Closed Transfer to Keg Equipment Setup

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SS racking cane with a mesh filter on the tip through a carboy cap with a gas post attached to the other nipple.
CO2 push into either fermentation-purged or Star-San-purged kegs through the Out post with gas relief on the In post as shown.

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Carboy cap details: along with the cane, there's a 1/4" MFL - 1/4" Barb (inset pic), a nylon flare gasket, then a 1/4" FFL - 19/32"x18 post adapter for the Cornelius gas post shown. Those last two parts can be sub'd with a 1/4" FFL - 9/16"x18 adapter for a Firestone gas post. All bits can be obtained from places like chicompany.net. Just be sure to match the post with the post adapter threading...

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Cane tip "filter". SS washer keeps the "bag" open and won't let it get sucked into the cane...

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Cheers!
 
I generally ferment anything under 1.070 in my corny keg using a gas quick connect with mfl barb and a house with a swivel nut as a blow off tube.
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To transfer I'll use a picnic tap and co2 to purge the trub and whatnot then use a jumper into a pre sanitized and co2 purged keg.

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@day_trippr do you keep the racking cane in during all of fermentation? It would seem yeast clogging would be a problem. Does the mesh bag with weights prevent dry hop clogs?
 

Looks a lot like some of the parts I use as well.

My setup is basically 1) the spigot of my fermenter leads to the keg "line out" so I can have the beer enter via the tube into the bottom of the keg, and 2) the keg "gas in" goes to the top of the fermenter itself.

As for the specifics you just have to get creative. I have a post with the poppet removed and a fitting that stays with it also with the poppet removed, to help keep a hop leaf from clogging up the works. And a rubber stopper for the fermenter with a barb fitting pressed in and the flare on the other side for the return path. While I am swapping pieces I have CO2 being fed to the keg, which in turn feeds the lines, so that anywhere I am swapping a fitting or stopper I have a steady stream of CO2 running out.

It's not perfect but it's made a big difference in how long my hoppy beers stay hoppy vs. my old method of just opening the top of the keg and letting the fermenter just dump in.
 
I will keg with low foam sanitizer/water to the brim, then seal keg and push sanitizer out with CO2...the use this system do a closed transfer to keg, using 2-3 psi to push beer out. I may upgrade it soon to the one that has a gas ball lock post on the carboy cap so I don't have to keep disconnecting the gas line every time to screw it on to carboy cap.
Transfer system.jpg
 
@day_trippr do you keep the racking cane in during all of fermentation? It would seem yeast clogging would be a problem. Does the mesh bag with weights prevent dry hop clogs?

The racking gear goes on post-cold-crash/immediately prior to racking to the kegs. During actual fermentation I have a different set of carboy caps directing the fermentation CO2 to purge the pair of kegs that the beer will eventually end up in.

Yes, the mesh keeps pretty much everything but beer out of the kegs :) My technique is to start with the cane tip a few inches above the trub line then follow the beer level down. As shown in my pictures I prop the carboy at an angle to make retrieving the last clear beer easy...

Cheers!
 
@firerat keg fermenting intrigues me (cleanability, slim profile, pressure capable). I fermented one batch in the same keg that I served in but had disappointing results. Muted/no flavor. Could have been from multiple times opening it. On another batch, I transferred the beer while it was still actively creating CO2 to “spund” - carbonate with its own CO2 but the flavor was off. Do you have any tips/tricks?
 
Cold crash my beer while it is hooked up to co2 to avoid o2 suck back @ less than 5 psi
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Purge my kegs with a starsan co2 push

Lift fermenter to top of keg height, hook up jumpers and let gravity do the work. The co2 in the keg replaces the beer in the fermenter no O2.
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Kegmenter to kegs purged with CO2 from fermentation. Push beer with CO2 tank.
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I use a setup like this. This pic is using a 3 gal Fermonster, but the same applies when using my 7 gallon Fermonster. Essentially there is a line that runs from the spigot to the liquid post on the keg, and then I hook up my blow off tube to the gas post on the keg. This creates a closed loop. The keg is fully purged and I use pressure in the keg to purge the lines.

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I use a setup like this. This pic is using a 3 gal Fermonster, but the same applies when using my 7 gallon Fermonster. Essentially there is a line that runs from the spigot to the liquid post on the keg, and then I hook up my blow off tube to the gas post on the keg. This creates a closed loop. The keg is fully purged and I use pressure in the keg to purge the lines.

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This is genius! The beer does not flow back up when you open the spigot? How is that working? The pressure gets equal in both the keg and fermenter and beer flows normally?
 
TC fittings from conical with "Ultra Barrier Silver" tubing to MFL dissconnects. Low pressure CO2 supply to conical (Chronical has to be ~2.5psi). Kegs (previously filled with StarSan and DI, then purged with CO2) on scale for determining when full; hopefully before beer comes out of outflow tube.

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The beer does not flow back up when you open the spigot? How is that working? The pressure gets equal in both the keg and fermenter and beer flows normally?

Correct, it's just equal all the way through. The beer goes in and the air comes out.

Air = CO2, because it should be purged first.

I do it this way too. If you try it, there are a few tricks I've learned: 1) The spigot when fully closed has a small hole that bleeds the line out, and you can use that to purge that particular line. 2) In the rubber stopper, you can use a barb fitting in the stopper with a flare top. Then unhook the line form the CO2 tank and attach it up there (if your CO2 tank also has a flare fitting that is, mine does). I figure that sort of helps keep that line purged as well.

It's not perfect, O2 can come in, but it's darned good. My hoppy beers stay hoppy much longer since I started doing this.
 
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Similar to @CascadesBrewer...the receiving keg has been fully purged via fermentation CO2. The line that runs from the spigot to the keg gets purged by letting co2 from inside the keg flow through just before starting the transfer. The top of the fermenter has a ball lock keg post on it so I just run co2 in from my tank at 3-4 psi while transferring. I run a tube down into a jug of starsan from the gas side of the keg to allow the co2 to escape as the liquid fills the keg.

I’ve used the co2 from the keg and looped it back into the top of the fermenter before, but I’ve found it easier to just flow some co2 in from the tank. I have both pin lock and ball lock kegs but the process remains the same. I’ve probably done more than 50 transfers with this setup and it works quite well.

And yes, that is a chest freezer dressed up as a beautiful fireplace. Lol...fiancé is a pre-school teacher and was tired of staring at a white box.
 
^^^ Yeah that method works as well, a closed loop isn't needed. It does require some CO2 pressure which makes some people nervous, but to be honest the other method benefits from a little pressure as well. In the end I think the stopper would pop off before anything blew up, but that's an opinion. And it seems most of us aren't using glass either.
 
on scale for determining when full; hopefully before beer comes out of outflow tube.

Ha, was thinking of using a scale to determine when it’s full. Tired of cleaning the gas line when it overfills. Does it work well?
 
I measured my fermenters and put marks on a piece of tape running down their sides. I always know where I start and end and don't have any issues overfilling the keg.
 
For those of you using this method:

Fermenter Spigot > Liquid Out > Gas In > Fermenter (top or blow off, etc.)

Two questions:

1. How long does it take for the transfer to complete? I've read up to an hour for some.
2. I tend to fine in the keg since my fermenter is closed with a Cold Crash Guardian. Typically, I fill the keg with Star San and push all of it out with CO2. Then add my fining and purge (@ 30 PSI) 3-4 times before transferring. Haven't had luck with transferring with CO2 hooked up to the fermenter---goes very slow and always stops around 2 to 2.5 gallons (my SS Brewtech Bucket only takes 1-2 PSI, maybe no more than 3-4 before it starts leaking). Thinking about trying the above method. Wondering if how I currently keg with fining leaves me with little pressure to do it?
 
For those of you using this method:

Fermenter Spigot > Liquid Out > Gas In > Fermenter (top or blow off, etc.)

Two questions:

1. How long does it take for the transfer to complete? I've read up to an hour for some.
2. I tend to fine in the keg since my fermenter is closed with a Cold Crash Guardian. Typically, I fill the keg with Star San and push all of it out with CO2. Then add my fining and purge (@ 30 PSI) 3-4 times before transferring. Haven't had luck with transferring with CO2 hooked up to the fermenter---goes very slow and always stops around 2 to 2.5 gallons (my SS Brewtech Bucket only takes 1-2 PSI, maybe no more than 3-4 before it starts leaking). Thinking about trying the above method. Wondering if how I currently keg with fining leaves me with little pressure to do it?

How are you adding your fining? If you are going through the trouble to limit O2, then it takes 13-15+ purges at 30PSI to get rid of O2, depending on how low you want it.
It might be better to do it after transfer, since the purge volume will be MUCH smaller.

Are you venting the keg while transferring? If not then that's probably why transfer stops.
 
For those of you using this method:

Fermenter Spigot > Liquid Out > Gas In > Fermenter (top or blow off, etc.)

Two questions:

1. How long does it take for the transfer to complete? I've read up to an hour for some.
2. I tend to fine in the keg since my fermenter is closed with a Cold Crash Guardian. Typically, I fill the keg with Star San and push all of it out with CO2. Then add my fining and purge (@ 30 PSI) 3-4 times before transferring. Haven't had luck with transferring with CO2 hooked up to the fermenter---goes very slow and always stops around 2 to 2.5 gallons (my SS Brewtech Bucket only takes 1-2 PSI, maybe no more than 3-4 before it starts leaking). Thinking about trying the above method. Wondering if how I currently keg with fining leaves me with little pressure to do it?
5-10 minutes tops. Gravity does all of the work. I love this method because I do not need the CO2 to push the beer. It is simply replacing the headspace as the level of the liquid goes down.
 
How are you adding your fining? If you are going through the trouble to limit O2, then it takes 13-15+ purges at 30PSI to get rid of O2, depending on how low you want it.

After I push out the Star San, I open the keg and add 1 TBSP of BioFine, then close it immediately and start purging. I figured that 3-4 purges wasn't enough since whatever residual CO2 probably already mixed with the O2 that got in. I'd rather not have to do 13-15 purges, obviously. Adding the fining after the keg is filled makes more sense. Should I be concerned with the O2 in the BioFine?

Are you venting the keg while transferring? If not then that's probably why transfer stops.

I am venting my keg. I tried opening the release valve as it was transferring which didn't work. Another time, I tried a gas QD with a hose into a bucket with water and had the same problem. The gas QD moved a little quicker than the release valve, but still stopped midway through.
 
5-10 minutes tops. Gravity does all of the work. I love this method because I do not need the CO2 to push the beer. It is simply replacing the headspace as the level of the liquid goes down.

Same here, about 5 - 10 minutes tops.

However, I dedicated a keg post and ball lock attachment to the job by taking out the poppets. It's extra work to swap the keg post back later but not very much work. And I do it while I have CO2 attached tot he keg so I can be purging a little while I do the job. I have it attached to purge the headspace a little after transfer and get ready to force carb so it's only an extra 60 seconds with the right wrench.

If it takes an hour it's because hops or something have clogged up the works, hence why I do the above. But I don't cold crash before hand, if I did I probably wouldn't need to bother.
 
After I push out the Star San, I open the keg and add 1 TBSP of BioFine, then close it immediately and start purging. I figured that 3-4 purges wasn't enough since whatever residual CO2 probably already mixed with the O2 that got in. I'd rather not have to do 13-15 purges, obviously. Adding the fining after the keg is filled makes more sense. Should I be concerned with the O2 in the BioFine?



I am venting my keg. I tried opening the release valve as it was transferring which didn't work. Another time, I tried a gas QD with a hose into a bucket with water and had the same problem. The gas QD moved a little quicker than the release valve, but still stopped midway through.

You can add the biofine after the beer, and inject it through a gas QD with a dosing syringe. If you're adding it, I can't think of much you can do about the O2 already dissolved in it.

It's odd that transfer stops for you. You could try making sure that the keg is lower than the fermenter.
 
For those that dry hop, how are you doing it without introducing a bunch of oxygen? I’ve seen some posts with magnets or pulleys - seems janky and unsanitary.
 
For those that dry hop, how are you doing it without introducing a bunch of oxygen? I’ve seen some posts with magnets or pulleys - seems janky and unsanitary.
I put the loose dry hops into a dedicated dry hop keg with a filter over the diptube. I run the fermentation c02 through the dry hop keg which purges it, and creates an oxygen free vessel. I then perform a closed transfer into the dry hop keg. In the picture I posted above, that beer is going into the dry hop keg. Once I’ve reached the desired dry hop length, I then jump the beer into a liquid purged serving keg.
 
Thermowell comes out of the stopper and a barb goes in. Lift stopper and throw in hops. Replace stopper. Purge headspace for a while (comes out the blow-off tube).

Can't say if it matters much specifically, started doing it around the same time as the closed transfer (I'm crediting the latter for the majority of the improvement I've found, but it could be some of each, everything will help).
 
For those that dry hop, how are you doing it without introducing a bunch of oxygen? I’ve seen some posts with magnets or pulleys - seems janky and unsanitary.

My way is definitely not optimal, but most of my beers are not dry hopped.

I have a kegmenter. I take a clear plastic bag and put it over the fermenter and hold it to the sides with bungee cord. I cut a small hole in the bag and run CO2 in. I have vacuum sealed hops and scissors inside the bag on top of the fermenter. I manipulate everything through the bag. I open the fermenter, cut open the hops, put them in, and seal the kegmenter. Then I turn off the CO2, remove the bag, and purge the fermenter many times at 30PSI.

It's a PITA, but it works OK. It would be nice to have some kind of purge-able TC attachment for dry hopping. Maybe someday I'll look into getting a new lid made with that built in.
 
1. How long does it take for the transfer to complete? I've read up to an hour for some.

It definitely goes slower than a non-closed transfer. Probably 15 minutes for a 5 gallon keg. I have thought about something like @tracer bullet said and remove the poppet and post. I suspect that is the bottleneck to the flow.

These days I also have an inline filter. Like the "Bouncer Filter" but an off brand that is cheaper. The first time I tried a closed transfer was for an NEIPA and the poppet clogged. I think I managed to get it cleared out with out too much oxidation, but it was a pain. The downsize of the filter is that it adds another item to clean and makes purging the inlet line harder.

This one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XYQNBQR
 
With hops in the keg, a floating dip tube has worked well for me.
 
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