How do you transfer from primary fermentation keg to secondary/serving keg?

[beervoid]

Hey everone,

I've been trying to ferment in kegs for a while.

The technique im trying to figure out is how I can transfer from fermenting keg to secondary/serving keg with co2 without oxygen pickup.

My first try was an IPA, I cut half an inch of my diptube to avoid sucking up the yeast cake and hops from the bottom but when I started transfering to a bucket looking closely at the line about 2 to 3 liters later there was still trub coming out. I decided to just transfer to serving keg as it was not turning clear.
Ended up with quiet a cloudy IPA that even after coldcrashing had a yeast note.

what I think what happened was that most probably I slowly sucked up the trub from above, the diptube might not be high enough even though I cut off 1" ?
Any comments?

Now my 2nd try was a wheat beer. This time I decided to use a keg with an uncut diptube all the way down to the center bottom and first suck up all trub and move it into a bucket before transferring to secondary/serving keg.

Turned the CO2 on and I first got a dark trub then it turned clear so I stopped transferring to bucker and moved to my serving keg and continued all the while keeping a close eye on my line.
When the end was almost there again I saw dark trub entering the line to I quickly stopped the transfer and closed my serving keg.

When opening my fermentation keg I saw alof of trub on the bottom. I have to conclude that somehow a little trub was sucked up in the beginning then by pressure or flow somehow the rest of the trub was pushed away and I got clear beer, or perhaps semi clear beer as a sample I took and put in the fridge quickly got a nice dark layer on the bottom.

So my question is what might I be doing wrong? What techniques do you guys use?

Thanks alot!

 

[SmokeyRydr]

Hey everone,

I've been trying to ferment in kegs for a while.

The technique im trying to figure out is how I can transfer from fermenting keg to secondary/serving keg with co2 without oxygen pickup.

My first try was an IPA, I cut half an inch of my diptube to avoid sucking up the yeast cake and hops from the bottom but when I started transfering to a bucket looking closely at the line about 2 to 3 liters later there was still trub coming out. I decided to just transfer to serving keg as it was not turning clear.
Ended up with quiet a cloudy IPA that even after coldcrashing had a yeast note.

what I think what happened was that most probably I slowly sucked up the trub from above, the diptube might not be high enough even though I cut off 1" ?
Any comments?

Now my 2nd try was a wheat beer. This time I decided to use a keg with an uncut diptube all the way down to the center bottom and first suck up all trub and move it into a bucket before transferring to secondary/serving keg.

Turned the CO2 on and I first got a dark trub then it turned clear so I stopped transferring to bucker and moved to my serving keg and continued all the while keeping a close eye on my line.
When the end was almost there again I saw dark trub entering the line to I quickly stopped the transfer and closed my serving keg.

When opening my fermentation keg I saw alof of trub on the bottom. I have to conclude that somehow a little trub was sucked up in the beginning then by pressure or flow somehow the rest of the trub was pushed away and I got clear beer, or perhaps semi clear beer as a sample I took and put in the fridge quickly got a nice dark layer on the bottom.

So my question is what might I be doing wrong? What techniques do you guys use?

Thanks alot!

Have you considered adding one of those racking-tips. To your dip tube to pull more liquid from above the diptube?
Overall, I thing pouring off the trub first makes good sense.
I'm going to try using my cornies for secondary/dry hopping. But might consider using them for primary as well.
Do you recommend primary in the keg after doing it a while?

 

[mongoose33]

Get one of these jumper posts from Brewhardware:


I transfer from my conical fermenter to the serving keg, so same set of issues. What I'll typically do is take my jumper, which looks like this:


attach one end to the fermenter, and put the jumper post on the other end. I open the valve and of course out spews beer...and trub...through the jumper post. I clear the line, then shut off the valve, and remove the jumper post. I then attach it to the receiving keg, and then open the valve. This way I'm only transferring clear beer.

Those jumper posts have another great use: because you can use them to connect liquid QDs, you can daisy chain serving lines in a keezer or kegerator, and clean all the lines at once rather than one at a time. Like so:

 

[Jag75]

It might be easier if you use carboys for that. Seen a guy on YouTube, think it was Beer and Bbq with Larry. Anyhow he would transfer from carboy to keg by putting a certain bung with 2 holes . Hole #1 he put a dip tube that went down into the beer. Hole #2 he forced co2 in and the pressure forced the beer up the tube and had a hose attached and drained into the keg. I imagine you can do the same thing keg to keg. Maybe even put a filter on the end of the hose or tube .

 

[Jag75]

Get one of these jumper posts from Brewhardware:

View attachment 593479
I transfer from my conical fermenter to the serving keg, so same set of issues. What I'll typically do is take my jumper, which looks like this:

View attachment 593480
attach one end to the fermenter, and put the jumper post on the other end. I open the valve and of course out spews beer...and trub...through the jumper post. I clear the line, then shut off the valve, and remove the jumper post. I then attach it to the receiving keg, and then open the valve. This way I'm only transferring clear beer.

Those jumper posts have another great use: because you can use them to connect liquid QDs, you can daisy chain serving lines in a keezer or kegerator, and clean all the lines at once rather than one at a time. Like so:

View attachment 593481 View attachment 593482 View attachment 593483

This is cool

 

[Iseneye]

I have been fermenting in a larger corny keg and transferring to smaller serving keg for years. I originally used the full length dip tube but after two clogged transfers I bent the dip tube so it is around 1.5-2" off the bottom. I still get a bit of trub transfer but that gets sucked out in the serving keg. I have also recently started using clear beer systems so the small amount of trub in the serving keg is now a non-issue.

 

[SmokeyRydr]

I have been fermenting in a larger corny keg and transferring to smaller serving keg for years. I originally used the full length dip tube but after two clogged transfers I bent the dip tube so it is around 1.5-2" off the bottom. I still get a bit of trub transfer but that gets sucked out in the serving keg. I have also recently started using clear beer systems so the small amount of trub in the serving keg is now a non-issue.

The only problem in using a corny for primary is the lack of head space. I'm used to fermenting 5.5g for a full 5g net.

 

[hezagenius]

If I were fermenting in a corny keg, I'd be using a Clear Beer Draught System with a filter over the opening. That will let you pull beer from the top of the liquid and you can stop before you get to the bottom.

I use them in my serving kegs and will never not use them.

 

[beervoid]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the responses this was quiet an old post and I have since switched a DIY floating diptube and really liking it.

 

[Jag75]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the responses this was quiet an old post and I have since switched a DIY floating diptube and really liking it.

Awesome , glad you worked it out .

 

[4of7]

beer troll saying this is how i do it under pressure

 

[hezagenius]

beer troll saying this is how i do it under pressure

Pretty much how I do it. CO2 going into fermenter, liquid coming out of fermenter going into liquid post of receiving keg, spunding valve on gas post of receiving keg to prevent foaming (especially if you are carbonating in fermenter), and weighing the receiving keg to know when to stop so you don't shoot beer through the spunding valve.

 

[4of7]

Yes ..then when i see trub I will stop change to the picnic tap and harvest yeast