Cold Crashing and Kegging Question

[Donutz]

I decided to buy a kegerator and just now ordered a keg kit from Northern Brewer. I have also never cold crashed a beer due to space...
So, my questions are: After I finish dry hopping the beer, do I put the beer into the bottling bucket and then the keg? Or just straight from the primary bucket into the keg? Should I cold crash from the bucket and then Keg the beer... or keg it and then cold crash it? What is a good temp for Cold Crashing? Is just the lowest temp on the kegerator fine? When do I want to put pressure to the keg for forced carbonation? And Lastly, How do I purge the Keg and know that it is forced carbed enough?

Sorry for so many questions, but being this is the first for me, I don't wanna mess up anything too terribly.

 

[Bearclaw215]

If you're good about not transferring hop junk from pellets, straight to keg is fine. Whole hops make life way easier if you can get them. You can also dry hop in your keg i use whole hops and a paint strainer bag i can pull out whenever. Purging your keg with co2 before transferring can help prevent oxidation.
Cold crash in your fermenter, the point of it is to get them most trub to fall out before transferring to keg/bottle. Cold crashing you'll see people recommend either straight to near freezing or stepping it down a few degrees a day, either is fine and just personal preference for the most part. The only thing that will happen to you beer is that the yeast go dormant, no off flavors. Temp is as close you can get to almost freezing.
Carbing can start as soon as your beers kegged. I like to use the set it at a certain temp/pressure and forget it method, a week or so like that and it'll be carbed just right. Check out brewersfriend.com or tastybrew.com they're carbonation calulators and you'll see how temp controls how much pressure you need to carbonate. A lower temp lets say 36F lets you carb for 2.5 vol co2 at 10.2 psi. When you warm up 50F you need 17.6 psi to get the same 2.5 vol co2. Corney kegs have a little purge pin in the lid you pull up.

If i forgot or didn't describe anything clear enough just say so and ill try to explain it better

 

[Smellyglove]

If you're cold crashing a lager you want do turn down down the temp slower than straight down to cold crash temp. Big and sudden changes can stress the yeast so it can release compounds into your beer, and since a lager is a delicate matter you can in worst case end up with some off flavours.

 

[RonPopeil]

I use 3 gallon nylon paint strainers. When ever i transfer I line the bucket or keg with it and than pour the siphon through. These are eventually disposable but they're easier to deal with then wire strainers which clog up quicker and they'll fit inside keg mouths.

 

[bobeer]

I cold crash in my carboy for anywhere from a day to three days. Then I rack from the carboy to the keg leaving all the trub behind. To be honest I have no idea what temp I cold crash at. I use the same fridge I have all my kegs in and my serving temp seems to be low 40's, maybe. Whatever temp it's at it clears my beer.

As for force carbing psi I used to do 30 psi for 3-4 days, purge, then set to 10-12 psi. I found the beer to be more foamy than desired so I started to do 20 psi for 3-4 days, purge, and put the serving pressure to 2-5 psi and it works great. I get awesome pours with only 5 ft of line with absolutely no issues at all.

To purge I just use the quick release valve located on the top of the keg lid. If you do not have one I would suggest replacing your lid with one that has the release valve. For now, if you don't have the valve, I'd hook up your gas quick disconnect and purge the gas that way, or, just carefully push the poppet down with a screw driver. The only way to test if your beer is ready to drink or not is to just try it. If it's where you like it then I'd say it ready. IF it's not then hook the gas back up to your force carb psi level and let it sit for another day or so then check it again.

Everyone has their method when it comes to kegging but this is what works for me. I also only agitate the keg very slightly just to fill the whole keg with gas. I don't roll it over and over again like a lot of folks do. You may find something different works for you. It's all about experimenting and seeing what seems to work best with your setup. I try to use as little c02 as possible so I can keep my overall costs down.

 

[Donutz]

Thank everyone for the excellent posts!!! I think I fully understand now!!! Or at least I understand enough to screw some stuff up!!! LOL