Keg to Keg jumper.

[kmat123]

I have started using my corny kegs as primary fermenters and once fermentation is complete I want to be able to push the beer over to the serving keg using a jumper with two liquid disconnects and a length of beer line. Would a 5 ft. length of beer line work for this or would 10 ft. be more preferable to prevent foaming? Thanks!

 

[Catt22]

No need to worry about the length of the line at all. A 5 ft or even shorter section will work just fine. The trick is to transfer from beer out to beer out. IOW, fill the keg through the beer out post. This way the receiving keg fills from the bottom up and minimizes foaming. The best way to do it is to first purge the receiving keg with CO2 to displace the air. Keep the receiving keg pressurized through the entire transfer. To start, have both kegs at the same low pressure of about 4-5 psi. The beer will not flow so long as both kegs are at the same pressure. Next, pull the pressure relief valve on the receiving keg. This will start the beer flowing. Release more pressure from the receiving keg as it slowly fills. You want to go fairly slow to minimize foaming. If the beer is cold, you can usually observe the "frost line" of condensation on the receiving keg and this lets you know how it's progressing. Some foaming will inevitably occur. If foam begins to come out of the pressure relief valve on the receiving keg, simply stop the transfer for 10 minutes or so to give it time to settle down, then resume the transfer. Some foam will come out the pressure relief valve as you near completion of the transfer and the fuller the keg is the more foam you will get. This is not a big deal, just be prepared for it and have the keg in a tub or on a towel to minimize the mess. You can do all of this at a very slow rate and generate little or no foam, but I'm not that patient. The transfer should take about 15-20 minutes going fairly slow and that works for me.

Oh yeah, take care that the receiving keg pressure does not exceed the donor keg pressure when connected as this can result in beer backing up into the donor keg which will churn up the yeast and stuff that has settled out in the fermenter. The result will be cloudy beer. It's also a good idea to be very gentle when moving the donor keg in order to avoid the same thing. I like to make the transfer without moving the donor keg at all. Do it that way if you can.

 

[kmat123]

Thanks Catt!

 

[bendavanza]

Unless the beer is carbed, foam should not be much of an issue. Catt22's procedure is what I do with carbed beer.

 

[HeyNoPie]

Initially I read this just thinking I was missing something about foam. Since it sounds like it is not carbonated, the length of beer line would not really matter. A shorter line gives less pressure drop though and is probably the way to go

 

[Catt22]

Unless the beer is carbed, foam should not be much of an issue. Catt22's procedure is what I do with carbed beer.

Yeah, I don't ferment in a keg, so it never occurred to me that the beer would not be carbed. I would still fill the receiving keg through the out post though and purge the keg with CO2 prior to the transfer.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

A few tricks I stumbled upon in my experience:
*Put the donor keg on the counter, and the receiving keg on the floor so gravity works for you.
*Don't waste your CO2 pushing the donor keg. After it is half transferred disconnect the gas and their should be enough pressure to push the rest out. If the flow stops, just give it a quick boost of CO2.

 

[Kahuna]

Great write up from Catt22. I've rigged up a 5.5 foot length of 3/16 ID tubing with tail pieces and beer nuts on the ends. It attaches quickly to flare QDs and is easy to take apart and clean. I use it a lot to jump beer from a 5 gal corny to a 3 gal, for transport or to free up more 5 gallon kegs.

 

[kmat123]

I had inquired about line length because I want to make one jumper that is capable of transferring both uncarbed and carbed beer while minimizing foam. Sounds like 5 ft. should work. Thanks guys!

 

[Catt22]

Great write up from Catt22. I've rigged up a 5.5 foot length of 3/16 ID tubing with tail pieces and beer nuts on the ends. It attaches quickly to flare QDs and is easy to take apart and clean. I use it a lot to jump beer from a 5 gal corny to a 3 gal, for transport or to free up more 5 gallon kegs.

The flare fittings really are the ideal way to go. I actually just borrow a line from my serving freezer to use as the jumper. The flare fittings make switching connectors really painless. They also make cleaning the lines much easier.

 

[Jaysus]

blackdot

jumper

 

[jtrainer]

My jumper is about 2' and will reach a keg at the back of the kegerator and fill a keg sitting just outside the kegerator.

Length doesn't matter unless who's been around a while then the girth is really what they need anyhow...

 

[iaefebs]

I transferred three batches of beer today to kegs. #1 was a Ale Pail to keg using a siphon. #2 was a Better Bottle to keg using gravity from spigot. #3 was a keg to keg transfer. My favorite method was the Keg to Keg using Catts method. Cleanup was easy also. After transfer, I cleaned the donor keg as usual using oxyclean, attached the jumper hose to it while under pressure, depressed the opposite beer out fitting with the butt end of a small screwdriver to flush beer. Filled the donor with hot water to rinse oxyclean out of it. Hooked up the jumper like before and I was done.

 

[Brownyard]

What ID tubing is recommended for a jumper? 3/16 or 1/4 for faster transfer?

 

[Broken Crow]

What ID tubing is recommended for a jumper? 3/16 or 1/4 for faster transfer?

As long as the kegs are under equal pressure, it doesn't matter.
( 12-year old thread! Yay!)

 

[IslandLizard]

Floating dip tubes were not around in those days, IIRC.

So what's most intriguing me is how they transferred, leaving all the trub behind in the fermenter keg, without too much beer loss.

Using a shortened dip tube I'd say, but how much shorter? A gallon's worth? Half a gallon? Somewhere in between?

For comparison, with most 5 gallon batches, I end up with around half a gallon of trub and yeast in the fermenter, being careful to transfer very little trub after chilling the wort, by letting it settle for an hour or so, then racking from above. I'm not using the exit port on the kettle. Hops are bagged.

 

[Brownyard]

As long as the kegs are under equal pressure, it doesn't matter.
( 12-year old thread! Yay!)

Thanks. Yep, "recycled".