At Home Brite/Serving Considerations

[BeardedBrews]

Has anyone on here ever tried moving to a "Fill-In-Place" system on their Keezer?

I'm doing a pressure transfer out of my fermenter now, could I cold crash, fine, and then pressure transfer right up my Perlick and down into my keg? I could switch to serving from 15G sanke which would mean I could add the next batch (of the same beer) before the keg had fully kicked, basically functioning like a brite tank system at the brewpub (in a smaller scale).

Thoughts?

On the "why" side:
1. Don't like lifting kegs
2. Reduce exposure risks post-fermentation
3. Why Not?

 

[summerofgeorge]

Interesting idea...one issue I see with adding a batch to a keg before it's empty is that you'd then have to wait for it to carb up again. I'd rather get it carbed up without tying up a tap and then just switch kegs.

 

[kwadric]

I see two risks. I'm not saying that it won't work (it probably would be fine), but there is some risk. I think that most brew pubs clean their serving tanks every batch. Also, they fill the tank through a port that is easier to clean than the tap line.

first, how clean is the Perlick tap? From the seal back down the beer line is probably clean (assuming that you clean your tap lines). But from the seal out to the room is likely not that clean. If you have to run cleaning/sanitizing solution through your draft line, did you save any work?

Second, there is usually dead yeast at the bottom of my kegs when I clean them. If the beer sits long enough, this yeast turns into a brownish black gunk that I'm not too happy about. It's fine because it settles to the bottom. But when you start pushing been in through the snake spear / corny dip tube it is likely that you'll stir up the sludge. I think cleaning a corny once a batch is easier than cleaning a sanke every three months. New Belgium empties their fodders (sour program) and cleans them occasionally because of build up of yeast sludge. Same with Cambridge Brewing and their barrels for Cerise Cassie.