Consensus on what next after bottles??

[Chriso]

Sure thing. Quick purge of the keg, rack into it, and seal it right back up. Hell it'll carb faster with only 2.5 gal in a 5 gal keg because there's more headspace to pressurize, and less CO2 will have to absorb, net.

 

[RockfordWhite]

Just switch to kegs, any step in between is just delaying the inevitable...

 

[BigKahuna]

Just switch to kegs, any step in between is just delaying the inevitable...

That's what I said 4 pages ago.

 

[RockfordWhite]

Yup props to you, but yeah I am really happy i just went right to kegging and didn't waste my money on those semi keg systems like tap a draft or whatever...

Also i believe the 52 batches will put you over the legal limit...

 

[Dagatris]

Regarding the 2L soda bottles with the carbonator cap - Do you still have to prime the beer before you put it into the bottle?

How do you know when you've pumped enough CO2 into it? Seems like you would have a hard time knowing exactly when to stop. I'm really intrigued by this idea, as SWMBO and I pretty much always have beer together. It would save me a lot of time from bottling into 12oz bottles.

This would allow you to open a 2L and drink half of it, put the cap back on and carb it again, and the beer would keep. Right?

 

[Ecnerwal]

Simplify - get 22 oz (bombers) or 750 ml (champagne, USA type, or sparkling wine/cider USA type) bottles and split one - no half-bottle to fuss with. Or use 1L soda bottles - no half-bottle to fuss with. Either way less bottles to fill/cap. Prime normally.

 

[Chriso]

@Dagatris, You can do one of two ways. You can prime with sugar, yes, and then after you've consumed 1/2 of the beer, purge a little CO2 into the bottle (no quick disconnect, just open-end of the hose into the bottle, and gas a little), then seal the top and hit with Gas QD to pressurize.

Or, you can force carb directly in the bottle, no sugar needed. You figure out "when to stop" by calculating the Vols of CO2 in relation to the temperature you are holding the bottle at during carbonation, and the pressure from the CO2 tank you are applying. For example, for 2.2 vols carbonation in a beer being held in the fridge at 38*F, you would want to apply 8 PSI for a few days to a week to carbonate. If you wanted 2.8 vols instead, at the same temp, you would apply 14.3 PSI steadily. (I won't delve too much further into all of the math, since it acts just like a corny keg or any other pressure vessel does. The stickies in the kegging section are a great reference for further info on this.)

But remember, you don't HAVE to open a 2L and drink half. It's the same size cap, so you could use 20oz bottles, 1L tonic water bottles, whatever size fits your needs best.

Also remember that you don't need one carbonator cap for every vessel. Once you are satisfied with the amount of carbonation in a particular bottle of beer, you can remove the carbonator cap and reapply a regular soda cap tightly. It will result in a very slight carb loss, but the liquid will quickly release enough CO2 to reach pressure equilibrium with the headspace, and all will be as normal. So, say you filled 5 2L bottles with British ESB, you could carb each one to a different level if you wanted to. You could examine the range of carbonation for that style by carbing one to 1.7 vols, one to 2.0 vols, one to 2.3 vols, and could even over-carb one intentionally to see how it affects the style.

Possibilities are endless.

 

[Bob]

Why, Bob lamented, has everyone given up on 5L minikegs?

 

[flyangler18]

Why, Bob lamented, has everyone given up on 5L minikegs?

Never shall I forsake the corny, shouted Jason.

 

[Bob]

Odd, mused Bob. I have cornies, too, and love them for at home. But they're a pain in the arse to lug to parties. You not only have a heavy keg, you must carry complicated dispensing equipment. With a 5L Fass-Frisch keg, you take a tiny little keg my silver-haired mother-in-law wouldn't strain to carry great distances. Sit it on a bag of ice. That's it!

Anyway, he said mildly, we should probably cease writing in the third person before we irritate someone.

 

[flyangler18]

With a 5L Fass-Frisch keg, you take a tiny little keg my silver-haired mother-in-law wouldn't strain to carry great distances.

Well, that just adds a whole new level, doesn't it?

Methinks I should investigate these wee kegs.

Are you pushing with C02 or dispensing with gravity?

 

[eljib]

However - I do look at the future as I have a local person watching my progress as an investor and he has mentioned SEVERAL times about starting a brewery / brew pub and backing me financially.

Why not mention this investor guy that you'll need some better equipment to get better at brewing, and then see if he'll cough up a couple bucks to get you into kegging propper?

Perhaps mention it to him SEVERAL times

At the very least you'd be able to find out if he's serious.

 

[Yunus]

I use kegs, bottles, 2L bottles and the carbonator. I always force carb because I am lazy, impatient and want the beer to be as clear as possible. Something that I have not seen mentioned (I didnt read every post) is that if you keg you can transfer to bottles or 2L bottles or any bottle that can handle it with a beer gun or the cheap racking cane/stopper method. Now I have not let a beer sit in the bottle using the racking cane method for more than a month but at 1 month it tasted fine, no reason to think a couple more months would change that.

I also made a homemade keg dispenser using a 2L bottle, bike co2 pump and some fittings. This system looks awesome but really the carbonator is a better setup. How often do you go somewhere and not drink the 2L of beer that you brought.

My experience went like this. Bottled the first batch. Monitored Craigslist for a fridge and Co2 bottle with regulator and before the second batch was ready to bottle, I had a kegerator. I almost don't know any other way.

 

[Chriso]

... Now I have not let a beer sit in the bottle using the racking cane method for more than a month but at 1 month it tasted fine, no reason to think a couple more months would change that.

BierMuncher has confirmed bottles being perfectly carb'ed still after over 1 year from date of BMBF'ing. Likewise I have some sitting at about 6 months that are still carb'ed great.

 

[Bob]

Methinks I should investigate these wee kegs.

Are you pushing with C02 or dispensing with gravity?

Both. Fass-Frisch 5L kegs have a built-in tap. What with the two-piece bung, dispensing Real Ale is a snap!

I have other kegs sans tap. For those I have a CO2 tap which uses those little cartridges. Whippets, I believe they used to be called by the paint-huffing crowd.

You must realize, of course, that you cannot artificially carbonate beer in 5L minikegs. It must either be carbonated before filling or naturally conditioned in the keg. I prefer the latter, of course, given my slathering obsession with session-strength Real Ale, but the BMBF can presumably be used to fill them.

Another caveat is that they are not stainless. They're coated with some sort of sealant on the inside that will eventually degrade. So they're not items of infinite use, like Cornelius kegs.

But handy? Hell, yeah!

Bob

 

[Chriso]

I thought Whippets were nitrous oxide, not carbon dioxide. Am I imagining this?

Sorry. . Continue.

 

[flyangler18]

Started a new thread on the Fass-Frisch here.

 

[TrojanMan]

I thought Whippets were nitrous oxide, not carbon dioxide. Am I imagining this?

Sorry. . Continue.

Yeah, that's the colloquial term for the NO2 carts.

CO2 comes packaged in much the same way, in steel pierce-pin cartridges. They have 8, 12 and 18 gram (by weight, of course) carts and some other sizes that are less common. Because they vary by size, you need the correct-sized adapter for the cart size you want to use.

Also, 12g carts are very common for use in air guns and air-powered portable tools. To manufacture them, they are pressed out of sheet steel by a set of dies into long tubes and then crimped into cylinders. A significant ammount of lubrication is required in the pressing process and some of this stays inside the cart when it is filled. It's just air tool oil so it's actually beneficial to the tools and guns they're used in but it tastes nasty and will destroy your head if used to carb or press beer with. You need to get food-grade carts which are scrubbed after forming, contain no oil and are about 3x as expensive. You can't just go to WalMart and pick up a 20-pack of 12g carts.

I've used 12g carts in a pinch trying to dispense at the after-paintball party. It works, but the results are less than stellar. In the middle of the woods, few people mind but it's not something I'd do on a regular basis.



Honestly, aside from the added cleaning workload, bottles aren't that much more work than kegs. I used bottles exclusively before jumping up to kegs (though I did use a few growlers -and one champagne bottle- here and there when I had them). I'd recommend bypassing the middle stuff altogether.

Both bottles and kegs have their advantages and disadvantages. I still use both depending upon what I need to do with them.