StewMakesBrew
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A friend of mine that I'm mentoring in the fine art of brewing is new to kegging his beer, and asked me for the procedure to keg a batch. He said "Wow, this is so simple and easy to understand, you should post on Homebrewtalk or something.
So ... here you go.
How to keg a 5 gallon batch of beer into a Corny keg.
Getting started:
1) Make sure it's clean - if unsure, add 2T PBW to keg, fill with warm water, close and shake, including inverting it (helps to fill the dip tube). Let soak for 30 mins, then release pressure (yes), open and dump. Rinse well with fresh water, then add about 2 cups of fresh StarSan solution (not the concentrate!) and gently roll around to cover all sides and dump. Note this is not a "full breakdown" procedure that you should use after emptying a keg, but just if you can't remember when it was last cleaned.
2) Purge air from the keg: close up the keg, attach to your C02 line and pressurize with C02 for 10-20 sec at your standard kegerator dispensing pressure. Shut off gas, and open release valve. Repeat 3 more times.
Filling the keg:
3) Filling - Remove your airlock from your fermenter, attach transfer tube. Place keg below it for gravity flow, then remove top from keg, run the transfer tube down inside (you did sterilize it with Star San didn't you???), and open spigot of your fermenter - let drain into keg, being sure to stop when you're about 2 1/2" of headspace (reach in and make sure the gas diptube (the short one under the gas post) isn't in the beer).
4) Finishing: Close up keg well, then repeat purge procedure from step 2. After first hit of C02, listen carefully around lid for any leaks or hissing - when in doubt, check with soapy water. Then purge 3x more times, after last time, leave the C02 in the keg.
At this point you're ready to store the keg warm or cold, or start force-carbing your beer, or attaching to your kegerator's C02 for "set and forget" carbonation.
Hope this is helpful.
So ... here you go.
How to keg a 5 gallon batch of beer into a Corny keg.
Getting started:
1) Make sure it's clean - if unsure, add 2T PBW to keg, fill with warm water, close and shake, including inverting it (helps to fill the dip tube). Let soak for 30 mins, then release pressure (yes), open and dump. Rinse well with fresh water, then add about 2 cups of fresh StarSan solution (not the concentrate!) and gently roll around to cover all sides and dump. Note this is not a "full breakdown" procedure that you should use after emptying a keg, but just if you can't remember when it was last cleaned.
2) Purge air from the keg: close up the keg, attach to your C02 line and pressurize with C02 for 10-20 sec at your standard kegerator dispensing pressure. Shut off gas, and open release valve. Repeat 3 more times.
Filling the keg:
3) Filling - Remove your airlock from your fermenter, attach transfer tube. Place keg below it for gravity flow, then remove top from keg, run the transfer tube down inside (you did sterilize it with Star San didn't you???), and open spigot of your fermenter - let drain into keg, being sure to stop when you're about 2 1/2" of headspace (reach in and make sure the gas diptube (the short one under the gas post) isn't in the beer).
4) Finishing: Close up keg well, then repeat purge procedure from step 2. After first hit of C02, listen carefully around lid for any leaks or hissing - when in doubt, check with soapy water. Then purge 3x more times, after last time, leave the C02 in the keg.
At this point you're ready to store the keg warm or cold, or start force-carbing your beer, or attaching to your kegerator's C02 for "set and forget" carbonation.
Hope this is helpful.