Siphoning into a closed keg - when to stop?

[dsaavedra]

I'm thinking about starting to do pseudo-closed transfers from my carboys to my kegs. I say pseudo because I don't think I'll be doing the whole CO2 pushing thing, I'm planning on just flushing my kegs with CO2, hooking my siphon up to the beer out disconnect, and opening the PRV to vent as beer goes in.

Anyway, I'm wondering how do you know when to stop transferring? I brew 5.5 gallon batches so that I can try to get 5 gallons into the keg, but sometimes I overshoot my volumes or get less trub than expected, etc. and there's more than 5 gallons of clear beer to transfer out of my carboy.

I would think that if I filled the keg until beer started coming out of the PRV that would be a bad thing

 

[ba-brewer]

I sometime release pressure from the gas out, when it spits it is to the bottom of the dip tube. I just thought of this, but if the keg was tilted slightly then that would allow to stop before the gas out tube is submerged.

 

[mashineko]

If you are transferring cold-crashed beer, you can observe the level of beer in the keg by the condensation forming on the surface. Personally, brewing a slightly lower quantity of beer to ensure that the beer doesn't overflow has been the easiest solution.

 

[dsaavedra]

I sometime release pressure from the gas out, when it spits it is to the bottom of the dip tube. I just thought of this, but if the keg was tilted slightly then that would allow to stop before the gas out tube is submerged.

Hmm so you press on the gas in poppet to vent, instead of pulling the PRV ring? And you're suggesting tilting the keg slightly toward the gas in side so that it will start to "spit" a bit sooner than if the keg were sitting level, leaving a little clearance in the headspace?

 

[ba-brewer]

yep

 

[day_trippr]

Digital scale.
Simple math is 8.345*SG pounds per gallon, so in a 5g corny aim for around 41 pounds above the keg weight.
Don't try using the "tare" method as most digital scales will time out and shut down in the middle of filling the keg, then you're screwed...

Cheers!

 

[chickypad]

I used to just pop a grey disconnect on instead of opening the PVR to vent, then be ready to shut it off when it hits the gas diptube. You could always run off a couple pints after if you're worried about it being too full. I never had a problem but was careful about venting kegs and not hooking up to unpressurized lines. Check valves are a good to protect your regulator too.

 

[ba-brewer]

I needed to transfer some beer to a keg so I tried it out. Stuck two pieces of wood(~1in ht) under the edge opposite the gas post and put a quick disconnect like chickypad said and it started to spit as it hit the bottom of the dip tube. Bad news was that was also about the time I ran out of beer to drain. I took one for the team and peek inside and there was quite a bit of space between surface of the beer and the bottom of the dip tube. Next time I will not tilt as far.

I don't this would work as well if your keg does seal with minimal to no pressure.

 

[dsaavedra]

Good to hear you had some success with the tipping method. Also good to hear that it works with the keg level - it makes sense that it shouldn't be a problem if the beer just touches the dip tube and you drain a few oz off so the tube is no longer submerged. The scale method also sounds really reliable.

To make things more difficult - my plan was to siphon into empty kegs that are already down in my keezer by placing the carboy on a tall stool next to the keezer. The goal here is to put less strain on my back lifting full kegs into the keezer as I've had some back problems lately. Of the methods suggested, it seems like the only one that would work with the kegs sitting in the freezer is keeping it level on the ground and checking for spitting from the gas disconnect (no room for digital scales or blocks of wood on the bottom of the keezer - plus I can't reach the bottom!)

 

[auburntsts]

Anyone fill by using a ball type level indicator: https://www.ballandkeg.com/ ?

 

[bruce_the_loon]

Pro-am tip, if you tilt the keg towards the gas post with a piece of wood directly under the beer post, and stop at the moment it starts spitting, the final level of the beer should be below the dip tube by roughly half the thickness of the wood you used to tilt the keg.

 

[day_trippr]

Pretty sure that's been covered...

 

[Spyderbyte07]

I would think that if I filled the keg until beer started coming out of the PRV that would be a bad thing

That's what I do. Makes a bit of a mess (especially since I still do a couple purge cycles afterward and sometimes I can't quite open the PRV slowly enough to prevent a spray, and that spray ALWAYS misses the towel I try to have draped over it...) but then I give the outside of the keg a quick rinse and I'm good to go. It seems to slow down my force carbonating a bit with so little surface area but otherwise I haven't had any problems.

 

[mj1angier]

Attach a cobra tap to the out post with a foot or 2 of clear line, tilt keg with blocks, start the fill, open cobra tap. Watch the clear line as it gets close to full. When you see it start to go fill line, close cobra. That will stop flow into keg. Disconnect fill line, remove blocks, disconnect cobra line, carb as normal

 

[FunkedOut]

all good advice here.
I always transfer cold, partially carbonated beer into kegs.
I use a spunding valve on the gas post of the serving keg.
Attach CO2 to the gas post on the fermentation keg.
And connect the two liquid posts together.

I bought a scale before my first transfer.
After all the math in world, 41lbs is what I use and don’t bother with the SG of each beer.
With cold 32*F beer in Florida, you can quickly see the condensation line as the keg fills.
Really don’t need the scale.

Waiting until it spits out the gas post has always resulted in beer getting in my gas lines later.
Even purging the kegs and hooking up pressurized lines.

 

[bleme]

I have a keg right now that won't seal because beer came out the PRV and gunked it up. It's a royal pain in the... neck.

 

[TravelingLight]

Digital scale.
Simple math is 8.345*SG pounds per gallon, so in a 5g corny aim for around 41 pounds above the keg weight.
Don't try using the "tare" method as most digital scales will time out and shut down in the middle of filling the keg, then you're screwed...

Cheers!

I use a scale for my closed transfers as well. I love it. I've even started using the scale to measure strike/sparge water as well. The one thing I like about mine is, it's battery operated or I can plug it in. It absolutely times out and shuts down on battery which is a pain. But if I plug it in, it stays on. Only made that mistake once.