From Primary to Keg - Step by Step?

[KennyPowers55]

My first batch has been fermenting for two weeks, which is how long it should take according to the instructions that came with the kit.

My kit only included instructions on how to bottle the beer. Are there instructions somewhere on how to go from a primary bucket to keg, including how to sanitize everything? The keg is used and was washed/ refurbished from the seller.

The kit also came with a packet of sugar. Do I need to use this if kegging?

I've watched a couple of youtube videos but I still feel like I don't have the whole picture together. I don't want to mess this up.

Thanks.

 

[kh54s10]

As long as you have all the equipment for kegging:

Sanitize everything that will touch the beer. I use Starsan. Just make sure all surfaces were totally wet down with the sanitizer for the recommended amount of time.
Put the fermenter on a table. (higher that the keg).
Siphon from the fermenter into the bottom of the keg. (no splashing)
Put the lid on the keg.
Attach the gas line.
Either pressurize to 30 psi (burp the keg - release some gas to purge out the oxygen - 5 -10 one second bursts or so) Then leave for 36-48 hours before releasing the pressure and setting to serving pressure (10-12 psi)
Or set to serving pressure and waiting a couple of weeks.

Attach the serving line and pour off a bit, to clear any debris from the bottom.
Serve yourself a beer.

If carbonating using bottled co2 you do not need the priming sugar.

 

[ThePope]

to clean the keg thoroughly you have to take off the posts, take out the dip tube and the gas tube, take off the lid and clean everything, sanitize all the parts you removed, reassemble, put sanitizer in the keg give it a shake, carb the keg to low volume, dispense some sanitizer so it gets in the dip tube, then youre done.
sounds like a lot of work but its really only 5-10min. the hardest part can be getting the posts off if they have never been taken off, a good long wrench might be good but i had to modify a spark plug to fit on the post and use a breaker bar.
2)sugar you can use to carb your beer in the keg, but you dont have to if you plan on force carbonating with bottled co2. if you are going to go the sugar to carb route, be sure to make sure you have a seal on your keg by pressurizing the keg initially with co2. ive personally only force carb'd since i got kegs+co2 because its quick and easy and i think co2 is around the same cost as using sugar for me

 

[jbb3]

My first batch has been fermenting for two weeks, which is how long it should take according to the instructions that came with the kit.

My kit only included instructions on how to bottle the beer. Are there instructions somewhere on how to go from a primary bucket to keg, including how to sanitize everything? The keg is used and was washed/ refurbished from the seller.

The kit also came with a packet of sugar. Do I need to use this if kegging?

I've watched a couple of youtube videos but I still feel like I don't have the whole picture together. I don't want to mess this up.

Thanks.

For really light beers (blondes, very pale ales) some will compress fermentation time down to 10 days if in a rush. Dark heavier beers can need 4 weeks to finish. But a general rule of thumb for most beers, two weeks should be considered a minimum fermenting time with three weeks being typical. Give the yeast time to do their thing.

For a used keg, probably a good idea to disassemble and clean everything. Check the seals to make sure they are in good shape or were replaced already by the seller. Let everything dry completely before reassembling.

Jump in the car and head off to your local HD. Buy a 5 gal bucket with one of the snap rings that allow the top to be twisted on and off so you have a storage container for your sanitizer. Then mix up a 5 gal batch of starsan in your new bucket.

I assume you'll be using an auto siphon to rack your beer? They are easy to use but like most things, it takes doing it a few times to get the hang of it and do it well/cleanly. If it is your first time racking a beer, I would suggest racking into a bottling bucket (with spigot) to keep from sucking up a lot of solids into your keg. Once you become more comfortable with using the auto siphon, you can probably skip the bottling bucket step.

When racking ALWAYS try to avoid splashing and sucking air into the auto siphon. Make sure the racking tube is sitting on the bottom of the bucket and the flow into the bucket is as "calm" as possible. This is to prevent oxidizing your beer.

Move the fermentor to the location where you plan to rack into the keg a few hours prior in order to give any disturbed solids a chance to settle back down.

Once you're ready to keg your beer, fill the keg about about half full of startsan. Put the lid on and give it a very small shot of CO2. Then get a screw driver or something to depress the poppet valve on the "out" post so the starsan fills the dip tube and begins to come out of the post. Then place the keg on it's side. While you're getting everything else ready, just reach over a few times and give a roll to make sure the starsan contacts all surfaces within.

Next, sanitize your bottling bucket and don't forget the spigot (if you decide to use it), auto siphon and tubing. Then rack the beer into the bucket. Place the lid on the bottling bucket then elevate the bucket so it's higher then the top of the keg so gravity will help the beer will flow. Then give it a few minutes to settle.

Dump the startsan out of the keg. Make sure to depress the poppet valve on the out post to drain the starsan from the dip tube.

Connect the tubing to the spigot on the bottling bucket and place the other end in the keg so it's resting on the bottom of the keg. To start the flow of beer into the keg, I like to lift the keg up so it's at about the same level as the bucket. It helps to slow the initial flow and fills the tubing with beer faster instead of letting the beer run with air in the tubing. Once the tubing fills, you can place the keg back on the floor. As before, try to prevent splashing.

Once full, place the lid, seal the keg and leave it where it stands. Don't move the keg around so the beer splashes as there is still o2 in the head space.

To purge the keg of O2, connect the CO2 bottle to the "In" post with the regulator set on 15psi and open the valve. When the sound of CO2 flowing into the keg stops, close the valve and purge the keg by pulling the pressure release. Repeat this action about 5 or 6 times.

Now open the valve on the CO2 and turn the regulator up to 30psi and chill to serving temp. Leave at 30psi for about 30 hours. At the 30 hour mark, turn the valve off and bleed CO2 from the keg. Reduce the regulator to serving pressure (i like 11-12psi) and reopen the valve. It should take a few more days for the carbonation level to equalize.

Oh, and give the corn sugar that came in your kit to someone who needs it. You certainly don't.

That's my post for the day...

Let us know how everything goes.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[mongoose33]

Here's how I do it:

I cold crash my beer in the fermenter first, so it's cold; you could do it after you keg, too.

I have a keg full of Star-San; I connect a jumper from the OUT of the keg full of Star San (soon to be full of beer!) to an empty keg; you could also just have an OUT line run into a 5-gallon bucket to keep the Star-San for the next time.

I apply about 12-15 pounds of CO2 pressure to the IN post of the keg full of Star-San, and push the Star-San out, replacing the liquid w/ pure CO2.

I then have another jumper that I use to rack the beer from the fermentor into the keg through the OUT post; this means the beer slowly fills from the bottom of the keg, and doesn't come into contact w/ oxygen, save for the very tiny amount left in the headspace before emptying of Star-San.

(BTW, you can use this jumper to drain the keg of Star-San into a bucket as well--and you can use the same method if you're using a siphon to rack beer from the fermentor instead of a spigot like mine have)



Once the keg is full, I have two ways of carbing--one is to put the pressure at 36psi for 24 hours or so.

The other is to apply that 36psi and then rock the keg back and forth on my lap for 7-10 minutes. The rocking allows for much greater surface area for the CO2 to be absorbed. You can hear the bubbles going into solution as you rock the keg and usually I can hear the regulator groaning.

This won't work as well if the beer is warm, as CO2 is more readily absorbed into cold beer.

If you do the rocking, let it sit on pressure for an hour or two for the beer to settle, set the regulator at serving pressure, then pull the relief valve to purge excess CO2. Your first pint or so will have the settled trub and whatnot in it, but you should be able to judge carbonation. If you need more, add more CO2.

************************

This may be more than you want at this point, but if you add a couple of these jumpers you'll find it much easier. And it may give you an idea of where you might wish to head as you become more experienced.

 

[brewbama]

I don't disagree with anything said above, but I do have a comment about the statement "The keg is used and was washed/ refurbished from the seller". Do not trust this. Replace all the O-rings now and completely clean and sanitize the keg. Another piece of advice: Keep the bits to the "out" post separate from the bits to the "in" post.

 

[KennyPowers55]

So here is what I did.

I mixed a 5 gal solution of star san in the "bottling bucket".
Siphoned about half of it into the keg using the auto siphon.
Allowed solution to sit in keg. Turned keg upside and swished the solution around.
Returned siphon to bucket of star san solution.
Connected gas to keg and pushed star san through faucet.
Siphoned beer into keg and sealed. Turned on gas, turned of gas, and released gas with pressure release 4 times.
Placed in keezer at 30 psi.

There were some "floaties" in the top but I tried to keep the siphon below them. It seemed to stop on it's own once I got to the sludge. I tasted a sip of what was left in the siphon after I sealed the keg. It sort of tasted like warm beer.

 

[KennyPowers55]

Thanks for all of the tips. This should definitely go by easier next time. And I will thoroughly take apart and inspect the keg for the next one.

My SWMBO was convinced to try to make one of her favorite brews after I made my first batch so hopefully I am on the right track.

 

[KennyPowers55]

So I just sampled my first brew after being in the keg for a day.

It came out approximately 100 times better than I expected (because I suck at cooking, precision, details, etc...)
And my finance manager approves of it also. And she would tell me if she didn't like it just to rub it in my face.

 

[55x11]

Thanks for all of the tips. This should definitely go by easier next time. And I will thoroughly take apart and inspect the keg for the next one.

My SWMBO was convinced to try to make one of her favorite brews after I made my first batch so hopefully I am on the right track.

pretty solid procedure but after filling the keg with CO2 (while it's sealed) it's best to transfer from carboy to keg using QD (through the "OUT" connection, while keeping IN connection open to let CO2 out) without opening the sealed keg lid again. This substantially reduces oxygen exposure/amount of oxygen in the keg, and you don't need to purge headspace as many times.

Prior to kegging you may want to cold-crash the beer, keep in mind it takes ~12 hours just to reach temperatures ~32F, and then keep it for another 12-24 hours at that temperature (or longer if you have time), including some substantial period, maybe another 24 hours, after adding gelatin to the carboy (best done after temperature reaches ~40F or below).