First Time Kegging - ?

Hey everyone... I took my wife to the store last night with me to get priming sugar so I could bottle my beer and prepare to bottle a cider around New Years Eve. Long story short, the lhbs talked her into a nice little kegging kit. It didn't matter to me, I liked bottling. So needless to say, I have questions... I have watched youtube videos and questioned the hell out of the lhbs guy. Both of which just tell me more than I need to know about cleaning it. I got that part. Maybe it is way easier than I am imagining, so I'm just hoping the experienced beer dudes and chicks of HBT can help clear some things up:

(Setup: I currently make ~5 gallon, partial mash batches. Its a 5 gallon keg, I believe from Pepsi.. with all the fittings, equipment, and co2. New Years Eve party is in a week, if I walk in with this ready to go it could potentially blow people away.)

- I have an APA ready to go... should I just rack it from FV to bottling bucket and add the priming sugar incrementally as I would when bottling, then just siphon it into the keg?

- After priming it and having it in the keg, how long would it take to be ready or is it the same time as bottling? At what temperature should this be taking place?

- I was told it is possible to take it from the FV, put it into the keg, get it cold, and shake the hell out of for ~15 min. and it would be ready... I'm never in that much of a hurry. I can wait at least a week for sure, but is that really a thing?

- Is there anything someone new to this should know about CO2? I've never used it before for anything aside from paintball. I've read a few threads about people that were confused as to what PSI to set it at and had problems.

- If all of the preparation goes well and carbs up perfectly... when do you start to chill it? If you let it carb at room temp, or in the case of our house a little below normal room temp... can I just take it to the party and ice it down, drink when cool?

I apologize for questions that are likely commonplace. This just came at the potentially perfect time to make this batch the star of the show and maybe...just maybe, excite some Miller High Life and Busch Lite fans. Thank you in advance, and Happy Holidays to all of you.

 

For cleaning and sanitizing I found great instructions in PDF format on northern brewers website.

My process for kegging is this

Crash cool my carboy for 2 days at least to 33F

Rack to keg with gelatin. (lots of threads outline this process and there is a good you tube video. I don't know the link)

Put on gas at 30psi at 39F for 36-40 hours

Burp head space and reduce to serving pressure.

Beer ready to drink

 

DO NOT prime the keg w/ sugar. You want to force carb as said above at 30 psi for 36 - 40 hours on cold beer. You can prime kegs, but it would likely take more time than you have available.

 

I completely misunderstood the lhbs guy then. I thought for sure I had to prime it, thank you. Okay so... I have almost a week before we want to drink this, should I just rack to the keg and let it sit somewhere room temp and then chill it and put it on gas 40 hours before the party?

The real issue here is that we do not have a unit or space to keep it cold. That is the reason we were talked into this because it meant we didn't have to buy a $600 kegerator or need a large amount of space for a fridge or freezer. The best I could do is put it outside, which might be TOO cold.

 

Warm beer in the keg will take longer to carbonate. How much longer I don't know. How will you serve the beer cold without a fridge to put the keg in?

 

I don't know... I guess I assumed like a keg you would buy from a store. In a bucket with ice around it? They assured me this kit was all I needed; now I'm not so sure. That's why I wanted to get the 2.5g, at least then I could've fit it in our old dorm fridge. This one is just a little too tall

 

Start chilling and carbing now...

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or chill outside / garage?

 

You CAN prime the keg naturally. Use about half the sugar you would for bottles (2.5 to 3 grams) and just like bottles it takes a couple of weeks at room temp. You need to seal the keg lid nice and tight with about 30 psi of CO2 and burp the air out of the head space, but that goes for all kegging situations.

You CAN force carb at room temp, but it takes a high psi and more time than doing so at low temps.

You CAN serve your beer from a kegging bucket of ice like you would a commercial beer. When you order a keg for a party, it's already near feeezing when you get it. If you rely on an icebucket to chill your keg at the party, you'll be drinking warm beer.

You CAN drink warm beer from the keg, but most styles will probably not be to your liking. There are a lot of dorm fridges that can hold a full size corny or two if you don't have room for a fridge or freezer, just check out the "Show us your kegerator" thread.

Welcome to the kegging lifestyle! I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

We do not have a garage yet... we need to move, honestly.. our little apartment is just too small. I do have a little rickety shed in the yard that I keep some garden tools in, I could put a blanket around it and put it out there safely. My only concern is that the next 7 day forecast - days range from ~50* to ~30* and night time ~40* to ~20*. If that fluctuation in temperature doesn't seem too horrible, that is definitely an option for me until I figure out a better alternative.

 

Thanks man... just as with everything else I have started with this hobby, I feel like I jumped too soon and was not ready. Now I feel stupid. If I had the room I would've bought a chest freezer immediately, or even an old fridge for the garage. I need to figure something out.

 

My wife just sent me a video snapchat while I'm at work of the dorm fridge we have closing with the keg inside of it! I really thought it was too small because of this stupid molded step it has taking up half of the fridge. If this truly does fit, maybe I'm not as bad off as I thought.

edit: So I had her send me a better picture. It only looks like there is about half an inch clearance from the top of the keg, and the CO2 does not fit inside with it because of that step.

 

Well... FWIW... she is letting me destroy our personal refrigerator so I can see what this kegging thing is all about. I took out all the shelves and can keep the keg and CO2 in there for a while. I tossed a thermometer in overnight and it is at 38* and I took the final gravity of my APA, its dead on ready to go. I'll watch a few more videos on how to keg and get it going.

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions. Merry xmas etc.

 

Got my APA kegged. It was much easier Than I imagined. I have it at 30 psi @38 degrees. Can't wait to try it.

 

Ok great, keep it there 36 - 40 hours, reduce to 10 psi, vent the keg to reduce it to 10 psi and give it a try. DON'T overcarb it, much easier to add a little more CO2 than remove it. OK you've been warned....

Should be pouring well by new years eve....your next challenge will be transporting the keg without jostling up the sediment on the bottom of the keg.
Someone with more experience might prefer to transfer to a clean keg to rack off any sediment that has settled in the keg bottom, that is easy to do as well....

 

There really wasn't much of anything in it after I racked and cold crashed it. I only have to take it about 15 miles highway. So to avoid over carbonation, after the 40 hrs i take it off. Release the pressure. Put back on and set to 10 psi? I'll try it then, obviously. But if it is good and I have the willpower to save it until New Years, is it ok to just leave it at 10 psi in fridge for couple days until party?

 

Yes, that's the idea....if it needs a touch more, sit at say 15 overnight and "dial" it in.

Like you said. It's simple once you have done it a time or two.

 

Thanks so much for the help. I'm so excited for this.

 

Can I have your SWMBO? Sounds like she treats you pretty well. Lucky man!

 

Haha. She is lovely. Hey I let her get away with a lot too!!

 

If you can deliver it the day before, that's better. Just the keg, no gas or tap.

What are you pouring with? A picnic tap? You still need to "balance" the system so you get a good pour. A lot of times, there is 2-3 feet of hose on the tap, and that is too short for 10psi. You need to either turn the gas way down for the party OR get a longer hose.

Look up balancing a keg system to get the right calculations, but it should be about 10-12 feet on the beer line at 10psi at 40 degrees. Again, that's a rough estimate, so google it.

And yes, if it's good when you try it, keep it at 10psi till the party.

About the fridge size, did it fit with the disconnects on? They take up a couple more inches.

 

It doesn't fit in our dorm fridge at all. Wife let me tear shelves out of ours and put it in there for now. Seeing how easy the keg thing is, if all goes well, I will definitely find a way for future brews.

It is a picnic tap and came as a kit. The hose isn't horribly long and I think our lhbs may have said try 8 psi or so to serve. Thanks for the warning. I'll likely start lower.

 

What is the down side of venting the keg then using 5 psi or less to pour? I know over time the beer would go flat but what if it's all consumed over 3-4 hours?

 

No downside short term. As your aware, long term the beer would go flat. Ideally a balanced system pours well at the proper carb pressure, so it's set and forget.

 

Ericbw's advice is spot on. I would also add that while too little beer line can give you a foamy pour that's way too fast, there's not much downside to having too much line. The pour will be slow but shouldn't cause problems, and you can always trim a foot off at a time until it's perfect. I'd start with 12 feet or so and see how that is. I think that's where I started with mine and ended up keeping them like that.

 

Pretty much everyone else has covered it (admit i didn't read everything in detail) ...

cold crash
rack to keg
force carb ... here is a force card chart that works pretty good for me ... http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php
burb ... lowerto serving psi (5-8 psi) and serve
Good Luck and Happy New Year!

 

Nope.

Cheers!

 

Ok trippr ... I'll bite ... what did I miss?

 

Ideally, the dispensing pressure maintains the desired carbonation level of the beer through the life of the keg - without resorting to recharging/purging/resetting and other dispensing gymnastics. Reducing the dispensing pressure may enable decent pours, but it will result in the beer equalizing at a lower carbonation level to match, due to the CO2 pressure versus beer temperature relationship.

But setting up a dispensing system that can handle the ideal CO2 pressure is simple - especially if you start in the right place...

Cheers!

 

This is some good stuff trippr ... will help me get better results from my system ... i've been doing the CO2 yoyo for a while now ... this explains why my kegs act different in the kegenator than in the box with a picnic tap. Thx again.

 

And like someone said, you can use low pressure for one party, and they even make little chargers that use a CO2 cartridge to serve, but long term, you need to set it correctly.

 

Could hardly sleep last night in anticipation of being able to try my first kegged beer. Fifteen minutes from now means it will have been at 30 psi for 40 hours. Going to remove co2, release pressure, put at 5 psi and try it. I really hope it works ok. The picnic tap kit came with a much smaller line than you are all mentioning.

 

It will serve just fine at 5 psi. Ideally you want a keg to sit at serving pressure permanently to maintain perfect carb levels, and allow you to balance the line length appropriately. If you're just trying it, or it will be gone in a day, 5 psi will be no problem.

 

So if you're just trying it, then turn it back up to 10 until the party.

 

I think my picnic tap was attached to a 5' line. Is that what you have?
Don't forget to burp it after you lower the pressure, like others said.

With regards to that personal fridge you have. You may be able to google the model number and see if you can frankenstein it into a kegerator. Lots of build threads on here as well. Just don't drill into lines and such and you can keep your CO2 tank outside the fridge as long as you drill a hole for the gas line to come into the fridge.

Congrats on a great purchase. The LHBS was not "wrong" per se about the kit coming with all that you need, but it would have been nice if they would have asked you where you plan to put the keg. Surely they knew that you were a first timer with kegging.

 

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First beer from keg. First beer with hops from garden. Used 6 psi and it's good. Going to turn it up to 10 for next two days until party. Although I'm half tempted to just watch football and kill that keg right now.

Refreshing quick little APA. 3 oz whole leaf nugget and some crystal. Little sweet little bitter very enjoyable low ABV. Great beer for football but hoping it will please a few bmc guys.

Yeah Hello. I think my brother and I might just tear that fridge apart and see what we can do. Ultimately id like to just get a little chest freezer tho I think.
An thanks again everyone. Quite pleased right now.

 

Congratulations on your first kegged beer. You're going to make a lot of people happy.

 

Filled a little 32 oz growler for a bmc drinking friend that won't be at the party. He said, "it's not bad at all, nice and light!" This is the feedback I get

I need to work on the actual beer now I guess. The keg is so much easier though, and I loved bottling.

 

It's amazing the feedback you get. I gave the same beer to a BMC drinking friend and to some beer drinking friends. The beer drinking fiends said it was great. The BMC drinker said "Dude, I think there is something wrong with this".
You need to educate a lot of people on what beer is.

 

BMC ???

I had a home brew friend make a cider that I thought was the best I ever had. I've tried a lot! My craft brew guru friend said I think there's something off. It had that great Belgian sour taste to it.

 

BMC: Bud, Miller-Coors