Transporting beer for a wedding

[hardrain]

I've made two kegs for a friend's wedding, but it's several states over.

I relatively new to the kegging thing, I was hoping someone could point out any flaws in my current plan:

I have one co2 tank but not the double pressure gage, so I plan on getting a manifold splitter. I realize this is not ideal but I don't have the money for a new gage.

I will force carb both the kegs starting tomorrow and let them sit for three weeks. (Yes, I'd of liked to have more time but this is how it goes.)

I'll unhook the co2 tank from the kegs, carefully pack everything up and drive it to the wedding.

Chill the beer when I get there, re-hook up the co2 to both kegs with the manifold, and serve.

...

Will I lose any pressure by unhooking the co2? I've never done that before. Also, is it going to be a problem if I chill to force-carb, let the beer warm up on the drive, and then re-chill? Should I just force carb at room-temp?

Thanks!

 

[944play]

Will I lose any pressure by unhooking the co2?

Unless your kegs are leaky, you will have no problems. I'd force carb at serving temp so you can taste the beer as it will be served.

Since you're transporting it, you will probably want to transfer the beer to serving kegs after cold-conditioning (so it will stay clear even with agitation).

 

[j1laskey]

Just let them sit after the ride in the car...just think of the keg as a giant bottle condition beer

 

[hardrain]

Cool, thanks all. I'll stick to the plan then. I'll be getting there three days before the wedding, so I'll just let it sit and chill.

 

[ksbrain]

Probably pull the first pint from each keg yourself in case there is some debris coming out

 

[SweetSounds]

Probably pull the first pint from each keg yourself in case there is some debris coming out

Oh, at least the first pull

If you carb at serving temp and the beer has time to clear out, you can transfer the now carbonated and clear beer to another clean corny, leaving the sediment behind. It should make it a little easier to get clear beer when you're at the wedding...

 

[Zen_Brew]

All good advice. Just wanted to add nothing wrong with using the manifold instead of a dual secondary regulator. Manifolds work fine as long as all the beer on tap requires a similar carbonation level, and you can get away with a single carbonation level for many styles. Multiple secondary gages are useful when you have beers on tap that require significantly different carbonation levels, ie a Stout and a Saison.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Also, since no one else has touched on it, 3 weeks is plenty of time to carb a beer so no worries there either. 2 weeks is plenty.

 

[a10t2]

You don't really need a manifold either - just a tee and some hose clamps.