Getting ready to keg - A little overwhelmed

[conebone69]

Hey guys, my previous 4 batches have been bottled but that quickly became annoying so now I'm making the switch to kegging. My keg + accessories came yesterday, my beer is ready to be transferred, but I feel a bit overwhelmed.

Some questions I have:

1.) Do I need to cold crash my beer (still in fermenter) before I transfer to the keg? How long do I need to do this? I think I understand the benefits of this... dropping the remaining yeast cells and other particles to the bottom, resulting in clearer beer... but is it necessary? Do you do it too?

2.) I have read people putting priming sugar in the keg? Why? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of kegging?

3.) Carbonation. How do I go about doing this? Seems confusing, but probably isn't (need guidance!) I don't want to wait 2-3 weeks for it to be ready. I have read people forcing 30 psi on it for a day then setting it back to serving psi (5?) for the remaining days? How long would this take to be ready?

I found this chart... http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

If I stuck my keg in the fridge for carbonation at 40 degrees I would then set it at 10 psi... but what does the 2.34 mean?

4.) I have read that you should purge the oxygen out of the keg after you siphon your beer. Do you agree? How should I do this?

Thanks for the help, it's really appreciated!

 

[Conan]

Simpler than it sounds, really- here's my method, as adapted to your questions:

1) Nope. I set my bucket on a chair, keg on the floor, and siphon. I'm kinda careful to not stir up trub, but to be honest anything that settles into the bottom of the keg is sucked out in the first pint or so. Be about as careful as when you moved it to the bottling bucket.

2) Sugar= natural carbing, which I don't do. Half the reason I keg is to drink a carbonated, if still young, beer in a shorter time than bottling. And I don't have to guess at sugar amounts. Too flat? Hit it with more gas. Too foamy? Dial it back 1-2 psi. No worries. Oooo, and I like being 'the man in charge of the dials', so force-carbing is also fun.

3) I have a 2-outlet manifold on my kegerator for CO2. After the keg's full, I turn off the gas to my currently served keg. I guess I also turn off the gas (both at the manifold at this time) to the keg I'm about to carb. Hook up the In and Out lines to the fresh keg. Crank up regulator pressure to 30. Open valve on manifold which leads to fresh keg. Let pressure build within keg. Dial back regulator to serving (12-14 for me) pressure. Open older keg's gas valve at the manifold. Now I've got 12-14 psi going to both kegs. Let the fresh one set a few days, then repeat the process. Ready to drink in less than a week- usually only about 5 days.
2.34 is how foamy, sorta, the beer will be. Personally I don't put stock in the numbers or formulas. Like I said above, I adjust on the fly based on the last pour.

4) I don't like wasting CO2 so no- I don't purge. Probably should, to be honest, but I figure it's cold, alcoholy, and CO2-y in there, and bacteria don't like any of those conditions. Haven't had an issue yet.

Happy kegging! Kyle

 

[PVH]

1.) If the beer is already clear in the fermenter, just keg. Also, you can just keg and pour off the first pint or so. Clear beer from there.

2.) You can still get clear beer (see #1 above) by pouring off the first pint, but yeah, if I want clearer beer, I force carb. But - natural carbing is great if kegerator space is an issue.

3.) Lots of opinions on this. Whatever you do, balance your system so that your "serving psi" is the same as the psi needed to keep your beer carbed to the level you desire.

The 2.34 is the volumes of CO2 - a measure of level of carbonation.

4.) Yes. Hit the keg with about 20psi after racking. Release CO2 in the headspace. Repeat. Hit with 20 psi to seal the keg. Set at desired pressure and wait.

 

[cimirie]

1 As far as cold crashing prior to kegging, it's not necessary to do, but it won't hurt. You have to have beer cold before you can force carb it (warm beer doesn't absorb and hold co2), so you'll either crash it in your fermentor or your corney. Advantage of using the fermentor is you eliminate some addition particulate.

2 I don't sugar prime my kegs, but it really comes down to personal preference. Many who have quite a pipeline and extra kegs need to use this method because they just don't have the space on gas. Others just feel they have better control of their process. You choose.

3 how to carb? Officially, the best method would be to attach you gas line to the "in" peg, set the gas for serving pressure, and let it sit for a week. All this after chilling your beer overnight to serving temp.

Many people (I have been know to do this) would rather not wait. It is possible to hook the gas line to the "out" peg (which follows a tube to the bottom of the keg) an turn on the gas to 30 psi for a few minutes while shaking the keg gently. The advantage to this method is how quick you can carb a keg. This disadvantage is how little control you have over carbing levels. Couple that with the fact that if you havent taken the proper time to bulk age your beer, you will likely end up with a very green product.

4 I have always purged a keg of air BEFORE filling it with beer. I have a gas line that is dedicated for this. I simply drop the line into the keg and turn on the gas. C02 is heavier than air so it will fill the keg in a similar manner to water - from the bottom up. Once you pour beer inside, the co2 will be pushed out which will push put all of the remaining air.

Hope these answered your questions.

 

[Yooper]

Don't be overwhelmed! It seems like a lot of "stuff" and I was very anxious and worried when I first starting kegging. I'm a very non-mechanical woman, so I was intimidated by all these guys talking about equipment, regulators, T fittings, and God knows what else. But it's so easy that even I can do it! Really. It's very simple, and pouring your own draft homebrew is so wonderful it's amazing! And if you have the patience to bottle homebrew, you have the ability to keg!

1. No. I use the fermenter as intended, and at about week 2 simply rack to the keg.

2. Defeat the purpose of kegging? No, as the purpose of kegging doesn't depend on the method of carbonation. You can force carb with a co2 tank or you can carb naturally. Either is fine, depending on your system and when your beer is ready to go in the kegerator. If your beer will be sitting at room temperature for 2-3 weeks anyway, it's common to prime the keg so that it's carbed up when there is room in the kegerator.

3. You have several choices, but shaking the keg has always only caused problems for me. I've done two things, with good results. One, if I'm in a hurry is to keg the beer, give it a couple of shots of co2 to make sure the lid is sealed and then set the regulator at 30 psi for 36 hours. After 36 hours, purge, and reset to 12 psi. The beer is ready in about 48 hours, but improves in carbonation and smoothness for another few days. The other is to keg it, give it a couple of shots of co2 to purge and seat the lid, and then set it in the kegerator at 12 psi. It's carbed up perfectly in 7-14 days, usually about 10 days.
Setting it at 10 psi... and having 2.34 volumes of co2 would be the "volumes of co2" your beer has. That's a decent carb level. I prefer a little higher for most American ales, so mine is at 12 psi at 40 degrees.

4. Absolutely. Give it a big blast of co2. Pull the pressure relief valve. Do it again. Then give it another blast and spray star-san mixture around the connections/lid to make sure it's not leaking.

 

[conebone69]

Should I transfer my beer to the keg, put it in the fridge over night, and the next day put it on gas?

Or could I transfer to the keg and immediately put it on gas (warm beer), then put it in the fridge.

 

[Yooper]

Should I transfer my beer to the keg, put it in the fridge over night, and the next day put it on gas?

Or could I transfer to the keg and immediately put it on gas (warm beer), then put it in the fridge.

I always set my keg in the kegerator, on the gas, with the beer at room temperature. It chills overnight, and works just fine.

 

[conebone69]

3. You have several choices, but shaking the keg has always only caused problems for me. I've done two things, with good results. One, if I'm in a hurry is to keg the beer, give it a couple of shots of co2 to make sure the lid is sealed and then set the regulator at 30 psi for 36 hours. After 36 hours, purge, and reset to 12 psi. The beer is ready in about 48 hours, but improves in carbonation and smoothness for another few days. The other is to keg it, give it a couple of shots of co2 to purge and seat the lid, and then set it in the kegerator at 12 psi. It's carbed up perfectly in 7-14 days, usually about 10 days.
Setting it at 10 psi... and having 2.34 volumes of co2 would be the "volumes of co2" your beer has. That's a decent carb level. I prefer a little higher for most American ales, so mine is at 12 psi at 40 degrees.

Sorry for a dumb question but when you say to purge it, do you mean to release all of the co2 (hissing noise) from the keg? Or only some or half.

And when you reset to 12 psi, is that also your serving pressure?

 

[Yooper]

Sorry for a dumb question but when you say to purge it, do you mean to release all of the co2 (hissing noise) from the keg? Or only some or half.

And when you reset to 12 psi, is that also your serving pressure?

I purge it all (otherwise you'd have no idea how much is in there!) and then reset to 12 psi. And yes, every keg in my kegerator is always at 12 psi unless I change it for a specific reason.

To me, there is no such thing as "serving pressure", as to have a balanced system you don't want to be having the pressure go up and down. The only time I change it is when I really want to hurry up a beer like I described (not often). Just think what a pain it would be to adjust the pressure up or down each time you wanted to pour a beer. I only have 5 kegs in my kegerator, but still, I wouldn't want to be turning off the co2, reducing the pressure, turning it back up to keep it carbed up, then reducing it to have a different beer!

Make sure you have long enough lines (8-10 feet generally) so you don't have to worry about foaming.

 

[dblott1]

i have a two regulator system. one at 5 psi and one at 30 psi. i leave the beer in the primary for 1 week, then transfer to a keg for 1 week in my kegerator (as a secondary to clear the beer and mature it) the transfer it to another keg and hook it up to the 30 psi line for 1 1/2 days. by then the carb level is good and i can release the pressure and hook it up to the 5psi line to serve. and yes always fill ur cornys with co2 and purge (hissing) untill all the regular air is gone.

 

[Changeduser123]

i have a two regulator system. one at 5 psi and one at 30 psi. i leave the beer in the primary for 1 week, then transfer to a keg for 1 week in my kegerator (as a secondary to clear the beer and mature it) the transfer it to another keg and hook it up to the 30 psi line for 1 1/2 days. by then the carb level is good and i can release the pressure and hook it up to the 5psi line to serve. and yes always fill ur cornys with co2 and purge (hissing) untill all the regular air is gone.

This is not a good example to give to people starting kegging. Unless you drink your beer in a week, 5psi will not hold the carbonation at a regular level. Yes it works for you, but this is misinformation for most.

 

[Hoppus_Poppatopolis]

I like to set my fermenter on a shelf at siphoning height a few days before racking it into the keg. That way it re-settles. I figure the less sludge sucked into the keg, the better.
I then put the keg in the fridge and set the gas to serving pressure. About a week to 10 days later it's ready. Why hurry? I find that it improves with time and the best pint from the keg is the last one.