Pretty Excited About Kegging

[BigFloyd]

+1 on not shaking for the very reasons explained by Yooper.

My pipeline stays pretty full these days unless I'm doing multiple lagers. I usually just set at 12psi and give it 12-14 days.

 

[passedpawn]

+1 on not shaking for the very reasons explained by Yooper.

My pipeline stays pretty full these days unless I'm doing multiple lagers. I usually just set at 12psi and give it 12-14 days.

Me too. Full pipeline here, so never any hurry.

 

[Taylormade]

Ok, bought some o-rings and all's well with the Newcastle keg now. I've got a second C02 tank, just need another regulator, and then I can carbonate separately at higher pressures, while still enjoying my beer. It also gives me a little better flexibility with my serving pressures across the different kegs as well.

 

[Taylormade]

Update: As you'll recall, yesterday, after shaking it up at 30psi, I purged all the c02 and set it to 12psi.

This morning I thought I'd check out the progress. Glunk. One little tiny bit of beer came out, not even enough to fill a shot glass. Do I need to crank it up a bit? It was at 12psi for about 15 hours.

 

[BigFloyd]

Update: As you'll recall, yesterday, after shaking it up at 30psi, I purged all the c02 and set it to 12psi.

This morning I thought I'd check out the progress. Glunk. One little tiny bit of beer came out, not even enough to fill a shot glass. Do I need to crank it up a bit? It was at 12psi for about 15 hours.

That sounds like a stoppage problem, not lack of carb. The first thing I'd check is the pickup tube.

 

[Taylormade]

That sounds like a stoppage problem, not lack of carb. The first thing I'd check is the pickup tube.

You're correct, sir!

Pulled tube and it was plugged, probably from non-dissolved gelatin (oops). Once I cleared it, it was pouring smooth. Thanks!!

 

[BigFloyd]

You're correct, sir!

Pulled tube and it was plugged, probably from non-dissolved gelatin (oops). Once I cleared it, it was pouring smooth. Thanks!!

I'm glad to hear that got you up and running.

 

[Taylormade]

I'm glad to hear that got you up and running.

Yeah buddy! Now I just have to wait a little bit for the beer to even out. I pulled some last night and it's a little rough still, not as smooth as I expected. I think a few more days will do it well. I have the Newcastle sitting with 20# on it undisturbed. At some point today, I'll step it down to about 10#.

Thanks to all for your guidance and assurance!! Pics to come still

 

[Taylormade]

Ok, so the Newcastle is done and tastes really good! The Fat Tire may be a bit overcarbonated (imagine that) but I'll give it a few days to mellow out. I purged the CO2 out of it and turned it down to about 7psi.

Both are pretty cloudy still but that's expected at this stage.

Fat Tire Clone

And the Newcastle

 

[passedpawn]

Ok, so the Newcastle is done and tastes really good! The Fat Tire may be a bit overcarbonated (imagine that) but I'll give it a few days to mellow out. I purged the CO2 out of it and turned it down to about 7psi.

Both are pretty cloudy still but that's expected at this stage.

Fat Tire Clone

Looks good... I can almost taste that from here!

 

[Newsman]

One problem I've heard with using gelatin to clear your beer is that if you move it around after adding the gelatin, you're liable to have the problem you encountered with bits of gelatin in your beer. I've never tried it, I just use Irish moss in the last 10 minutes or so of the boil. There are various other "finings" that one adds to the boil, but they all do pretty much the same... help the yeast fall out of solution once they're done eating all or most of the sugar. Then again I mostly brew dark beers so I don't worry too much about the clarity of my beer.

 

[passedpawn]

One problem I've heard with using gelatin to clear your beer is that if you move it around after adding the gelatin, you're liable to have the problem you encountered with bits of gelatin in your beer. I've never tried it, I just use Irish moss in the last 10 minutes or so of the boil. There are various other "finings" that one adds to the boil, but they all do pretty much the same... help the yeast fall out of solution once they're done eating all or most of the sugar. Then again I mostly brew dark beers so I don't worry too much about the clarity of my beer.

I've been using gelatin forever, but I'm starting to think it wasn't really necessary. At least not for keggers. I'd probably still do it if I was bottling.

 

[Taylormade]

whelp, there's alcohol in them thar beers and I'm proof of it. My buddy stopped by and tried out some of the new brew. It's getting better by the hour, and I don't just mean the drunker I get, the better it tastes.

 

[BansheeRider]

I've been using gelatin forever, but I'm starting to think it wasn't really necessary. At least not for keggers. I'd probably still do it if I was bottling.

I think I would rather filter the beer using 2 kegs than use gelatin. That filter setup you can buy is legit if you are worried about excessive yeast and clarity.

 

[passedpawn]

I think I would rather filter the beer using 2 kegs than use gelatin. That filter setup you can buy is legit if you are worried about excessive yeast and clarity.

I've done plenty of filtering with plate filters. They work great, and I'll continue to do that with specific beers (light-colored lagers).

 

[Taylormade]

well, I dunno what the heck you two are talking about but I'm sure my friend, Google, could help me learn quickly.

Update to the good stuff: Day three is better than day two but there are some lingering tastes and maybe off flavors in the Fat Tire clone I'm not totally in love with. It's nowhere near as clear as the Newcastle clone either, but that's probably from the shakin' I gave it over the weekend. Maybe it'll clear up as time goes on... it's only been 17 days since brewing. Tis to be expected, being the first batch and all, so I'm not overly concerned and I know that each batch will get better. The Newcastle clone is smooth and clear, tastes pretty good too! I'm excited to think about what it'll taste like when we get back from camping on Sunday.

 

[beertroll]

My first several batches were pretty rubbish. I'm always a bit envious of the newbies who produce good stuff right out of the gate.

 

[skitter]

All this talk of putting the beer into the keg and keeping the pressure on... is there no putting it in the keg and letting it age without having a regulator hooked up? I'm assuming you can pop it up to pressure (the 3 day process) and let it sit without the Co2 hooked up until you wanted to drink it right?

 

[Taylormade]

My first several batches were pretty rubbish. I'm always a bit envious of the newbies who produce good stuff right out of the gate.

What I have right now, I can definitely drink, but I did switch back to the Sam Adams Winter Lager and Yuengling for the time being so that I can "age" the home brews a little bit more to see if the taste is enhanced at all.

All this talk of putting the beer into the keg and keeping the pressure on... is there no putting it in the keg and letting it age without having a regulator hooked up? I'm assuming you can pop it up to pressure (the 3 day process) and let it sit without the Co2 hooked up until you wanted to drink it right?

Except the CO2 would be absorbed by the beer in the first two hours and you'd need more CO2 to feed the rest of the beer.

 

[masonsjax]

In that case you can condition in the keg. Add about 3oz of simple sugar, seal the lid with about 30psi and let it sit in a warm spot for a few weeks, then move it wherever you want for ageing.

 

[Cider123]

I don't take mine off the gas until the keg kicks. I tend to like my beers a bit less carbed than many folks. For me, I like most beers at 8psi and my British session ales at 6psi.

I agree with the force carbing method of 36 hours but I don't use 30 psi as a default setting. I decide what psi I want my beer to be served at. If I believe 8 psi is where I hope to end up, then I do the following:
chill beer in keg
add gelatin (yes, me likey)
set at 3x the serving pressure, so for this beer 8 x 3 =21 for 36 hours at 38, 39F. You know, freakin fridge temp!
after 36 hours, purge keg and set to serving pressure, for this beer it would be 8psi
the next day, well carbed beer
in 2-3 days nice clear, well carbed beer

I tend to get the gout so having as much yeast drop out is important to me. I haven't had the gout since kegging and using gelatin.

Have fun!

 

[skitter]

Sorry I ment going through the 3 day process then taking it off the lines and letting it sit to condition

 

[Taylormade]

Sorry I ment going through the 3 day process then taking it off the lines and letting it sit to condition

Ahhh, yeah, I'd assume that'd work fine as well, but (obviously) I haven't tried it.

Today I'll be moving my Magic Hat clone from primary to secondary, as per the instructions, unless you guys tell me it's not necessary. The other two recipes didn't mention moving to a secondary whereas this one did.

The recipe calls for adding the apricot at bottling, which I assume means kegging for me. Do I dump it in and swirl it around? Seems like I'd be disturbing the yeast. Perhaps I should rack it into a bottling bucket first and THEN add the apricot?

 

[masonsjax]

Secondary is not necessary. Some will claim that gravity somehow works better to precipitate yeast in a second vessel than it does in the primary, so do it if you want. It won't hurt unless you splash it or infect it or value your time and effort
If you're adding real fruit or dry hopping there may be value to keeping it separate from the yeast cake, especially if you plan to reuse that yeast. Otherwise you can safely skip secondary.

 

[CA_Mouse]

The recipe calls for adding the apricot at bottling, which I assume means kegging for me. Do I dump it in and swirl it around? Seems like I'd be disturbing the yeast. Perhaps I should rack it into a bottling bucket first and THEN add the apricot?

If it is just fruit extract, then add it to the keg when you rack off the yeast cake.

 

[E_Marquez]

Sometimes I think established brewers with 6, 8, 10 ect buckets, carboys or several conical fermentors sometimes forget the NEW brewer may only have ONE 6 gal bucket and ONE 5 gal carboy.. So they may have a NEED to rack a batch to secondary vessel just so they can start another batch. Got to keep that pipeline full right....

A NEW brewer may WANT to rack to a second vessel, because they WANT to learn for them themselves the value or not of doing so..It also allows them to practice other process that need experience at.. ie just using the tools of the hobby, practicing good sanitation procedures..ect.

For the brewer that does not cold crash and has to move the fermenter a lot to get it to where they will rack to bottles or keg...racking to a secondary vessel and letting that much smaller amount of yeast settle out may allow for less junk transferred to bottles or keg.

 

[Taylormade]

Sometimes I think established brewers with 6, 8, 10 ect buckets, carboys or several conical fermentors sometimes forget the NEW brewer may only have ONE 6 gal bucket and ONE 5 gal carboy.. So they may have a NEED to rack a batch to secondary vessel just so they can start another batch. Got to keep that pipeline full right....

A NEW brewer may WANT to rack to a second vessel, because they WANT to learn for them themselves the value or not of doing so..It also allows them to practice other process that need experience at.. ie just using the tools of the hobby, practicing good sanitation procedures..ect.

For the brewer that does not cold crash and has to move the fermenter a lot to get it to where they will rack to bottles or keg...racking to a secondary vessel and letting that much smaller amount of yeast settle out may allow for less junk transferred to bottles or keg.

Excellent point and I'm sure fits a lot of noob brewers. In my case, however, I'm stocked with carboys and fermenting buckets, having three of each plus two bottling buckets that I could ferment in if I were in a pinch. I got lucky and found a guy getting OUT of the hobby as I was getting in, so it worked out great!

I'll leave the 'hat alone for another week and put in in the keg next Friday. I'd really like to have some for my b-day next Sat.