Transporting carbed keg ???

[1Brewer85]

Hi, have an important question: I have a family reunion coming up, and would like to bring my homebrew along for everyone to enjoy. The beer is already brewed, and carbed, with a CO2 hookup, and is in a keg/fridge at 36degF, It is about a 2hour drive, and I am wondering if i were to just load the whole kegerator (not very tall), would the ride shake it up too much and mess up with the carbonation and cause it to pour foamy all night ?? any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated, thank you

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

if it stayed at 36, shaking won't make any CO2 come out of solution.
warm it up, and CO2 will come out, into the headspace of the beer.
cool it down again, and it might take some shaking to get it in equilibrium again.

 

[Bobby_M]

Co2 will not come out of solution if you warm it up unless you vent the headspace.
The only issue is that of sediment. If it dropped clear in the keg, it will pour cloudy for a while.

 

[JuanMoore]

You won't lose any carbonation, but it will pour foamy after being agitated (just like a can of soda). It should only take letting it sit at serving temp for ~1 hr to get it to settle down, so if you can show up a little early and get it set up that would be best. As Bobby said, you'll probably stir up the sediment on the bottom of the keg though. I like to rack off of the sediment to a clean keg when I'm going to be transporting beer like that.

 

[evandena]

You won't lose any carbonation, but it will pour foamy after being agitated (just like a can of soda). It should only take letting it sit at serving temp for ~1 hr to get it to settle down, so if you can show up a little early and get it set up that would be best. As Bobby said, you'll probably stir up the sediment on the bottom of the keg though. I like to rack off of the sediment to a clean keg when I'm going to be transporting beer like that.

I've heard you recommend racking a carbed beer, for a situation such as this. What's your process for this, and how much carbonation do you loose in the process? Using a racking cane or co2?

 

[copyright1997]

I've heard you recommend racking a carbed beer, for a situation such as this. What's your process for this, and how much carbonation do you loose in the process? Using a racking cane or co2?

You do a keg to keg transfer, bev line to bev line. When I get home I will post additional info, doing this from my phone. (unless someone beats me to it.)

 

[evandena]

You do a keg to keg transfer, bev line to bev line. When I get home I will post additional info, doing this from my phone. (unless someone beats me to it.)

Ah. Sounds like a lot of wasted co2

 

[ResumeMan]

Ah. Sounds like a lot of wasted co2

No, it doesn't have to be. You can do it via siphon. You can just bump a little pressure into the full keg, put it at a higher level, and connect the kegs. Either both kegs need to have their gas posts open, or you can do a "jumper" hose between the two gas posts to maintain equilibrium. Gravity will do the work just fine.

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

There is a *lot* of thermal mass in a keg full of beer. Wrap it up in a bunch of blankets and it should stay pretty cold the whole way. To be double sure, pack some "blue ice" frozen plastic gizmos in around it.

Bob

 

[evandena]

No, it doesn't have to be. You can do it via siphon. You can just bump a little pressure into the full keg, put it at a higher level, and connect the kegs. Either both kegs need to have their gas posts open, or you can do a "jumper" hose between the two gas posts to maintain equilibrium. Gravity will do the work just fine.

Ah interesting. I'll have to give that some thought. Thanks.

 

[JuanMoore]

No, it doesn't have to be. You can do it via siphon. You can just bump a little pressure into the full keg, put it at a higher level, and connect the kegs. Either both kegs need to have their gas posts open, or you can do a "jumper" hose between the two gas posts to maintain equilibrium. Gravity will do the work just fine.

Yep, I use a liquid to liquid jumper, and sometimes push with CO2, but often just use gravity. The pressure in the headspace of the sending keg is plenty to get things started, and when the flow starts to slow down you can crack the lid on the sending keg and it will siphon the rest of the way.

 

[Bobby_M]

I don't get the Co2 savings using gravity based on the fact that the receiving keg really needs to be pressurized to the volumes of co2 that is in the full keg if you want to retain full carbonation. In the closed system, the full keg will end up full of co2 and you'd do what with it? I'm probably not understanding.

 

[JuanMoore]

I don't get the Co2 savings using gravity based on the fact that the receiving keg really needs to be pressurized to the volumes of co2 that is in the full keg if you want to retain full carbonation.

I don't do it that way to save CO2, I do it when I'm too lazy to get the CO2 tank and spunding valve out. The amount of carbonation lost doing it this way is insignificant as long as you pressurize the keg when you're done.

In the closed system, the full keg will end up full of co2 and you'd do what with it? I'm probably not understanding.

Nothing. You clean out the keg and the CO2 goes to waste.

 

[Scotty_g]

I do a keg-to-keg transfer when I'm lagering (I lager in corny kegs that I have cut the dip tubes off by an inch or so) to keep the beer cold, retain any carbonation, and keep the yeast in the lager keg. I have an old picnic tap with a threaded fitting and hook that up the gas port on the receiving keg, then crack that puppy. No Spunding valve required.

I've never tried siphoning it (although no reason it wouldn't work...) instead of using gas. Yes, it's slightly wasteful but if I go to the right welding supply store, a 5# refill is $9 (and their cylinders are always clean). If I go to the wrong one, it's $17. If I go to the really wrong one, they're jerks about it *and* charge me $27. I'm not saying who the $27 place is, but their name rhymes with "praxair".

 

[1Brewer85]

thank you guys for all the useful info. i will keep it upright and cold during the 2hr drive, no probs there and should help.. and I might just be lazy and keep it in the current keg rather than transfer it, b/c its a wheat beer in the first place, i dont care about cloudy, and more importantly, i dont have another empty keg yet to move it into.. Thanks again !!