Keg PSI question

[grove]

Hi everyone,

Posted this question in the keg forum but I was not very clear so I thought I'd try to find an answer here.

Basically I don't have room for a kegerator so I bought a kegging setup with a 3gal keg to compensate, which fits in my current fridge just fine. However I also picked up a 5gal keg also since they are cheap and can work as fermenters or for bulk aging.

So I have 5 gallons of ESB sitting in that 5gal keg that I racked into after about 5 weeks in primary, to which I added a 1/2 cup of boiled DME and sealed it off with a couple blasts of CO2. This was about a month ago. Now I am thinking it is ready to serve.

Since the beer is already carbonated (I hope, how can I check for this? Pull a warm pint?) I want to transfer it to my 3gal using a jumper. Once I chill that 3gal, I want to bottle 2 gallons of it using the BMBF method, as I was told that this method will only work with chilled beer. I will then rack the other 2 gallons left in the 5gal to the 3gal. My question is, will the 2 gallons left in my 5gal be fine sitting at room temp like that? Do I need to leave the gas hooked up or can I set it to a certain PSI and unhook it (to use the BMBF).

Sorry if this is confusing or convoluted, I am trying to make it as simple as possible and hope not to needlessly complicate things. Any assistance is much appreciated!

 

[broadbill]

I think what you describe is fine to do...other than it being a bit complicated (but I understand the reason for it).

the 5gal keg has been sitting at room temp for a month...not going to bother it sitting for a bit longer...

 

[grove]

Yea I see now that it is a bit complicated. Next time, I'm gonna primary for a month or so, rack straight into the 3gal with appropriate priming sugar, and then bottle the other 2gal with some carb-tabs and call it a day.

Once I get that 3 gallons transferred from the 5gal, at what pressure should I leave the 5gal at before unhooking the gas? I am mainly concerned with losing carbonation in the 5gal due to the extra headspace. (Not sure if this is a valid concern, but pretty sure I read about this risk somewhere).

Thanks again!

 

[shortyjacobs]

OK, plugged it into Beersmith for ya. Beersmith says you got around 2 volumes carbonation with your 1/2 cup DME in a keg (at 60F). To keep 2 volumes of carbonation at 60F, you need 16 PSI.

So hit it with some CO2 after you jump out your 3 gal, up to 16 PSI, and then disconnect the gas. By disconnecting it, you won't carbonate it more, (just in case I was off with my numbers ).

 

[grove]

Wow, awesome. Thank you!

 

[chuggs]

grove,

In the future...if you have an extra Keg Coupler laying around...you might pick-up a 1/4" NPT to barb fitting and a low pressure gauge. If you add a needle valve into the arrangement you can use it for transfering too.

I use it to check kegs to see if they're still sealed/carbonated. Then next time your asking yourself..."How can I tell if it's carbonated?" Put a gauge on the tank and see if it's carbonated or not.

Also...you can use the same device when transfering beer from keg to keg.

Pressurize the tank you're about to transfer into. Bleed off a couple of times to get the air out. Hook up the liquid-liquid jumper. If the receiving tank is at the same pressure as the sending tank...the beer won't flow yet. Then hook up your little gas disconnect with the low pressure gauge and needle valve. Open the needle valve slightly...and as the gas escapes...liquid will start to transfer into that tank. This way you can keep it under pressure during the transfer and avoid a lot of foaming issues.

Here's someone's build of that device:

http://hbd.org/carboy/kegpresstester.htm

 

[grove]

My homebrewing bookmarks seem to be breeding rapidly. Appreciated!

 

[bronzdragon]

Chuggs makes a good point.

Also I'll add that when I have a beer that I want to bottle a portion of and keg the rest, I boil my dme and add it to my bottling bucket. Siphon my beer into the sugar and let it mix then I bottle what I need and then just hook a hose to the bottling spiggot and dump it into the keg.

viola

cheers

~r~

 

[grove]

I considered your method bronzdragon! But I got all hung up on the advice that you're supposed to add a lower amount of priming sugar for a keg vs the same volume of beer put into bottles. Are you sayin I could have avoided all this hassle by priming the whole 5 gallons outta primary and then moved it into keg+bottles?

What a great learning experience. All in the pursuit of a good pint.