Can you transport kegs of lager?

[Flipadelphia]

Evening all, I have a question about a beer I'd like to bring to a Christmas party in early December.

I have a Munich Dunkel lagering in a keg now for about 3 1/2 weeks. I pulled a sample tonight and it tastes great. I'd like to serve this keg in a cooler full of ice at a Christmas party in 5 weeks. I'd have to transport the keg about 8 miles in my car, where it will definitely slosh at least a little.

My question is, is there ever a good way to transport a keg that has been lagering for weeks? Isn't the point of lagering to clear/age the beer, or for a dunkel clarity isn't important anyway, so my lagering is merely for aging purposes? Is transporting lager in a keg ruining the entire point of lagering in the first place, literally upon the first bump you hit in the road?

Thanks, a little confused here.

 

[mlakota]

You could pour out the first pint or two to clear any sediment before taking it. Assuming you've done that, give it an hour to settle at the party and you won't notice a difference. I've done this several times and never had a problem with clarity.

 

[highgravitybacon]

Evening all, I have a question about a beer I'd like to bring to a Christmas party in early December.

I have a Munich Dunkel lagering in a keg now for about 3 1/2 weeks. I pulled a sample tonight and it tastes great. I'd like to serve this keg in a cooler full of ice at a Christmas party in 5 weeks. I'd have to transport the keg about 8 miles in my car, where it will definitely slosh at least a little.

My question is, is there ever a good way to transport a keg that has been lagering for weeks? Isn't the point of lagering to clear/age the beer, or for a dunkel clarity isn't important anyway, so my lagering is merely for aging purposes? Is transporting lager in a keg ruining the entire point of lagering in the first place, literally upon the first bump you hit in the road?

Thanks, a little confused here.

Unless you are going by rickshaw over cobblestone roads, in the fog and at night, you'll be fine.

 

[doc5md]

If I'm taking a keg somewhere, I will jumper the keg to another keg- pump the beer from one to the other. This leaves the sediment in the original keg and clear beer in the new keg for the journey.

 

[wilserbrewer]

If I'm taking a keg somewhere, I will jumper the keg to another keg- pump the beer from one to the other. This leaves the sediment in the original keg and clear beer in the new keg for the journey.

Yes, the above is what I like to do as well. I have found that moving kegs with sediment in the bottom results in cloudy beer that will take at least a few days to clear again. If you have a couple picnic taps, they can easily be connected with a piece of CO2 line...open both and reduce pressure in the receiving keg and the beer will flow from one keg to the other.

 

[billl]

The last 2 times I moved a keg:

1) 5 hour trip up mountain roads = cloudy beer even after several hours

2) 5 minutes trip down city streets = clear but a little foamy to start

I wish I would have thought of transferring kegs to make sure 100% of the sediment was gone before transporting.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I wish I would have thought of transferring kegs to make sure 100% of the sediment was gone before transporting.

Yes, my experience exactly. The first time transported a nice clear keg 30 miles with the last several miles on bumpy rough gravel roads resulted in mud beer at my destination.

It likely has a lot to do with how much agitation, and how much and what type of yeast is in the bottom of the keg. Some yeast packs well in the bottom of a keg, while other yeast wants to swirl back into the beer if you so much as look at the keg the wrong way.

The only way to be sure is a clean keg IME.

 

[kombat]

If I'm taking a keg somewhere, I will jumper the keg to another keg- pump the beer from one to the other. This leaves the sediment in the original keg and clear beer in the new keg for the journey.

This is what I would do. If you're worried about jostling up sediment back into solution, forget about "the first bump in the road" - the damage will be done just lifting it out of your keezer. It takes almost no movement at all to stir yeast back up, and it'll take painfully long for them to settle back down.

I'd leave the original keg exactly where it is, and jumper the beer into a clean, sanitized keg purged with CO2. That will ensure there's nothing in the new keg to be stirred up, no matter how much shaking occurs, so all you'll have is crystal clear beer.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I have transported 4 kegs in the last few months, including 3 to my wedding earlier this month. I had a fridge there, but put them in the fridge at 10:00am on the day before the wedding, serving at 5:00pm. First few pulls of them I dumped out, and the rest was fine.

The keg I transported before that only had about 8 hours to rest in an ice bath. And it was good after the first few pints.

 

[kickflip_mj]

Strap it over a donkey and guide it to your destination. Safest way I can think of

 

[rklinck]

This is what I would do. If you're worried about jostling up sediment back into solution, forget about "the first bump in the road" - the damage will be done just lifting it out of your keezer. It takes almost no movement at all to stir yeast back up, and it'll take painfully long for them to settle back down.

Could not agree more. When I move a keg from my spare fridge to my kegerator it stirs up the sediment. And that is a trip of approximately 25 feet after the beer has been cold conditioning for weeks. Transferring to a new keg via a jumper is the only way you won't kick up the sediment.

 

[Yooper]

If I'm taking a keg somewhere, I will jumper the keg to another keg- pump the beer from one to the other. This leaves the sediment in the original keg and clear beer in the new keg for the journey.

Yep, me too!

The key is to do that without moving the original keg. If you transfer only cold carbonated clear beer, that's what you'll get in the new keg as well.

It's super easy to do- a black QD, 4' of beerline, black QD. Put one black QD on the original keg (without moving the keg), and turn the pressure on the regulator down to about 2-5 psi (just enough to push the beer. Put the second black QD on the "new" keg and pull the pressure relief valve every so often to keep the beer flowing.

It takes about 10 minutes, and then the keg can be moved all over without any sediment being stirred up.