How full (Weight) do you fill your Kegs?

[terrypratt1]

Looking for input from others. At first I tried the "frost line" method but finally purchased a scale off of market place. Still looking to dial in how much is too much. If I assume:

* 5 Gallons of water weigh ~ 41.7 pounds.
* Beer at 1.010 gravity is ~ 5% heavier than water.
* So - 5 gallons of typical beer would be 43.8 pounds.

Would you all aim for this is a 5 gallon Corny Keg - or is that pushing things too much? My Corny kegs empty weigh in at 12 pounds (so 55.8 pounds with 5 gallons of beer). I have not gone past 52 pounds - when filling - am I leaving too much "in the tank" so to speak?

Terry

 

[tracer bullet]

Not to be flippant but I monitor how much comes out of my fermenter and stop when I hit just under 5 gallons, one perk of a clear fermenter (big mouth bubbler) that I've separately verified as being pretty accurate on its markings.

Is that something you can consider? Make things easy on yourself.

 

[terrypratt1]

not flippant at all .. asked for advise I do have a All Rounder (clear) but I also do closed Gravity closed transfers and as such typically have the fermenter tilted to get the best beer transferred. I suppose possible but difficult to measure as I increase the tilt to bet the floating tube/filter to where the most beer is.

I do think weight does give a good answer - and maybe I should try the simple solution and pour water into my empty keg and see where 41.7 gets me (don't know why I just now thought of that - maybe the flippant remark lead me to KISS?

Terry

 

[Bramling Cross]

I'm usually around 52lbs, but it's a note that I don't take reliably--I have the most documentation on my 6gal kegs. I just know that when the scale reads 50lb, it's time to stop goofing around and pay attention.

I also use one of these, it's from Kegland (the ACME Industries of homebrewing) and it works most of the time.

 

[Spartan1979]

I transfer into a closed keg, so I don't know how much is in the keg. I use SSBrewTech Buckets so I'll stop just before the beer gets down to the bottom of the racking arm or until beer comes out of the hose I have attached to gas post. If the latter I'll drain about 3/4 of a pint out so the beer level is below the bottom of the gas post.

 

[mac_1103]

Would you all aim for this is a 5 gallon Corny Keg - or is that pushing things too much?

I guess it depends on the specific kegs you're using, but I don't think that putting a full five gallons into a standard five gallon corny keg would be pushing anything. The nominal capacity is based on leaving about a quart of headspace. You could put exactly five gallons of water into one of your kegs to see exactly how close to the top it's filled.

 

[mac_1103]

it's from Kegland (the ACME Industries of homebrewing) and it works most of the time.

But the stuff from ACME fails most of the time, otherwise those cartoons wouldn't be nearly as funny.

 

[tdf]

1 liter of water weights 1 kilogram. My kegs hold just over 19 liters. I'll tare the scale with the empty keg and then fill to 19kg.

I usually don't brew full 19L batches in reality, but I'll still fill on a scale to measure how much I actually get into the keg. Usually 15L.

 

[Deadalus]

* Beer at 1.010 gravity is ~ 5% heavier than water.

That would be 1% heavier.

 

[wepeeler]

If I tare my corny kegs before filling, I usually get right around 42lbs. YMMV.

 

[day_trippr]

My methodology:

- all kegs have recorded TARE weights, viewable in my tap list system
- I use a spreadsheet that was created by an HBTer years ago to calculate what 5.0 gallons of the given FG will weigh - including the keg
- my digital scale is plugged into a wall wart so it won't shut off - and I do not TARE the scale with the empty keg (see above)
- I do run a blow-off hose from the gas post to a bucket of water so O2 can't sneak back in - plus it'll tattle if the keg is overfilled

Cheers!

 

[tracer bullet]

not flippant at all .. asked for advise I do have a All Rounder (clear) but I also do closed Gravity closed transfers and as such typically have the fermenter tilted to get the best beer transferred. I suppose possible but difficult to measure as I increase the tilt to bet the floating tube/filter to where the most beer is.

Good point. For me, I 1) measure before I tilt, and 2) More often than not end up with about 4.5 gallons in a keg before I hit the yeast cake and so I rarely have to worry.

If I started with 6 gallons or something then, yeah, this wouldn't work so well. And I think your'e right about weighing, kind of bullet proof if you have a decent scale and you give yourself a touch of extra space (stop a pound or two shy, or more).

On a related note... how many gallons fit in a 5 gallon keg? Is it 5.000 or more like 5.5 or something?

 

[day_trippr]

It's just a little above 5 gallons to the keg "shoulder" where the sidewall starts turning towards the center. But assuming one has clipped the gas dip tube short you can use nearly all of the volume above that line, but at the cost of increasing the time it takes to carbonate the beer as the head space surface area shrinks...

Cheers!

 

[Snuffy]

I usually bottle a liter off the bottom of the fermenter to start and then keg the rest. That gives me the confidence to transfer into a corny blind and be pretty sure I have enough headspace for decent carbonation. Also, the bottle gets the benefit of whatever yeast has collected inside the valve.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I transfer into a closed keg, so I don't know how much is in the keg. I use SSBrewTech Buckets so I'll stop just before the beer gets down to the bottom of the racking arm or until beer comes out of the hose I have attached to gas post. If the latter I'll drain about 3/4 of a pint out so the beer level is below the bottom of the gas post.

Same here. For a 5 gal keg, I target 5.5 gals into the fermenter. This will usually get me close to a full keg, but I have not weighed a keg in a while. If I drained all the clear beer into the keg, then I am done. If beer start to come out the gas post hose, then I am done (and will drain out some out to make sure the level is below the gas post).

 

[SkyPilot]

I'm usually around 52lbs, but it's a note that I don't take reliably--I have the most documentation on my 6gal kegs. I just know that when the scale reads 50lb, it's time to stop goofing around and pay attention.

I also use one of these, it's from Kegland (the ACME Industries of homebrewing) and it works most of the time.

I use this too and it works well for me so far…..

 

[day_trippr]

^That^ could work - if the gas dip tube hasn't been shortened (all mine are cut down to just ~1/2")...

Cheers!

 

[Brewer Mike]

My Coke/Pepsi corny's weighed in at 8.8lb. My scale shuts off, so I have to check them when they get close, but I go to about 50lb.

If there's a reasonable amount of beer left (I also have clear fermenter), I'll put it into 1 or 2 2l PET bottles with a carbonation cap.

 

[Broken Crow]

First note: Keg volumes: I know it can be useful to cut the gas diptube, but I haven't...It's a personal choice to adhere to absolute standards I have 4 vintage 5G cornys; (2 genuine Cornelius, 1 Firestone, 1 AEB), 5 Kegland 5Gs, 3 thin-handled chinese 1.6Gs, and strap-handled AEBs in 2.5G, 3G, 5G. All of them meet their stated volume just a hair below the gas diptube. I don't have any Torpedos or other popular ones but I imagine that is an industry-standard practice.
Second note: the weight: As you're in the USA, you'll want to draw the curtains and lock the door so the neighbors don't see...Look on your scale for a dusty never-used button possibly marked; "Metric", "Kg", "Pinko" and push it..
1 Litre of water = 1 Kilogram... 5 US Gallons = 18.92706 Litres. Multiply your FG x 18.92706 and that's your weight in Kg.

 

[Redhouse Brewing]

For me, I do closed transfer to keg by weight method. I know the weight of the empty keg (mine are 8 lbs). I multiply the beer FG by 8.34 and use that number multiplied by 5 to get beer weight (example: FG 1.012 x 8.34 = 8.44).
8.44 x 5 gals = 42.2. They I add the keg weight of 8 so I fill until 50lbs. Then I know I’ve got 5 gals of beer and .25 headspace.

 

[bwible]

Been brewing since 1997, I never once heard of anyone filling a keg by weight before this.

I’m as old school as it gets, I still use what you guys call a secondary. If I make 5 gallons, it ends up in a 5 gallon carboy. If I make 3 gallons it ends up in a 3 gallon carboy. I fill the keg out of the carboy and it really doesn’t get more simple.

Even if I bottle - which I still do frequently, especially for strong beers, I know how many bottles I need.

Yeah I don’t understand the whole filling kegs by weight thing.

 

[bwible]

First note: Keg volumes: I know it can be useful to cut the gas diptube, but I haven't...It's a personal choice to adhere to absolute standards I have 4 vintage 5G cornys; (2 genuine Cornelius, 1 Firestone, 1 AEB), 5 Kegland 5Gs, 3 thin-handled chinese 1.6Gs, and strap-handled AEBs in 2.5G, 3G, 5G. All of them meet their stated volume just a hair below the gas diptube. I don't have any Torpedos or other popular ones but I imagine that is an industry-standard practice.
Second note: the weight: As you're in the USA, you'll want to draw the curtains and lock the door so the neighbors don't see...Look on your scale for a dusty never-used button possibly marked; "Metric", "Kg", "Pinko" and push it..
1 Litre of water = 1 Kilogram... 5 US Gallons = 18.92706 Litres. Multiply your FG x 18.92706 and that's your weight in Kg.

Most of mine have floating dip tubes now so cutting dip tubes is a non issue.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Water = 8.34 lb per gallon
Say fg is 1.010 as mentioned in OP

8.34 x 1.010 = 8.4234 lb per gallon
8.4234 x 5 = 42.117 lb

I tare my scale with empty keg on it and aim for 42lb

If doing a bigger beer with fg of 1.026 it will be 42.78 lb for a 5 gallon keg. So all beers will be different, I do a quick calculation before I keg so I have a target for that batch. I fill 3 kegs with each batch so I try to get them as equally filled as possible.

Like this, similar to @day_trippr

 

[Zippy123]

On my fermentation vessels I have measured marks at 5, 5.5, and 6 gal. If I am between 5.5 and 6 gal (rare) then I'll bottle a few six packs and transfer the rest to the corny. If below 5.5 gal then I just transfer to corny since I know a few quarts will remain after transfer. Like others, I have the tare weight of keg with lid, Flotit, and aeration stone marked on each keg. I weigh the keg when finished so I know the packaged volume. But truth be told, packaged volume is an interesting although somewhat unimportant data point for me. It's always between 4.5 and 4.9 gallons, and I don't drink it any faster or slower based on that information.

 

[wepeeler]

Water = 8.34 lb per gallon
Say fg is 1.010 as mentioned in OP

8.34 x 1.010 = 8.4234 lb per gallon
8.4234 x 5 = 42.117 lb

I tare my scale with empty keg on it and aim for 42lb

If doing a bigger beer with fg of 1.026 it will be 42.78 lb for a 5 gallon keg. So all beers will be different, I do a quick calculation before I keg so I have a target for that batch. I fill 3 kegs with each batch so I try to get them as equally filled as possible.

Like this, similar to @day_trippr
View attachment 856519

Exactly. I tare after I put keg on scale and again after I hook up all my tubing and filter. That usually adds another 2lbs or so of pressure onto the scale. 42+ lbs of beer, and she starts spraying...

 

[Broken Crow]

The part you haven't mentioned is your exact aim in filling...As you've seen from posts thus far, we all have our own criteria. I was using glass carboys and started kegging solely for the purpose of force-carbing so as to avoid sediment in my bottles and I didn't care about the empty space remaining in the keg. Once I got a kegerator though, I chose to aim for 'exactness' and I'm not entirely sure why...I'm just compelled to fill the 5G kegs to exaclty 5G of clear beer...of course that meant I adjusted my batch sizes initially to about 6.5 gallons and emptied carboys from the top down by lowering the racking cane in process just like in @day_trippr s picture above, and first bottling with dextrose the remainder until I bought my cheap baby-kegs to take the last and sometimes cloudy beer from the bottom. For practical purposes it doesn't actually matter if it's a bit low..that'll actually help carb it faster and you won't have to worry about beer shooting up your gas line when you plug in. Just pick a method comfortable and either measure an arbitrary amount or do the gravity/wieght calculation.
As far as I can tell, I'm in the minority that choose exactness.

 

[AlexKay]

I'm confused. I transfer absolutely as much clear beer as I can. What would be the point of not transferring (and then throwing away) perfectly good beer?

I suppose if you overfilled the keg to the point where the gas/surface interface area went down, it could slow down force carbonation. Theoretically.

From an oxygen exposure perspective (and really, shouldn't everything be from an oxygen exposure perspective?), spund and then overfill the keg, until it comes out the pressure relief.

 

[Broken Crow]

it could will slow down force carbonation. Theoretically.

FIFY... Carbonation occurs only at the interface of liquid and gas ie: The greater the surface area, the faster it goes, and the reverse is also true. I suppose overfilling is ok if you have a pipeline of kegs full of beer awaiting use because it will take a very long time to carbonate with essentially no surface exposure to CO2...The total volume in the keg also plays into this; an undefilled keg will carbonate faster simply because there is less volume, the speed at which CO2 is absorbed at the exposed surface is constant wether near the top of the keg or the bottom as long as it is in the same range of the maximum diameter and not up to the curve at the top. Kudos on spunding because that's the best workaround for getting maximum fillage with the least wait-to-serve time. Like I mentioned above, we all have our preferences....just curious though; How do you deal with beer shooting up the gas line? ...my own experience with check-valves is that most plastic ones don't actually work.

 

[Ron O]

I've been looking at the weight of wort for a different reason, to see how much liquid I lose on my transfer. I put everything into a Google sheet, Wort Volume

It works both ways; weight to volume, or volume to weight. It also has pre-set tare weights for my keg and fermenter. Additionally, it compensates for temperature, which affects the density of liquid.

 

[whoaru99]

I prop keg at a small liquid bias (tilt) toward the gas tube. When it starts to come out gas port I stop filling. Then, with keg level it's a bit below the gas tube.

What exact volume I end up with I don't know. It just is what it is for me.