First kegging!

[yukonhijack]

Well, I originally got out of brewing for a lot of reasons, but the primary one involved having to bottle my beer. What a pain! Cleaning bottles, getting labels off, sanitizing the bottles and caps, and the actual bottling. Plus, the loooooong wait to get the beer carbed.

Fast forward 3 years and I had the itch again, started trolling Craigslist, and happened upon a keezer, 5 gallon corny, Tapright regulator, and 5 pound C02 bottle for a rockin deal ($250). I scrubbed down the keezer, removed the draft tower from the top (which was flimsy), put a 2x8 collar on it, installed a computer fan, put some damprid in it, and last night kegged my first beer! Beer was an AG Green Flash IPA clone that already tastes great going into the keg. I put the keg on 30 psi, and after 24 hours will purge it and set the pressure to 12 psi for a few days before I pull a pint off to test.

I have another AG batch in the secondary (Ska Modus Hoperandi), and I just washed two different yeasts for use in my next batches. This is the best hobby ever!

 

[Slipgate]

Kegging and wort chillers are the two things that will keep people in the hobby. Both don't come until later when some have already decided it is a PITA.

 

[coolharry]

Congrats on the deal! I too just kegged my first batch a few days ago. It was so damn easy it makes me wonder why I waited so long to make the jump from bottling.

 

[phyllobeddo]

Congrats! I got out of brewing a few years ago because I hated bottling as well. I got a keg for Father's Day this year and now I have four of them! Welcome back.

 

[yukonhijack]

It was sooooo much easier to just sanitize the one keg and fill it. I was done in like 10 minutes! I am certainly getting more kegs so I can carb and have others on tap when one keg kicks. The deal I got on Craigslist included the C02 bottle, which was full!

 

[coolharry]

It was sooooo much easier to just sanitize the one keg and fill it. I was done in like 10 minutes! I am certainly getting more kegs so I can carb and have others on tap when one keg kicks. The deal I got on Craigslist included the C02 bottle, which was full!

Oh I know! I just kinda stood there like "I'm done already? This is awesome."

 

[Rev2010]

I just cleaned my first keg today, emptied my pumpkin ale last weekend - went so easy. I already had a dip tube brush ready to clean out the dip tube. Really a lot easier than I thought it would be. Being the keg stays pressurized with CO2 inside the beer doesn't dry out and cake on so the cleaning is a breeze.

My big problem with kegging was the plastic taste I was getting from the two ounces of beer than sat in my vinyl lines for as little as 1-2 hours. I swapped out to ultra barrier silver lines which fixed that problem but changing out lines in a triple tap tower is a pain in the butt. If you start noticing off tastes then consider upgrading to better beer lines.


Rev.

 

[campbellmike]

Great choices on your brews.

 

[yukonhijack]

The other thing I love about kegging is being able to drink my beer so much sooner! I had a buddy over today who had a couple pints of my Green Flash IPA and loved it! The beer is only two weeks old and tastes great

 

[afss]

just about to keg my first.

are there directions on what to do or what i can do with the fermented beer before kegging? i know with normal botting you add priming sugar and bottle, but have never kegged. i tried searching some but couldnt seem to find anything.. but i suck at searching things sometimes

thanks for any help

 

[yukonhijack]

just about to keg my first.

are there directions on what to do or what i can do with the fermented beer before kegging? i know with normal botting you add priming sugar and bottle, but have never kegged. i tried searching some but couldnt seem to find anything.. but i suck at searching things sometimes

thanks for any help

You can do a Google Search for "Home Beer Brewing Kegging Directions" and you will get all kinds of answers. Short answer is you can keg condition using priming sugar, or you can carbonate it in the keggerator (30 psi for 24-36 hours, purge, set at 10-12 psi for 4 or 5 days then drink).

 

[afss]

i plan to use c02, im more wondering about how to clear the beer etc.

 

[yukonhijack]

Wish I could help. I failed miserably at clearing my beer. I used a whirlfloc tab in my boil, transferred to a secondary, and my double ipa is still cloudy. I don't really care about that, because the beer tastes great