps or tips I can add to this guide right off the bad, I'd greatly appreciate the advice.

Kegging will cut out an entire day of your brewing routine. You just rack into the keg, pressurize to carbonate, then pressurize to serve. About a week after kegging, you're enjoying your brew....


Ok, disclaimer: Your beer will taste better with a week or two beyond that, but you get the idea. Kegging is a ton easier and a hell of alot sexier, when you can pull yourself a pint of draught in your own house.


Welcome to the dark side!

Wow spyk'd from the looks of your signature...you must be real thirsty...

chask31 said:

Wow spyk'd from the looks of your signature...you must be real thirsty...

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If you must know, I'm currently sneaking some cider. You see, I made a six gallon batch to accomodate the yeast sediment, to allow for testing, and to allow me to top off my five gallon secondary. What say you we do with the surplus? Why drink it I say!


But yeah, I hit a bit of a 'bump' a few weeks ago and am just now getting back on track. I brew tomorrow!

Thanks for the reply Spyk'd, I appreciate it. I'm still very green, so I hope you don't mind me asking some follow-up questions.

From what I gather, you're saying that I should go right from the carboy to the keg. Is that right? Is there a need for secondary?


I'm hoping for a little more detail on this too
"You just rack into the keg, pressurize to carbonate, then pressurize to serve. "

Can you explain how I pressurize to carbonate in detail? Do I prime right in the keg? How long? Do I leave it un-pressurized for a while before pressurizing to serve?

Then, once I pressurize to serve, I assume it's good to drink, right?

Lastly, are there options in kegging or is the korny keg about the best option for beginners?

try this link... http://www.northernbrewer.com/docs/html/corny-keg.html and this... http://www.leeners.com/kegcleaning.html and one more... http://www.leeners.com/kegginghow2.html

rdwj said:

Thanks for the reply Spyk'd, I appreciate it. I'm still very green, so I hope you don't mind me asking some follow-up questions.

From what I gather, you're saying that I should go right from the carboy to the keg. Is that right? Is there a need for secondary?


I'm hoping for a little more detail on this too
"You just rack into the keg, pressurize to carbonate, then pressurize to serve. "

Can you explain how I pressurize to carbonate in detail? Do I prime right in the keg? How long? Do I leave it un-pressurized for a while before pressurizing to serve?

Then, once I pressurize to serve, I assume it's good to drink, right?

Lastly, are there options in kegging or is the korny keg about the best option for beginners?

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No, no, no. I said to rack into the keg on bottling day (i.e. after at least 10 days in primary and two weeks in secondary). I've used a secondary since day one and think everyone should, for every batch, every time.:cross:


Here's 'Me' on carbonation. As a side note, serving pressure will change from style to style. As a general rule (very general) the darker the beer the less psi (higher temp too). Technically you can drink your beer after about 12 hours of forced carbonation, but you will be rewarded by waiting a full week (see link).


There are 5 gallon cornie kegs and there are 3 gallon. Unless you are pressed for space, I'd go with the 5 gallon; they're cheaper (yes, that's right!) and will accomodate a full 5 gallon batch, which is the norm.


Hope all this helps! Now get out there and brew!

Here are some tips for where to buy equipment.

I bought my 15# CO2 tank and my regulator from beveragefactory.com for $123.00 plus shipping
I bought my kegs at homebrewing.org they where $14/ea when I got them. I think they are a few more $ now but not much. They come uncleaned but are in really nice shape. I bought the O-ring kit from them for like $3/ea keg.

Then just hose from local hardware store and some quick connects from mcmaster.com

If you ever decide you want to bottle you can buy a filler and have the best of both worlds.

One thing with kegging is you better have an extra fridge because you can't fit it in a fridge and use it at the same time...

Excellent! Thanks guys.

Looks like I'm ready to do some shopping and get rolling. I'll let you know how it goes!

rdwj said:

Let me start by saying that I'm just in the research phase of brewing. I haven't purchased a single piece of equipment yet, but don't mind spending a little more to get it right from the start.

I'm thinking that I'd rather keg beer than bottle it. I've read all the beginner guides and done some other searches for kegging information and haven't really found the answers I'm looking for, so I figured I'd ask.

I'm using the John Palmer guide for starters. What do I have to do differently to keg beer?

Also, if there are any basic steps or tips I can add to this guide right off the bad, I'd greatly appreciate the advice.

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Sounds like you're off to a good start! I'm pretty new to homebrewing as well, and I started the same way: lots of reading, then straight to kegging. I found Papazian's "Joy of Homebrewing" and "Homebrewing for Dummies" very useful. The Dummies book is better than you might expect, and the chapter on kegging goes through all the steps in gory detail.

While kegging is much simpler than bottling, one question you have to ask yourself is where you'll keep the kegs. I have a dedicated refridgerator in the basement that'll hold several 5 gal kegs. It's great when I'm working down in the basement, but other times (such as when watching TV upstairs), it would be better to have bottles in the kitchen fridge.

Today I ended up bottling the remainder of my last batch from the keg. Using 22oz bottles, it wasn't bad at all. In fact, I got a lot of pleasure out of seeing my creation bottled!

Kegging is great, but you may find that bottling is also something you want to try. I'm pretty sure I'll do both. My next beer is a hefeweizen, and I'm thinking of going straight to bottles (ie, using sugar to carbonate in the bottle, rather than force-carbonating in the keg).

The other option that people do with keg beers is still carbonate "naturally" with DME or priming sugar instead of force carbonating. You can cask condition the beer in the keg that way.

I went straight to kegs and have not regretted it. The best book I have read so far has been John Palmer's book. I found Papazian's book too general.

edost said:

The other option that people do with keg beers is still carbonate "naturally" with DME or priming sugar instead of force carbonating. You can cask condition the beer in the keg that way.

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Do you always cask condition in the keg, or do some of both? I've done two batches, both force carbonated. I'm not sure I see any advantage to using priming sugar in a keg, but I haven't tried it. For the hefeweizen, my thinking is that by bottling with priming sugar, I'll get some yeast in each bottle. I could do the same in a keg, but the yeast would be drawn off with the first few pints.

edost said:

The best book I have read so far has been John Palmer's book. I found Papazian's book too general.

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I enjoyed reading Papazian more for inspiration, but got more practical info for a newbie from the Dummies book. My current favorite read is Dave Miller's book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882669052/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Makes me want to go all grain NOW! :rockin:

I'm looking forward to reading the new edition of Palmer's "How to Brew".

ps. my personal goal is to beat Walker-san to all-grain.

So far what I do when I'm totally out of kegged beer is put the keg in the freezer (temp controlled) with priming sugar/DME & connect the CO2 at normal serving pressure ~4PSI or so. After a week or so, it is good on carbonation. That is kind of a combo of letting the sugar do it's job but still pumping CO2 in there.

If I have a batch on tap that'll last, I just let the keg condition by itself & then I'll put it in the freezer about a week out from tapping.

nosnhojr said:

While kegging is much simpler than bottling, one question you have to ask yourself is where you'll keep the kegs. I have a dedicated refridgerator in the basement that'll hold several 5 gal kegs. It's great when I'm working down in the basement, but other times (such as when watching TV upstairs), it would be better to have bottles in the kitchen fridge.

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I have a similar set-up. I've got a beer fridge in the basement that I'm planning on using. It's pretty big, so I think it will work out fine.

Thanks for the book suggestions - I'll look into those.

edost said:

So far what I do when I'm totally out of kegged beer is put the keg in the freezer (temp controlled) with priming sugar/DME & connect the CO2 at normal serving pressure ~4PSI or so. After a week or so, it is good on carbonation. That is kind of a combo of letting the sugar do it's job but still pumping CO2 in there.

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If putting it straight into your freezer, I don't see how the residual yeast could do it's job and help carbonate. Most yeast goes inactive at fridge temperatures.

I'm getting into kegging for the first time as well, I'm 2/3's the way of converting a small keg fridge with 2 - 5 gallon kegs and a top tap. So I plan on using this thread for asking some questions that will hopefully help others. I've purchased all of my equiptment and am on the verge of brewing for the first time in several years.


When I siphin the beer from the carboy into the keg and then close it, do I want to add CO2 at this time or let the beer age 2 weeks first?

When I hook up the CO2 to the keg and open it up, I understand I want to pull on the airlock on the keg a couple times to get out the dead air and let the CO2 in. After I do this, do I want to keep the CO2 tank connected to the keg for the week or less before tapping?

And during that week, do I want to keep the keg out of the running(chilling) keg frige?

Can I include this 1 week in the aging proccess of the beer?


I use to bottle and while it can be painstaking, using a dishwasher to sanatize the bottles cuts it by more than half. It's the heat from the dishwasher that sanatizes the bottles, don't use any dishwasher soap.


I'm back into brewing! :rockin:

When I siphin the beer from the carboy into the keg and then close it, do I want to add CO2 at this time or let the beer age 2 weeks first?

You start carbonating it right away

When I hook up the CO2 to the keg and open it up, I understand I want to pull on the airlock on the keg a couple times to get out the dead air and let the CO2 in. After I do this, do I want to keep the CO2 tank connected to the keg for the week or less before tapping?

You should keep the CO2 bottle connected and turned on at all times. Make sure there's no leaks and adjust the regulator to your desired serving pressure.

And during that week, do I want to keep the keg out of the running(chilling) keg frige?

No. Let nature take it's course and at the end of the week you'll have nice cold, carbonated beer.

Can I include this 1 week in the aging proccess of the beer?

Sure.

Thanks Mikey. So now I want to age the beer in the keg for 2 weeks right? And yet I want to hook up the CO2 to it for those 2 weeks?

Mr Bigins said:

Thanks Mikey. So now I want to age the beer in the keg for 2 weeks right? And yet I want to hook up the CO2 to it for those 2 weeks?

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Right.