The best way to fill a Cornelius keg

[oswegan]

Sounds good. That's what I'll do.

Got them kegged no problem last night.

 

[Chriso]

So why does my keg contain a visible 'fog' when I gas it up and purge a couple of times before racking the beer into it? CO2 is heavier than air, it therefore follows that if you've pressurised and purged a couple of times you are likely to have more CO2 than regular air in there. I dare say many have got away with not doing this, I just say that for the small expense of a bit of gas it's an additional safety-net.

Um. That 'fog' is CO2.

At least for me....... at $14 for a 5# fill, and with that 5# tank only lasting me 4-6 weeks on average.... It's worth it not to purge the keg before filling.

 

[conpewter]

Oh and in case it wasn't covered you need to leave the Co2 hooked up while shaking and while it is sitting in the fridge finishing carbonation.

 

[john from dc]

the layer of heavier co2 is not a myth, but it also doesn't immediately settle to the bottom as if it were a liquid. it's more like the grenadine in a tequila sunrise, settling to the bottom more the longer you let it sit.

when i purge a keg (full or empty) i hit it with co2 and then wait a few minutes for it to settle. then i pull the release valve, confident that what's coming out is mostly oxygen.

 

[conpewter]

when i purge a keg (full or empty) i hit it with co2 and then wait a few minutes for it to settle. then i pull the release valve, confident that what's coming out is mostly oxygen.

Well to be fair, mostly nitrogen, some oxygen

 

[john from dc]

true. hopefully very little radon.

 

[Parva]

Um. That 'fog' is CO2.

At least for me....... at $14 for a 5# fill, and with that 5# tank only lasting me 4-6 weeks on average.... It's worth it not to purge the keg before filling.

Yes I know, that was the point I was trying to get across.

 

[conpewter]

true. hopefully very little radon.

True, though Argon would be fine, or even straight nitrogen, oxygen is just such a reactive molecule grrrr.

 

[Fingers]

Um. That 'fog' is CO2.

At least for me....... at $14 for a 5# fill, and with that 5# tank only lasting me 4-6 weeks on average.... It's worth it not to purge the keg before filling.

Wow. You sure you don't have a leak? How many kegs are you pushing to last only 4 to 6 weeks? I'm no lightweight and my 5 lb tank lasts 4 to 6 months.

I rack into an o2 filled tank and just purge the headspace. As was stated earlier, simply racking the beer will cause some CO2 to come out of solution and blanket the surface of the beer. Even if it didn't, that short exposure is ridiculously small and insignificant. Oxidation happens when there is large scale injection of O2 into the beer.

Right after racking I hit it with 12 psi a couple of times and purge the headspace then put it on 30 psi for a few days in the keezer. Drop to 12 again and serve.

 

[Parva]

4 to 6 weeks is a very short time, unless you are serving up 50 pints of beer a week (and even then it's still short). I've hammered my CO2 from day one and I've had it well over 6 months now. It's a 7Kg bottle, 15Lbs in imperial speak (ish). If you're going through so much that you can't spare the gas to prime a keg that you are racking beer in to then I'd be looking at leaks.

 

[Chriso]

No leaks - I'm not even using my manifold right now (haven't finished leaktesting and teflon'ing) so I'm just using single-QD off the tank. It's on there right tightly, and I'm shutting it off between each use. We kick a keg between weekly to every other week. I'd guesstimate 50 pints per week is not too far off. That's 4 pints per night for both SWMBO and I, 7 days a week. Probably about right. I force carb, too, so that's additional gas usage.

That said, now that I'm actually looking at a calendar, it's probably closer to 6-8 weeks per refill. 4 weeks may have been a tad liberal of an estimate.

Sorry re: the fog bit, Parva, I totally missed the subtext of what you were saying. My bad.

 

[oswegan]

Oh and in case it wasn't covered you need to leave the Co2 hooked up while shaking and while it is sitting in the fridge finishing carbonation.

Thanks, thats what I did. I hope to go home to some great beer!

 

[Parva]

Sorry re: the fog bit, Parva, I totally missed the subtext of what you were saying. My bad.

No worries, I could have perhaps been a little clearer.

 

[ChrisS68]

No leaks - I'm not even using my manifold right now (haven't finished leaktesting and teflon'ing) so I'm just using single-QD off the tank. It's on there right tightly, and I'm shutting it off between each use. We kick a keg between weekly to every other week. I'd guesstimate 50 pints per week is not too far off. That's 4 pints per night for both SWMBO and I, 7 days a week. Probably about right. I force carb, too, so that's additional gas usage.

That said, now that I'm actually looking at a calendar, it's probably closer to 6-8 weeks per refill. 4 weeks may have been a tad liberal of an estimate.

Sorry re: the fog bit, Parva, I totally missed the subtext of what you were saying. My bad.

hmmm... My kegging stuff just arrived today. Apparently, if I ever actually brew/keg enough to cover my consumption, I'm going to need a bigger tank (not to mention more kegs).

 

[Chriso]

Heh, yeah ChrisS68, more kegs is a good thing. I've got 10 and I still find myself wanting more. Might have to stop @ 14, or SWMBO will kill me.