Are closed transfers worth the extra effort?

[doug293cz]

Why wouldn't you fill through the liquid post? that's what I do and you get virtually zero foaming.

So you would go: Keg full to the brim with star san - Liquid post to liquid post - until star san blows out the gas post of the second keg - that gas post out would be connected to the liquid post of the third keg, which begins to fill until star san blows out the gas post of that keg

You could also just place a chalk/shim under you keg so that the gas post is the high point in the keg. This would mean that the star san wouldn't flow to the next keg until all air is purged from the keg. This would also depend on the fact that your gas posts are cut short enough to allow the headspace to fill the slight dimple where the the post port is (if that makes any sense from someone 5 beers deep)..

You can't do a daisy chain that doesn't require reconfiguring the in and outs after each keg is filled with StarSan.

If you connect the gas post of the second keg to the liquid post of the third keg, then SS stops flowing to the third keg as soon as the SS level drops below the gas post in the second keg. You gotta reconfigure the ins/outs along the way. There is no way to do a hands-off daisy chain that fills each keg in turn.

Brew on

 

[TheMadKing]

You can't do a daisy chain that doesn't require reconfiguring the in and outs after each keg is filled with StarSan.

If you connect the gas post of the second keg to the liquid post of the third keg, then SS stops flowing to the third keg as soon as the SS level drops below the gas post in the second keg. You gotta reconfigure the ins/outs along the way. There is no way to do a hands-off daisy chain that fills each keg in turn.

Brew on

Yep you're 100% correct as usual.. I didn't think about the handoff of pushing liquid to pushing gas only

 

[Carolina_Matt]

For all the talk about different methods, has anyone seen a good video showing the steps? I ferment in a plastic bottling bucket, and I'd like to transfer to a keg as smoothly as possible. I've looked at plenty of Closed Transfer videos, but haven't seen one that fits the bill for me.

Right now I spray the keg with Star San, hook a tube from the spigot to the bottom of the keg, take the lid off of the bucket, take a sample for my FG reading, then open the spigot until everything is transferred. It's obviously not preventing oxygen from coming into contact with the beer.

 

[mongoose33]

For all the talk about different methods, has anyone seen a good video showing the steps? I ferment in a plastic bottling bucket, and I'd like to transfer to a keg as smoothly as possible. I've looked at plenty of Closed Transfer videos, but haven't seen one that fits the bill for me.

Right now I spray the keg with Star San, hook a tube from the spigot to the bottom of the keg, take the lid off of the bucket, take a sample for my FG reading, then open the spigot until everything is transferred. It's obviously not preventing oxygen from coming into contact with the beer.

Unclear what isn't clear from the above in this thread.

You set your bucket on a table above where the keg is. You make sure the keg is purged which, if you're simply running a tube from the spigot to the bottom of the keg--presumably with the keg lid removed--then you don't have. You have to have a closed keg that is purged.

Is your question how to purge a keg? Or is it how to transfer into the keg once purged?

If the first, look above at my post above--post #55--showing how to use bubbles to completely purge the keg.

Once you have a purged keg, connect your tube from the bucket's spigot to a black (liquid) quick disconnect. Attach that to the keg. Run another line from the white/gray (gas) disconnect back into the top of the bucket. That way you're feeding the beer into the keg, and the displaced CO2 from the keg back into the fermenter.

That can be done through the airlock hole. That way you're drawing CO2 from the keg, not air, into the fermenter as it drains.

It's really not very hard to do.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

Thanks, Mongoose. That seems simple and straighforward, and I'm sure it'll be a piece of cake once I actually do it. I'm curious about the tubing though.

My spigot fits a 5/16" tube (I think), so I would just need to move a 5/16" barb from the gas to the liquid disconnect and it will be fine. I assume you have no issues with the poppet clogging?

But what size tube do you use from the gas disconnect back into the top of the bucket? If I remove the airlock, none of my tubes fit into the grommet hole. If I keep my airlock in, the middle part of my 3-piece airlock fits a 1/2" ID tube - but that's too wide for my disconnects. Do you use 5/16" gas tube and somehow connect it to your airlock?

 

[mongoose33]

Thanks, Mongoose. That seems simple and straighforward, and I'm sure it'll be a piece of cake once I actually do it. I'm curious about the tubing though.

Sometimes you just need to do it and resolve any issues that result. What's the worst that can happen if you don't get it right? You go back to the way you were doing it.

My spigot fits a 5/16" tube (I think), so I would just need to move a 5/16" barb from the gas to the liquid disconnect and it will be fine. I assume you have no issues with the poppet clogging?

Part of the issue w/ the QD is what kind you have--barbed, or with the MFL fitting to which you attach a swivel nut? If a swivel nut, you have flexibility for what size swivel nut you use to connect your tubing.

Yeah, the MFL ones are more expensive esp if you include the swivel nut in the equation, but much easier to take apart and clean and such.

And as to the poppet clogging: not if I'm careful to clear the lines first and make sure I'm not pulling hop trub and such into the lines.

But what size tube do you use from the gas disconnect back into the top of the bucket? If I remove the airlock, none of my tubes fit into the grommet hole. If I keep my airlock in, the middle part of my 3-piece airlock fits a 1/2" ID tube - but that's too wide for my disconnects. Do you use 5/16" gas tube and somehow connect it to your airlock?

Do you have one of the cheap bottling wands? I cut a 2" section of that and pushed it through a drilled stopper and it's perfect for attaching a line to. Some of this is figuring out what you have and then adapting to it.

The first time i ever did this I had the same situation as you, i.e., no stoper and rigid tube to connect the line to. I realized if I cut off the top of an airlock, voila! My line would fit to that. It's what you see in the pic. They're cheap and it'll work.

Here's a pic showing that:

 

[Broothru]

Best way? Why, the best way is to get those fining agents in there without any oxygen being introduced.

Here's what I'm doing. Is it the best way? I don't know. Anyway, I have a Spike CF10 conical. It has a pressure manifold on the lid through which I can pull off CO2--or pressurize transfer. It's a ball-lock fitting. What I've done is concoct a way to pressure-transfer the finings through that fitting into the beer.

Here is the equipment I use to do this; the bottle was cleaned and sanitized. It'll hold 15psi of pressure or more. I have a bottle-carb fitting on it. I'll mix the finings with water as per normal, put in the bottle. Then I'll purge it a few times with CO2 (charge it, unscrew the cap a bit to vent, repeat). I'll pressurize the bottle of finings to a higher pressure than what's in the fermenter, invert the bottle as shown, and connect.

The pressure in the bottle injects the finings into the fermenter.

View attachment 615659

Could you use a largish plastic syringe and introduce that through, say, the sampling valve? I think so, provided you can seal things effectively.

I do exactly the same thing, except into Corny kegs through the 'liquid out' (black) post with a spunding valve on the 'gas in' (white/gray) post. Works like a champ. You can also "dry hop" this way by making a hop tea. I have also krausened using this technique, and it turned out to be the smoothest, most drinkable beer I had ever brewed in 25+ years of brewing. Doing what you can on the hot side to reduce oxygen exposure also goes a long way to improving your beer as well, despite what the naysayers might tell you. Don't be afraid to at least try something before rejecting it out-of-hand.

And while we're on the subject of naysayers, you'll hear some strong opinions over hop teas being 'vegetal' or 'grassy'. This can be true, but can also be prevented or at least mitigated. A hop tea made solely with tap or distilled water be underwhelming for dry hopping because water alone is insufficient to extract hop oils necessary for flavor and aroma. It will solubilize other vegetal components of the hops, however. When you dry hop traditionally, there is alcohol from the fermentation present in your beer. Alcohol acts to extract the hop oils that water alone cannot; therefore, flavor and aroma volatiles become present in the brew.

Some workarounds for this are transferring some of your kegged beer into a smaller keg (sanitized and purged) that has been primed (via the CO2 charged PET bottle method) with the hop tea. The alcohol in the beer extracts the oils and the water in the beer makes them soluble. Wait a few days. Transfer the contents of the small keg back into the serving keg. Voila! Dry hopping, oxygen free.

Alternatively, put your dry hops charge in a small jar and mix them with 2-4 oz. of neutral grain spirits (I use 100 proof vodka). After a day or two, dump this tincture, hops and all, into a French coffee press and fill it with hot/boiling water to steep. If the water temperature of the steep is greater than 180F up to 212F you will get further isomerization and can correct a beer that needs more bittering. Water temperature below 170-175F lend little to no additional bitterness but will add the flavor and aroma volatiles you want from a hop stand or dry hop charge.

I've done all of the aforementioned techniques by themselves and in conjunction with one another. They all work well and give very positive results, and accomplish it all in a low to oxygen-free environment. If you buy into what the majority of posters on this thread have stated, it can only help to make your beers better and add to its long-term stability. Give it a try and judge for yourself.

Brooo Brother

 

[Gravitysucks]

Slightly off topic and I apologize if it's already been answered and I missed it but if you are doing a completely closed loop transfer from a 10 or 15 gallon fermenter to 5 gallon kegs how do you determine how much you are putting in the kegs so you don't over fill them? All I can think of is that people must be weighing the kegs while filling since you can't actually see how much you are putting in? I've always bottled in the past but I just bought some equipment for kegging and have seen several posts about closed loop transfers lately so I was curious.

 

[doug293cz]

Slightly off topic and I apologize if it's already been answered and I missed it but if you are doing a completely closed loop transfer from a 10 or 15 gallon fermenter to 5 gallon kegs how do you determine how much you are putting in the kegs so you don't over fill them? All I can think of is that people must be weighing the kegs while filling since you can't actually see how much you are putting in? I've always bottled in the past but I just bought some equipment for kegging and have seen several posts about closed loop transfers lately so I was curious.

Yeah, weighing is probably the most accurate. Tare the keg on the scale before you start filling. 5 gal of beer will weigh 5 * 8.33 * FG lbs.

Brew on

 

[brewbama]

I fill the keg until I see beer begin coming out the gas in post. Then I hook up CO2 and draw off a pint or so until I no longer hear gurgling from the CO2 bubbling in beer. 100% CO2 in headspace.

 

[SanPancho]

I have recently started doing it as well. It's not as daunting as it first appears and it definitely keeps your beer tasting fresh for longer

A question for all you veterans, what's the best way to add fining agents without opening your fermenter or keg?

I'm trying to find a way to do it with an online syringe system (like now you would introduce medication through an IV) but they are hard to find

For kegs- Fill a syringe, push bubbles out. Pull the prv and release pressure. Connect co2 to gas post at like 1psi right as you unscrew the prv from the lid. Squirt down the hole and reseat the prv valve.

For fermenters- if you have a keg post you can do Like @mongoose33 does. But you can skip the purge and fill routine. Just use the smallest bottle you can find. (Coke has little bottles, like 150ml i think) Fill with finings, squeeze bottle until liquid reaches the top of the bottle and no air is left, then screw down carb cap. Then just Pressurize and and blow it into vessel.

and @eric19312 your problem of needing to purge multiple kegs illustrates the beauty of purging with fermentation gas. Daisy chain away. The principle doesn’t change. the only drawback is you gotta have the kegs ready when you start the ferment.

 

[eric19312]

and @eric19312 your problem of needing to purge multiple kegs illustrates the beauty of purging with fermentation gas. Daisy chain away. The principle doesn’t change. the only drawback is you gotta have the kegs ready when you start the ferment.

I like the idea of purging with fermentation gas but have a few questions.

1. Where are the kegs that are being purged physically relative to the fermentor? I don't have room for kegs in my fermentation chamber in addition to the fermentor. I'm guessing this is a technique for after migrating to conical unitank with glycol system but help me if there is way to do this I am missing.
2. Please clarify the daisy chain technique. I guess start with empty kegs, gas line from fermentor to beer out on first keg, gas in on first keg to beer out on second keg, with final gas in line submerged in water?
3. How do you assure the seal on the kegs? I don't believe corny kegs are capable of holding an airtight seal unless under pressure. Won't atmospheric O2 get back in through the questionable seal once fermentor CO2 slows down? If even one of the daisy chain kegs has a faulty seal wouldn't the whole lot be compromised? How would you even know if this had happened? I guess testing DO of beer in fermentor and after transfer to the keg but thats equipment I don't have.

 

[eric19312]

Yep on the daisy chain - sounds like you have the idea. The only word of caution there, is that your liquid will be touching your gas posts in 2/3 of your kegs. That means that if you ever have lower pressure in your gas line/regulator than in your keg, you will blow beer back into your gas system. So you need to be careful about that. As long as your conscious of it, it shouldn't be an issue.

How about putting a small shim under the keg on the beer out side during filling. This would tip the keg so the gas in post would be lower during filling than it will be during serving.

 

[SanPancho]

They dont need to physically be in the chamber, but do need to be connected. Not sure about your setup, i drilled a 1/2” hole for the tube. I use same hole to run co2 line into chamber to provide top pressure when i crash. 1-2psi keeps air from getting inside vessel.

Yes. From ferm into 1st kegs liquid, then from kegs gas post out to next kegs liquid. Repeat as needed.

Few options. On the final kegs gas post (where gas is exiting) you put a spund valve at like 2psi. Lids stay pressurized and sealed. Also helps keep krauzen down in the ferm.
Or just disconnect them when ferment starts to slow and hit them with co2 from tank to seal up tight.

In theory you could get some ingress into keg if lid wasn’t pressurized. Not sure how big an impact it would be, its not like the lid falls out or anything. Tiny, tiny, tiny gaps id think. Easy insurance? Good slather of keg lube on the oring and then once you snap lid in place, hit the lid/keg joint with more lube to seal it. (Like caulking). Done and done.

 

[BrewsnBass]

I like the question OP.

Lately I'm in a funk with multiple aspects of kegging. I believe I've got a slow leak in my system and wasted 2 bottles of gas. Still not sure where it is but I suspect I need to replace some of my poppets.

When closed transfers go well they add about 90 minutes to my packaging exercise. This comes from the time to purge 3 kegs using the push the star san method followed by the slow filling from the fermentor into those same kegs.

I have a plastic Speidel fermentor sitting in a fridge about 18" off the ground. It is too heavy to lift when full so gravity draining is not an option. I have a large ss dip tube and 1/2 ball valve on the fermentor and a gas post on the lid. I can pressurize it to about 2-3 PSI without blowing the lid. Best of days filling those 3 kegs is very slow.

Most of the time however they simply will not fill. The poppets quickly plug and your closed transfer is over. I have done the thing with taking out the poppet from the post and the plunger from the connector and that works. But now you don't have a sealed system and your closed transfer is compromised anyway.

I am playing with some alternative solutions. One I have had good luck with before is keg priming. Just do a half ass purge, fill the keg, and add some sugar. Just like bottle priming. Unlike bottle priming you can also dry hop the keg at the same time. I never had much issue with settling the yeast, pulling and dumping first 2-3 pints with this method but this year will try the clear beer draft system and see how that goes.

Second strategy I am checking out is a small metabisulfite addition at kegging time. This might be able to remove the oxygen introduced by sloppy kegging. Read about it on one of those experiments and thought I'd give it a try on current batch. Can't say for sure it helped but didn't seem to create any off flavors either and the beer is still drinking well.

Last thing that has always worked well for me is to leave keg one alone, dry hop keg 2 when I start serving keg 1, then dryhop keg 3 when I start serving keg 2. Maybe I am losing hop flavors and aromas to oxidation so just add them back.

Anyway I'd be really curious to hear from homebrewers that have done closed transfers with regular fermentors and then switched over to something like the Spike CF10. Does this make packaging day much easier? Or is it just shifting the work and aggravation around?

Also thought my keg was leaking so i installed a spunding valve and it was the taprite guage. If the yeast are still working i don't see the need to fully purge the keg. A few blasts work for me. Just keep the spund pressure low so the yeast still work. I bag the hops in the fermenter to prevent clogs.

 

[mongoose33]

I like the idea of purging with fermentation gas but have a few questions.

1. Where are the kegs that are being purged physically relative to the fermentor? I don't have room for kegs in my fermentation chamber in addition to the fermentor. I'm guessing this is a technique for after migrating to conical unitank with glycol system but help me if there is way to do this I am missing.

I used to use fermentation gas to purge kegs when I was using my Bigmouth bubbler fermenters. All you do is pull a line off the fermenter, either by attaching it to the airlock (you may need to cut the top off) or to a piece of rigid plastic through the drilled stopper. And then to a QD. I always attached my purge line to a black QD and connected it to the OUT post so the CO2 would go in at the bottom of the keg.

The rigid plastic tubing I use is from a bottling wand. I use 5/16" silicone tubing which I just happened to have lying around, and it works perfectly.

Of course, if your fermenter is in a ferm chamber, getting the gases outside the fermenter is an issue. I do this two ways depending on the ferm chamber. One is just through the front top of the small refrigerator; the other was using bulkhead shanks to pass ferm gas outside the refrigerator, and

1. Please clarify the daisy chain technique. I guess start with empty kegs, gas line from fermentor to beer out on first keg, gas in on first keg to beer out on second keg, with final gas in line submerged in water?

That's how I'd do it. Not really sure you'd have to terminate the last one in water or star san or whatever, but on the off chance a bug could get in there and screw things up, maybe. I'd probably do it more so when the CO2 stopped flowing I didn't get reverse gas mixing coming back in the last keg.

1. How do you assure the seal on the kegs? I don't believe corny kegs are capable of holding an airtight seal unless under pressure. Won't atmospheric O2 get back in through the questionable seal once fermentor CO2 slows down? If even one of the daisy chain kegs has a faulty seal wouldn't the whole lot be compromised? How would you even know if this had happened? I guess testing DO of beer in fermentor and after transfer to the keg but thats equipment I don't have.

If this were a concern, I'd seat the lids by hitting each keg with some pressure. Make sure you use keg lube on the big o-ring. One other thing you could do is put a small metal or plastic disc (think a penny or dime or similar) under the feet of the corny lid bale to add more pressure to pulling the lid tight against the seal.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

Some of this is figuring out what you have and then adapting to it.

I messed around with what I have, and I realized that the 1/2" ID tubing fits the nut in my MFL disconnect. It doesn't fit the 5/16" barb, but it fits around the flare nut. So it turns out I can just put it over the nut in the gas disconnect, then connect it to the inside portion of my 3-piece airlock. I'll give it a shot when I keg my next batch!

 

[mongoose33]

I messed around with what I have, and I realized that the 1/2" ID tubing fits the nut in my MFL disconnect. It doesn't fit the 5/16" barb, but it fits around the flare nut. So it turns out I can just put it over the nut in the gas disconnect, then connect it to the inside portion of my 3-piece airlock. I'll give it a shot when I keg my next batch!

It'll work.

 

[odie]

If you have fermented your beer fully, then transfer, the yeast is no longer active and eating up oxygen (from what I understand anyway). One of the solutions to this is to transfer while the yeast is still working (i.e. still fermenting).

What about priming the keg if your beer has fermented fully? You are going to get some yeast into the keg anyway. Priming sugar would allow the yeast to reactivate an consume any oxygen that is not purged?

 

[Carolina_Matt]

It'll work.

I gave it a shot and it seemed to work pretty well, although I did make a couple mistakes. Live and learn.

When I pumped Star San out of the keg, I somehow thought that CO2 should start from the bottom so I connected it to the beer-out disconnect. After about 10 minutes (and probably a ton of wasted CO2), I turned it off. There was barely any liquid in the bucket, and tons of bubbles. Then I did it the right way (CO2 in the gas disconnect, Star San out of the liquid disconnect) and it came pouring out pretty quickly.

When I kegged the beer, I found out that there's a tiny hole in the front of the spigot. As soon as I turned the spigot, a thin stream of beer went flying out of the hole, across my kitchen, and onto my refrigerator. I guess a lot of pressure was building up, and it led to a squirt.

I also wonder about the oxygen in the tube from the spigot to the keg. I initially opened up the spigot and tried to fill the tube with beer, before hooking it up to the keg. But I guess physics didn't like that idea, so I saw an air bubble flowing up the tube and into the spigot. I introduced some oxygen to the beer before it even touched the keg.

Overall it seemed to work well. If I looked at the keg at the proper angle, I was able to see a condensation line going up the keg and that let me know how much it filled up. I rarely have enough beer to overflow a keg, but the condensation line would help prevent that from happening if I wound up with a little extra in the fermentation bucket.

 

[mongoose33]

I gave it a shot and it seemed to work pretty well, although I did make a couple mistakes. Live and learn.

You've moved yourself far along. Now you have an experience base from which to make future adjustments.

I also wonder about the oxygen in the tube from the spigot to the keg. I initially opened up the spigot and tried to fill the tube with beer, before hooking it up to the keg. But I guess physics didn't like that idea, so I saw an air bubble flowing up the tube and into the spigot. I introduced some oxygen to the beer before it even touched the keg.

Yep. So the question is, how are you going to address that? One way is to allow the tube to fill with beer and vacate the tube of o2. Or you could try this:

After I purge my kegs there typically is a little CO2 pressure remaining. What you can do is hook up the QD to the gas side before you connect the tube to the spigot, and let that residual CO2 purge that tube, then as it gets to almost no pressure, direct that into the spigot without connecting, and then when it's essentially done, connect to the spigot. Voila! Purged lines. I favor this approach when transferring from a spigot.

When I pull beer out of my conical, I'll attach the line to the fermenter then use a jumper that opens up the QD that attaches to the liquid OUT post, and let the beer flush air out of the tubing. I use the butterfly valve to shut it off, remove the jumper, attach to the keg post, and go.

Overall it seemed to work well. If I looked at the keg at the proper angle, I was able to see a condensation line going up the keg and that let me know how much it filled up. I rarely have enough beer to overflow a keg, but the condensation line would help prevent that from happening if I wound up with a little extra in the fermentation bucket.

This is one reason why I like to crash my beer before packaging. I'll almost always get a condensation line on the keg as it fills, so easy to monitor progress.

The only downside to that I've found is when my garage, during the winter, is too cold and dry. I've finessed that a bit by boiling a half-liter of water in a beaker and letting the steam from it condense on the side of the keg. Works fairly well though not perfectly well. In the future I've decided I should warm the side of the keg with a heat gun so the line is more pronounced. Once or twice I've lost enough focus to have the beer come out through the spunding valve. Then I have to disassemble that and clean it.

I've tried the "weigh the keg as you fill it" approach but that's failed every time for me. Usually the scale turns off before the keg is full, and there you are. There are ways around that but I've found them futzy. The condensation line is better for me.

 

[Jako]

I just did my first closed transfer and It helped my 2nd NEIPA Immensly. However, I'll give you some tips. Be sure to remove the poppet valve on the out of your keg post and also the "insides" of the ball lock disconnect. I had issues with hop matter clogging and the transfer taking too long. I fill the keg with starsan, push it out with co2, pressure release, and continue on.

Are you dropping the cone? i had the same issue. but i never removed the poppet valve. no sense in a pressure transfer if you are going to let oxygen get in trying to replace the valve.

i give my beers extra time and brew a higher volume so i can drop more out of the fermenter. i also lift my fermenter onto the counter top and do a combo of gravity and pressure transfer it takes no time at all now.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

I have one follow-up question about closed transfers. How do you know if your beer happens to be infected?

I ferment in a bottling bucket, so I don't actually see the beer without removing the lid. Then when I close transfer to a keg, I only see the beer as it flows from the spigot to the gas-in disconnect. If it's infected, would it look noticeably different as it flows through the tubing?

If not, would it look/taste different when I serve it from my kegerator?

 

[LittleRiver]

...How do you know if your beer happens to be infected? I ferment in a bottling bucket, so I don't actually see the beer without removing the lid....would it look/taste different when I serve it...

The good news is that if you follow good sanitation practices the chance of infection is low. The bad news is that you could keg and serve an infected batch, and not know it until you tasted something not quite right.

That's one of the reasons I like clear fermenters. I also like to see that fermentation has kicked off normally, and I like to know when the krausen has dropped so I can bump up the temp a few degrees.

 

[eric19312]

You could try dry hopping using a mesh bag, or put a filter on the end of your racking cane. I've never experienced a clogged poppet before but it sounds like something that should be avoided at all costs.

This did the trick. No clogged poppet relatively uneventful closed transfer kegging operation. I had to open the top of my fermentor completely to get the hop sack in there but did it quickly with a few gravity points left and think the beer came out great so not too worried about oxidation.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Closed transfers helped my heavily hopped IPAs a lot. Much brighter and more aromatic. I absolutely despise my auto-siphon and will hopefully never use that thing again.

 

[Jag75]

This is why I use bags to dry hop. I only dry hop for 5 days max . I'm not convinced that all the hops will drop to the bottom . Imo it's easier to bag em and weigh em down , open the top and place it in easily not just dropping from above and then purge with co2 . I've never tasted a beer and thought wow these hops are so muddled when dry hopped in a bag or basket .

And yes closed transfers are the way to go 100%

 

[Genuine]

I just did my 2nd closed transfer ever on an NEIPA I kegged over the weekend. Every other style I’ve kegged with the lid off like normal and it’s been fine. It’s carbing and will be ready to have by tomorrow night.

 

[augiedoggy]

disregard.. should have read the whole thread before commenting.

 

[shoengine]

Proper purging and closed transfers have made a huge difference in my beers. Before, my beers were fine as long as they were served cold directly from the keg. But if I counterpressure bottled that beer and set it to competition, it always showed signs of oxidation. I no longer have that problem.

Filling the keg with sanitizer and pushing it out with CO2 is the ONLY way to purge a keg effectively. I've also installed a gas-in fitting on my fermenter so that I can push the beer out of it without introducing air into the fermenter headspace. Very worthwhile changes to my process...in my opinion.

The questions I always have about this process are, where do you keep the starsan between purging and do you pH test it before fills to make sure it is within the acceptable sanitizing range?