My first kegged beer

[celticcolorado]

I just recently bought all of the stuff to start kegging. and after patiently waiting for my beer to be ready and then to keg and carb properly (I am doing the sit and wait method). I was finally able to tap my first keg and I couldn't be more happy. It is a spiced Pumpkin Ale and absolutely delicious. Know I have to go and buy more cornys. No more bottling for me.

 

[Teaman]

Nice.
I am going to try the pumpkin ale maybe two batches down the road.
Should I just do a normal pale ale or more of an amber type??
Did you use the canned or fresh pumpkin?

 

[TomSD]

How are you chilling it? Working on a keezer yet?

One handy thing to have is a beer to beer jumper and a gas to gas jumper so you can transfer beer or sanitizer from one keg to another. Just put the full one higher than the empty one, attach the beer to beer line and hit it with enough co2 to get things moving then hook up the gas to gas and gravity will do the rest.

Having a keezer but not yet having it full I also made a transfer out of a Sankey fitting. Handy to have around but the Sankey fitting can be a bit costly for only using it rarely.

 

[McCheese352]

Congrats, I started kegging in June and couldn't be more happy with the investment in equipment. Something really satisfying about having a couple beers on-tap in your own home.

 

[celticcolorado]

Nice.
I am going to try the pumpkin ale maybe two batches down the road.
Should I just do a normal pale ale or more of an amber type??
Did you use the canned or fresh pumpkin?

I did an amber type pumpkin ale using canned organic pumpkin (all I could find at the time). It is spiced like a pumpkin pie.

 

[celticcolorado]

How are you chilling it? Working on a keezer yet?

One handy thing to have is a beer to beer jumper and a gas to gas jumper so you can transfer beer or sanitizer from one keg to another. Just put the full one higher than the empty one, attach the beer to beer line and hit it with enough co2 to get things moving then hook up the gas to gas and gravity will do the rest.

Having a keezer but not yet having it full I also made a transfer out of a Sankey fitting. Handy to have around but the Sankey fitting can be a bit costly for only using it rarely.

I will have to look into the beer to beer jumper. I am currently using a keezer but I have not built a collar or anything yet. I am just using a regular picnic type tap. Is the beer to beer jumper like a co2 manifold?

 

[celticcolorado]

Congrats, I started kegging in June and couldn't be more happy with the investment in equipment. Something really satisfying about having a couple beers on-tap in your own home.

Thanks, I know what you mean now about the satisfaction of pulling the tap. I just need to get a few going now.

 

[johnnybrew]

Hey! I just got kegs several weeks ago and kegged a Fat Tire clone just a few days ago! I am sure this is situational bias, but I think this is the best beer I have brewed yet!

 

[cruckin78]

i just got kegging stuff too...my first batch in the keg will be going in on friday. a hoppie IPA. After that thinking Dark Cherry Stout.

 

[TomSD]

I will have to look into the beer to beer jumper. I am currently using a keezer but I have not built a collar or anything yet. I am just using a regular picnic type tap. Is the beer to beer jumper like a co2 manifold?

Nah it is a piece of liquid tubing with a beer disconnect on each end and a piece of gas tubing with a gas disconnect on each end.

I have a sankey to ball lock version too that I use if I want commercial beer in my keezer. I just buy a sixth barrel and transfer it over into one of my kegs then return it the same day.

Either way they function the same. Just push some pressure into the full keg, make sure the empty keg has no pressure, put it on a counter or something above the empty keg and hook up the liquid to liquid line. The liquid will start transferring right away then you can connect the gas to gas line to keep things equalized. Walk away and leave it it will transfer everything from one keg to the other. It is slower then forcing it with CO2 but you use almost no CO2 and there is no risk of forgetting it and running your CO2 tank dry... it will stop on its own when it is done.

 

[celticcolorado]

Thanks Tom, that is a great idea.

 

[TomSD]

This is great for moving sanitizer around, which is mostly what i use it for. After I tap out a keg I give it a quick rinse then transfer starsan over from my holding keg making it my new starsan keg. The old keg, now empty, is ready to be filled.

Great if you run into a leaking keg you can't seem to seal... just move the beer over to another keg. Since it fills from the bottom you can move carbed beer without an issue. That and the occasional store bought keg, of course, but for that you need a sankey connect too.