Keg Conditioning

[Pantherjon]

This topic might have been covered somewhere in this section and I failed to find it..But, I am attending a big function at the end of April and as part of the festivities the group that I am with plan on having a pre-party. I have desire to present to them a selection of home brewed beer in kegs..Mainly what I am getting at is that I need to get brewing by the middle of March..So here is the big question(s):

After primary(and maybe secondary) is complete, can I treat the keg as if it were just a huge bottle, mix up the priming sugar solution, rack the beer into the keg and let it condition as if it were in a bottle? And do I need to keep it at fairly cool(70ish) temps for this condition, same as for the bottles?..Then when it comes time to tap the keg after this process, at what pressure would I need to have the CO2 regulator set at so the beer isn't over carbonated?

Sorry, guess that was 3 big questions...LOL

 

[Morrey]

Greetings. I am sure some of the heavy hitters will weigh in on your post, but I had the same questions you have a short time ago. You'll get many variations on this, but I primed a keg and added priming sugar solution to the keg when racking it off from secondary. I applied 15 lbs CO2 pressure and burped it several times to purge the O2 off the headspace, plus this pressure helps to set the orings in place. Test for leaks by spraying star san solution. Disconnect gas but leave this light CO2 pressure on the keg during the natural carbing process.

Put in a normal place you'd typically condition your bottles and for around the same time frame for natural carbing and bottle/keg conditioning. 2 weeks should be adequate but longer won't hurt....your keg is a big but very good (no light) place to condition safely.

The amount of priming sugar you use with this method varies from brewer to brewer. Instead of the typical 5 oz priming sugar typical in a 5 gal batch, I used 3 ounces. That worked well for me. I moved my keg to the kegerator after week 2 of conditioning/carbing. I was at the right carb level naturally w/o additional CO2, so I set my gas at the equilibrium level best for the beer style and my kegerator temp I served at. Give it a few more days at this level, and the keg will equalize if it needs more CO2. If you end up overcarbing (I don't think you will with this method) just burp and release as necessary.

I find this to be a great and easy way to produce and stage beers if you don't have serving space in your cooler at that particular time. Eliminates a time lag and keeps a ready keg on hand at all times. I had one buddy tell me he had a keg "conditioning" in this manner for almost 5 months. Unless he made a mistake along the way, that should be great beer.

 

[kombat]

It's unclear, but your choice of wording ("attending") suggests that the event is not at your own home, and thus you'll be transporting the kegs. In such case, I would not recommend attempting to keg-condition the beer, unless your guests will be comfortable with cloudy, yeasty beer. If you have kegs, and you have a CO2 tank, I would just force carbonate.

If you won't actually be transporting the kegs, then yes, you can go ahead and prime the beer with sugar water, seal it up (with pressure, to ensure the seals are seated), and store the kegs somewhere 70° F or warmer for 2-3 weeks while the beer carbs up. Then move the kegs into a kegerator or keezer, let them cool down, and do not move them again. This will work. As long as you leave them alone for a couple of weeks, the first pour will be cloudy and chunky, but the rest should be reasonably clear. Unless you move the keg. Then all bets are off.

However, if you will be transporting the kegs, then I would let the beer finish fermenting, then cold-crash it in the fermenter, then hit it with gelatin. This will give you very clear beer. Then after a few days, carefully lift the fermenter up onto an elevated surface, and gently rack it into a keg, taking care to keep the siphon away from the bottom of the fermenter, where the trub and yeast are. Then put it in the kegerator/keezer, hook it up to 12-15 psi of CO2 for 2 weeks, and you're good to go. You can move this keg, and while the beer will still be slightly hazy upon serving, it will be much, much clearer than if you'd attempted to bottle-carb it in the keg.

A third option, if you want really clear beer regardless of how much it is disturbed during transportation, would be to filter it. Proceed as described in the previous paragraph, except after you've racked it to the keg, push it (with CO2) to a second keg, through a 1-micron canister water filter and "jumper" keg connections (beverage connectors on both ends). That way, once the beer is in the second keg, it will be crystal clear, and no amount of jostling will cause it to become cloudy again. Then force carbonate, again as described in the previous paragraph.

Hope this helps. Get brewing!

 

[Morrey]

Kombat, I am very interested in the process of filtering as you explain as your third option. Can you suggest a place to find and read additional information about the process and equipment necessary in filtering as you described?

Interesting topic! Thanks!!

 

[kombat]

No problem. First off, you'll need a setup like this. You'll also need a CO2 tank and at least 2 kegs.

This process carries a risk of infecting or oxidizing your beer (as does pretty much any messing with your beer after fermentation), so sanitation is crucial, as is "flushing" the system before exposing it to your beer.

Here's how it works: You finish fermenting as normal. Take a keg and fill it to the brim with Star San to sanitize the interior. Seal the keg, then connect one end of the filtration system to the liquid out post of the keg. Connect the other liquid line to the liquid out post of another, empty keg. Connect the full keg's gas in line to a CO2 tank. Turn on the gas, and "push" the Star San from the full keg, through the filter, into the empty keg. Make sure you pull the pressure relief valve, or remove the lid, of the destination keg, so that the Star San can flow.

Once the Star San keg is empty, turn off the CO2 and disconnect the tank. Disconnect the filter connection from the (now-full) destination keg. Now the filter canister, the hoses, and both kegs are sanitized, and the empty keg and filter canister contain CO2. The destination keg is full of Star San.

Dump the Star San from the now-full keg, and rack the beer into it, as you normally would.

Seal the keg full of beer, and re-connect the free line of the filter assembly (the other end should still be connected to the empty, sanitized, and CO2 filled keg).

Connect the CO2 to the keg full of beer, and open the valve, with low pressure (5-ish psi). Pull the pressure relief valve of the filter canister to allow beer to flow into the filter canister assembly and completely fill it. Once it's full, close that valve, and instead open the pressure relief valve of the (empty) destination keg (the one that started out full of Star San initially). Push the entire keg of beer through the filter into the keg. Once all the beer has been transferred, close everything up, disconnect the liquid lines, purge the keg full of beer, then stick it in the fridge/keezer/kegerator, connected to CO2 (12-15 psi) and leave it for 2 weeks to carbonate. The beer will be crystal clear.

This method works, but isn't popular because of several reasons:

• CO2 is expensive in some areas
• The filters can be expensive and generally cannot be re-used
• It requires kegs
• It requires careful attention to sanitization, and risks infecting your beer if your sanitation is lax
• It risks oxidizing your beer if you don't ensure that the destination keg and filter assembly have been purged with CO2
• It takes more time than simply kegging
• Most homebrewers don't really care that much about crystal-clear beer
• A good cold-crash, gelatin, and careful racking protocol will get you almost equally clear beer
• Cleaning the filter canister and beverage lines afterwards can be a pain

Make sure you use the 1 micron filters. 5 microns is small enough to filter out hop debris, but not fine enough to filter out the yeast, and your beer can still be hazy.

 

[Pantherjon]

It's unclear, but your choice of wording ("attending") suggests that the event is not at your own home, and thus you'll be transporting the kegs. In such case, I would not recommend attempting to keg-condition the beer, unless your guests will be comfortable with cloudy, yeasty beer. If you have kegs, and you have a CO2 tank, I would just force carbonate.

If you won't actually be transporting the kegs, then yes, you can go ahead and prime the beer with sugar water, seal it up (with pressure, to ensure the seals are seated), and store the kegs somewhere 70° F or warmer for 2-3 weeks while the beer carbs up. Then move the kegs into a kegerator or keezer, let them cool down, and do not move them again. This will work. As long as you leave them alone for a couple of weeks, the first pour will be cloudy and chunky, but the rest should be reasonably clear. Unless you move the keg. Then all bets are off.

However, if you will be transporting the kegs, then I would let the beer finish fermenting, then cold-crash it in the fermenter, then hit it with gelatin. This will give you very clear beer. Then after a few days, carefully lift the fermenter up onto an elevated surface, and gently rack it into a keg, taking care to keep the siphon away from the bottom of the fermenter, where the trub and yeast are. Then put it in the kegerator/keezer, hook it up to 12-15 psi of CO2 for 2 weeks, and you're good to go. You can move this keg, and while the beer will still be slightly hazy upon serving, it will be much, much clearer than if you'd attempted to bottle-carb it in the keg.

A third option, if you want really clear beer regardless of how much it is disturbed during transportation, would be to filter it. Proceed as described in the previous paragraph, except after you've racked it to the keg, push it (with CO2) to a second keg, through a 1-micron canister water filter and "jumper" keg connections (beverage connectors on both ends). That way, once the beer is in the second keg, it will be crystal clear, and no amount of jostling will cause it to become cloudy again. Then force carbonate, again as described in the previous paragraph.

Hope this helps. Get brewing!

Yep, by 'attending' means the event is not at my house..We will be traveling to Jacksonville..And yes, transporting the kegs..And re-reading my original post, the event is at the end of April not May..LOL..So, I guess that option #2 is the path I should go, cold crash the fermenter and then gelatin..

Gelatin goes in after cold crash or during?

Also, after racking into keg and carbing for 2 weeks, how long will it be able to be disconnected from CO2 before losing carbonation? And I assume CO2 needs to be connected in order to serve as well?

 

[kombat]

Gelatin goes in after cold crash or during?

After. You want the beer to already be cold when you add the gelatin solution. And just to be clear, you don't just literally sprinkle some gelatin into the beer - you prepare it first. 1 tsp gelatin sprinkled into 1/2 cup room-temperature water, wait 20 minutes for it to "bloom," then heat it to 150° F (but no higher!) to dissolve. Pour into the fermenter.

Also, after racking into keg and carbing for 2 weeks, how long will it be able to be disconnected from CO2 before losing carbonation?

Indefinitely, as long as the keg is sealed. Where would the CO2 go? Beer in bottles doesn't just go flat - neither will carbonated beer in a keg.

And I assume CO2 needs to be connected in order to serve as well?

It doesn't have to be CO2, some folks use a hand pump and just pump in plain old air, but that will oxidize the beer, meaning you'd have to serve the entire keg in one go, or any leftover beer will be wasted. But yes, ideally, you'd bring a CO2 tank, regulator, manifold, and gas lines/disconnects with you for serving.