Who all out there is cutting there dip tubes to help pour clear beer? Does it work better and or faster than standard length dip tubes? I could imagine taking an inch or so off would help me get clear beer faster. I keep my beer fridge very cold to help clear my kegs as fast as possible then bottle them once I think they look good clarity wise. Any opinions are appreciated!
I have not heard of this before and don't think I would bother with it. After the first pull or so, I feel like any trub that is coming out, has come out and as long as the keg is not disturbed, it should be good. I did find this post - http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/anyone-cut-dip-tube-their-corny-kegs-249586/ Some people for, some against. I suppose its just a matter of preference - do you want to pull a few ounces off and discard or leave those ounces in the keg until cleaning time.
It saves you a pint at the start of a keg, at the cost of, maybe, two or three (or four?) at the end. I guess it helps if you move kegs around, but that's not an issue for me. (I'm a homebrewer - the floaties really don't bother me )
Yea I'm not sure if this will help me anyways as some of my Beers seem to have chill haze and I guess I need to look into a fining agent for that anyways. I have been racking my beer into kegs with a dose of biofine but it still isn't making brilliantly clear beer.
I use two 10 gallon cornies for fermenting. Those both have the dip tubes cut to avoid the cake at the bottom. None of my service kegs are cut.
I considered cutting them at one point...glad I didn't, because as the pipeline grows, the beer clears all by itself.
I kegged an octoberfest a couple weeks ago and figure id let it sit and lager for a while and then once it's brite I can bottle with the beer gun. Unfortunately I recently tasted the beer and can't keep my grubby little hands off it. Looks hazy. Tastes great. I guess my best solution will be get more kegs and brew more lagers.
The first few pours are good test beers anyways while the beer is carbing up. If your beer is already cold, you could try fining with a bit of gelatin. That stuff is crazy -- it'll clear a beer in a day or two. I just did it to an IPA that was pouring a ton of yeast after several pints. Gelatin took care of that in about a day.
I cut about half of my kegs. I do alot of IPA's and pales, and dry hop alot. I use the dip tube filters on them. Sometimes I even toss vanilla beans into my keg for porters and stouts... Never had an issue. I don't cut much off, only need maybe 1/4 inch or slightly more, and I'm good. I leave so little in the kegs, it's pretty much the trub and any residual yeast in the bottom. I wouldn't want to drink it anyways. Half a glass of hazy muck. I get clear beer quickly and lose nothing pretty much. Less than 1 pint on the last pull for what it's worth!
