How to tell how much beer is left in the keg

[Slipgate]

How do you tell how much beer is left in your kegs? I don't have the room to install a site glass so I kind of just make an educated guess based on consumption and try to have a keg done and ready to go. I guess I could take them out, open them and look, but what a huge pain in the butt.

Any tips?

 

[billc68]

Lift and guess by weight.

Or I suppose you could weigh an empty keg and calculate a very close number. I have no idea what beer weighs, it is lighter than water. Water is 1Kg per liter, roughly 2.2 pounds per liter and a liter is 1.05 quarts.

2lbs of beer per quart would be a very close estimate.

 

[azscoob]

when the tap sputters foam I know there is no more beer left! Actually I lift the keg and guess how much beer is left, you could weigh your kegs empty to get your tare weight, then keep your kegs on a dial bathroom scale that has been adjusted for the empty keg weight, when it reads near zero you are bout out of beer.

 

[Hammy71]

http://www.micromatic.com/part-pid-SS100.html

 

[jds]

Here are a few ideas:

• Take the keg out of the fridge for a few minutes. Condensation on the side of the keg should show you the liquid level.
• Pour warm water down one side of the keg and feel for the temperature change.
• Weigh it.
• Keep the pipeline full, and RDWHAHB. When the keg kicks, that's just an excuse to brew again!

 

[pcollins]

Just practice with lifting and giving a gentle sway back and forth to feel the volume moving around. I used to have to do this a lot at the brewery when I was working there when we were making up blended beers. I would have to figure out without the use of a scale when I had a keg filled to 1/10, 1/4 or 1/2 depending on what was being blended. I would also check partial kegs for when we were filling from them so I would know how many bottles to prepare. It doesn't take long to get the guessing pretty accurate.

 

[bmckee56]

I open the refrigerator door and give it a few minutes till I check the condensation on the outside of the keg. It only takes a few minutes to tell, so you don't have to worry to much about warming up anything inside the box.

As other have said; "When it spits foam at you, you know it's empty"

Have another waiting in the pipeline.

Salute!

 

[remilard]

You can weigh it as others have said. Assuming it weights as much as water is probably close enough for your purposes, but you do (or should) know the density of each beer relative to water (eg the specific gravity).

I've never used them but there are those strips like Hammy linked to. I have a weird hangup about having stickers on kegs and carboys but thats just me. I've been offered them free at least twice though, at homebrew comps where they were donated as prizes.

 

[Slipgate]

http://www.micromatic.com/part-pid-SS100.html

Sweet! Thanks! I just ordered 10 of these.

 

[azscoob]

Sweet! Thanks! I just ordered 10 of these.

I just ordered 10 of these too! cheap enough to put on all of my kegs, without needing to remove them constantly they should last a good long while!

 

[SumnerH]

Just practice with lifting and giving a gentle sway back and forth

Doesn't this rouse whatever yeast is settled at the bottom of the keg and make you have to wait for it to clear all over again?

 

[dap325]

Doesn't this rouse whatever yeast is settled at the bottom of the keg and make you have to wait for it to clear all over again?

I've only dealt with corny's but the dip tube is so close to the bottom of the keg, whatever is settled at the bottom should come out after the first or second pull.

 

[ClaudiusB]

How do you tell how much beer is left in your kegs?

Can you see the SmartStrip™ inside a full chest freezer?
I have a level sensor inside my dispensing tanks, needs to be connected to a display device like a lamp or controller.
Tells you the tank is almost empty, less than a gallon.
Only useful for a party to get the next keg ready.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

 

[pcollins]

Doesn't this rouse whatever yeast is settled at the bottom of the keg and make you have to wait for it to clear all over again?

Yes, if you still have some left. If you're cold crashing, most of the yeast should have come out on the first pull. If you're filtering, gelling, fining, etc., then you probably didn't transfer any in.

Come to think of it, if you're in a keg, in a fridge then you have automatically cold crashed whether you intended to or not.

In addition, I guess I just don't concern myself if the beer is a bit hazy. It really doesn't take away from the taste at all.