Will be kegging for the first time tomorrow. Advice?

Make sure you use enough pressure to keep the keg sealed while you're doing your secondary in the keg, because some of that initial blast of CO2 is going to dissolve over time, decreasing the headspace pressure. (Or use constant low pressure, which is a more foolproof option.)

 

I just recently start kegging and love it, so I'm still learning myself. +1 to what vikeman said, you don't want to loose that co2 seal on your keg, other than that just make sure to purge the keg prior to filling.

 

I pressurize the keg before racking to reduce the chance of oxidation

 

Double check all your connections for leaks. Then check 'em again.

Nothing sucks more than checking on your kegged beer and finding out you've lost of whole tank of C02 in one day due to some little leak you didn't notice. (Well, OK, probably *something* sucks more than that. But it sucks a lot.)

 

if you are not particularly careful avoiding the transfer of trub and hop particles into your keg you can expect to have to unclog the dip tube the first few attempts, and the again if you move the keg around too much. so don't do that.
consider adding a fining like gelatin when you transfer. unless you enjoy cloudy beer, which some people do.

expect your drinking to increase. it can be too easy to get another glass.
Cheers.

 

Or losing beer because there is a leak on the liquid post while carbonating.

 

Agreed. This is the most important factor that prevents $20 of CO2 being lost overnight and potentially 5 gal of leaked beer from needing to be cleaned up from a floor.

John:
Practice with half a keg of water. Seriously. Try the shake and bake method for about 5 minutes and make sure your kegs seal well. Spray the crap out of them with Star San/ Iodaphor and make sure you're sealed before there's any beer at stake.

Sealing the kegs if first. Balancing the keg is second.
Keg Lube FTW on ALL your O rings. Show them some love.

 

-Watching Thread-

Do get back to this one and share the results, JS. Best of luck.

 

I like to crash my beer in the fridge before transfer. Helps clear up the beer and also hardens up the yeast/trub cake so you don't stir up as much when racking. But since you are using the keg as a secondary at room temp it is probably not as useful. Any specific reason you are letting it sit at room temp instead of the fridge? Are you needing a secondary fermentation or just ageing? I find the beers I age/secondary in the fridge tend to have cleaner flavors. Also this holds your final gravity as it stops most of your fermentation (on ales).

 

Don´t forget to protect your eyes, it is possible to forget to tighten some pieces that could turn into bullets,nothing to be afraid of but to be careful.

 

There are some good reasons for storing beer cold. Stopping attenuation isn't really one of them.

 

I've had a couple of professional brewers tell me they cold crash once they hit their specific gravity.

 

Yeah I was wondering if the vanilla and bourbon will develop better at room temp. That makes sense to me but never tried it before. Gotta say, kegging has made brewing much more enjoyable for me. Cleaning and filling bottles often kept me from brewing due to the extra planning and logistics involved. Enjoy.

 

Are they then pasteurizing to kill off the yeast? That, or filtering, would be the only way to prevent renewed fermentation once the beer warms up again.

 

Edit: I suppose they could also stabilize with K Meta and Sorbate.

 

Actually I just suppose they are going to filter to remove yeast completely since it was for commercial brewing. I don't actually cold crash for that reason specifically. I just let it stop fermenting and then move it to the fridge for storing until I am ready to keg. I do assume it will stop what ever yeast activity is left unless you are making a lager as I never let it warm up again. It also seems to help with clarity and flavor stability which are the main reasons I do it.

 

Hmmm... sounds dangerous. I suppose if you're not bottling it, it might be ok.

Edit: Looks like I should read ahead. Vikeman beat me to it.