Guide to Kegging

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

sonvolt

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2006
Messages
900
Reaction score
13
Can anyone point me in the direction of a good guide/tutorial for kegging? I have a mess of 5 gallong soda kegs that have not been reconditioned. I am fairly clueless regarding the whole process . . . in terms of how to recondition these, what equipment I need, etc.

Anyone know of a good guide for a kegging beginner . . . book or website?
 
El Pistolero said:
I was about to say I wish we had sound effects here, but what kind of sound does a ninja make? :confused:

No one knows... a ninja will kill you before your brain could register any sound he might make.

-walker
 
Baron von BeeGee said:
I think a ninja icon is in order.
Yes, excellent. A ninja smilie that you're only allowed to use if you hit the edit button within 15 nanoseconds of your original post. :D
 
El Pistolero said:
Yes, excellent. A ninja smilie that you're only allowed to use if you hit the edit button within 15 nanoseconds of your original post. :D
I was thinking you could use it if you caught somebody in a ninja-edit. Or, obviously, if you actually engaged in some ninja-esque activity (like stealing the neighbor's propane or pissing on his fence...not that I would do either...).
 
Wow! thanks guys . . . those look like great links.


As for the ninjas . . . .:rockin:
 
Alright . . . some questions. First of all, any recommendations regarding what size CO2 tank I should buy? How fast will I go through CO2? How much (average) does it cost to get refills?

Regarding regulators . . . should I just get the cheapest I can find, or are there quality issues I should know about when selecting one?

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to recondition a bunch of corny kegs I have laying around and get ready to complete my system . . . no kegerator yet. I just want to be able to put one keg in the fridge and tap it.

One more question - which is the preferred method - conditioning or force carbonating? Any differences in taste?
 
sonvolt said:
Alright . . . some questions. First of all, any recommendations regarding what size CO2 tank I should buy? How fast will I go through CO2? How much (average) does it cost to get refills?

Regarding regulators . . . should I just get the cheapest I can find, or are there quality issues I should know about when selecting one?

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to recondition a bunch of corny kegs I have laying around and get ready to complete my system . . . no kegerator yet. I just want to be able to put one keg in the fridge and tap it.

One more question - which is the preferred method - conditioning or force carbonating? Any differences in taste?

Regulators need to be a high/low combo - you can use a single gauge - but double is better.

Kilroy
 
Great - I've been toying with this idea, too! After 8+ years of bottling (including a session tonight), I'm wondering if it might be time. Looks like I've got some reading to do!:)
 
To clarify - If I want to start making beer today, but don't have any bottles or the desire to collect, clean and bottle. Can I Brew, put it into primary for a week , into secondary for two or three weeks and then into a corny keg with priming sugar at fermenting temps (65-72) for a few weeks until I can locate a fridge and CO2 tank etc or does the sugar primed beer in the keg need to be refrigereated?
 
You should be able to condition in the keg . . . being sure to leave it unrefrigerated for at least a few weeks. Then, yuou should be able to leave it outside of the fridge - but in a cool basement-like location - for a longer period of time. It is my understanding that this extra conditioning time will improve the taste of your beer. It is also my understanding, however, that the length of conditioning time should vary depending upon they style of beer you have kegged.

If you have very strong and malty beers, these will benefit from longer conditioning times. Lighter, hoppier beers will lose some hop aroma/flavor if they are conditioned too long.

Someone will correct my mistakes, I'm sure.

Moral of the story - start brewing because your beer will be fine left in kegs until you get your fridge.
 
NEPABREWER said:
To clarify - If I want to start making beer today, but don't have any bottles or the desire to collect, clean and bottle. Can I Brew, put it into primary for a week , into secondary for two or three weeks and then into a corny keg with priming sugar at fermenting temps (65-72) for a few weeks until I can locate a fridge and CO2 tank etc or does the sugar primed beer in the keg need to be refrigereated?
You're right on track. You won't need to refridgerate until you're ready to tap. Just use half the priming suger that would be used for bottling.
Note: If you don't have any CO2 when you keg, you will not be able to preasure seal the keg and you're keg may not seal which will prevent the CO2 build up.

Good luck,
Wild
 
wild said:
Just use half the priming suger that would be used for bottling.

Really . . . ? I missed this, somehow. When keg conditioning . . . why would one use less priming sugar? What is different?

I'm glad I caught this, because I am thinking about kegging my next batch.
 
Per BYO, "Most brewers use less sugar to prime an equivalent volume of beer in a keg compared with bottles."

From day one of my kegging experience I've been told to use only half the priming sugar used for bottling by my LHBS and by kegging veterans. I believe this is linked to cask conditioning roots where less is more. And its easier to add more CO2 (a little at a time) than to reduce it.

Wild
 
So the idea is that you can compensate with some extra CO2 when you put the brew on tap?

On another note, I am getting ready to recondition some corny kegs. From what I have gathered, keg conditioning and force carbonation will yield some sediment on the bottom of the keg. Should I cut my liquid out rod in the tank so that this sediment is not picked up when pulling beer out of the keg? Or . . . will the sediment come out with the first class or two and then be gone?

If I should cut the rod, how much should I cut?
 
wild said:
You're right on track. You won't need to refridgerate until you're ready to tap. Just use half the priming suger that would be used for bottling.
Note: If you don't have any CO2 when you keg, you will not be able to preasure seal the keg and you're keg may not seal which will prevent the CO2 build up.

Good luck,
Wild

So what you are saying is that it would be necessary or advisable to have CO2 at the time I first put the beer into the keg from the secondary? Is pressure seaing requried? Thanks
 
sonvolt said:
So the idea is that you can compensate with some extra CO2 when you put the brew on tap?

On another note, I am getting ready to recondition some corny kegs. From what I have gathered, keg conditioning and force carbonation will yield some sediment on the bottom of the keg. Should I cut my liquid out rod in the tank so that this sediment is not picked up when pulling beer out of the keg? Or . . . will the sediment come out with the first class or two and then be gone?

If I should cut the rod, how much should I cut?

Don't cut the rod. You won't be able to get to the last of your beer. You'll just get a couple of yeasty beers and then it will be cool.
 
sonvolt said:
Should I cut my liquid out rod in the tank so that this sediment is not picked up when pulling beer out of the keg? Or . . . will the sediment come out with the first class or two and then be gone?
As God Emporer BillyBrew said, depending on how long you condition or how hard you crash the keg, your first pint or two will expel the yeast.

NEPABREWER said:
So what you are saying is that it would be necessary or advisable to have CO2 at the time I first put the beer into the keg from the secondary? Is pressure seaing requried? Thanks
It's only necessary if your keg doesn't seal properly without it. Some of my kegs seal very well without CO2 while most require about a 10# push to seal properly.

Wild
 
Hi
Im new to this and i was talking to my buddy and he said he had some conry kegs but i think he was a little cunfused as how they work he was saying that u just strained the wort into the keg and bobs your uncle your ready to go.whcih didnt sound right.I think the second link on here is what he was talking about but that link gets way off track little confusing.So anyways heres my question i have beer thats in the secondary and ready to be bottled this week.can i just put it into the corny keg and add c02 and im good to go like the first post link or am i supose to add sugar? Also how long does keg beer last? does it half to be refridgerated?
thanks
 
epic501j said:
can i just put it into the corny keg and add c02 and im good to go like the first post link or am i supose to add sugar?
This link shows the 3 ways of kegging.

epic501j said:
Also how long does keg beer last?
Depending on the style, beer can be cellared for years.

epic501j said:
does it half to be refridgerated?
Refrigeration will aid in both CO2 absorption and aging.

Good luck,
Wild
 
Back
Top