I picked up a Keezer last night with a two tap tower and two pin lock kegs. The kegs came with some homebrew in them that is ok. My question is, what tips, tricks and suggestions do you guys have for me to get started kegging? Should I clean the lines out with something? What pressure should I leave the kegs at? What temp? One of the beers isnt very good, do I just release the pressure on the keg with the relief valve and then dump it out or should I let it out into a bucket through the tap until theres no pressure? Thanks for your help guys! Ive been brewing for years Ive just always bottled so I want to be sure I get started right and maintain my kegerator well.
Beer Line Cleaner, clean the lines out. Relive the pressure and dump the beer, unless you want to waste your C02. I keep my kegerator at 38* F and push the beer at around 9 psi, it all depends on how far you have to push your beer. To carb it properly you will probably need a little more pressure. To properly carb your beer you can use this chart: http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php I use the set it and forget it method, works great and I have no problems, you can also set it then shake the shit out of it, but that's up to you. Set the temperature that you prefer. Cheers!
The single most important thing you want to understand is the concept of a balanced system. Tons of articles you can search on Google, many of them are pretty good. The basics: 1)determine the desired CO2 level of your brew, you can use the guidelines in the carbonation table above (or you can just pick a middle number like 2.4), 2) determine the temp you want for your beer (lots of recommendations, but you get the final vote), 3) with volumes and temp determined, compute the pressure to give you this (link above), 4) cut your beer lines to match the above settings (start longer than needed, some trail and error involved), here's a good reference: http://beersmith.com/blog/2011/07/14/keg-line-length-balancing-the-science-of-draft-beer/ You'll hear lots of people say something like "set 12 psi" . . . without knowing CO2 volume, temp, and line length this doesn't tell you much. Remember, these four variables must all work together . . . change any one and your system is out-of-balance. Once carb level, temp, and pressure are stabilized they shouldn't require adjustment. You don't want to change pressure to give a good pour, rather adjust beer line length. It'll take some aggravation to balance everything the first time, but then you'll be on auto-pilot. Good luck, you're going to enjoy kegging.
I would probably recommend to just replace the hoses on there, especially the beer out ones between the keg and the taps. It doesn't cost a lot and it's better to be safe than sorry with unknown age and care taken with the existing ones (while you're at it it wouldn't hurt to change the gas lines either.) obviously clean the taps and connectors really well. If you want to dump the existing beer, you can pop the relief valve and dump it. Again clean and sanitize the now-empty keg before putting your new beer into it. For temp and pressure, it more comes down to personal preference and balancing your system to avoid foam-only pours. (like PortLargo said)
Download/read the "A Bottler's Guide to Kegging" .pdf from the page at this link... http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/zymurgy/free-downloads
Thanks, I was planning on replacing the lines but upon closer inspection, this guy shot foam up in the tower. Ill have to mess with it more. Does the top of the tower usually come off so you can get to the fittings? how does that work?
not to threadjack too much, but i just started kegging and bought some of this, hoping there would be more detailed instructions on how to use, to no avail. i just put some BLC/water solution in the keg, hooked up the co2 and pushed it thru the line, then rinsed with water and pushed the water thru the line. is this ok / is there a better way to do this?
My tower has a circular cap on it that is flush with the sides. A flat head screwdriver makes it very easy to remove.
I use a (hand pump) pressure sprayer rigged with a corny keg post on the business end. Hook up the beer line quick disconnect to the post and you're in business. Saves on CO2.
that's pretty much all you need to do, it's very simple. Sometimes before I flush I let it sit for 15 min, then flush with water. Works great and no problems here.
Below is the link to the build of a really good line cleaner. Happy kegging! http://www.homebrewersassociation.o...m/show?title=pimp-my-system-beer-line-cleaner
Agreed. I was using one that you had to remove the faucet to flush the lines prior to making this one. Being able to hook it right up to the liquid ball lock is pimp!
Thanks guys! I was wondering is it a problem to bottle 1/3 or 1/2 of a batch and put the rest in a keg? How to you purge the head space?
Not a problem to do a partial fill . . . your beer doesn't know (or care) about headspace size. To purge a keg (aka, burbing) just allow the pressure to stabilize (12'ish psi). Then pull the relief valve to allow all the CO2/air mix to escape. You are diluting the headspace air with CO2 and each successive release reduces the O2 quantity. A total of 3-4 burbs will do the job.
I kegged my beer last night, decided to just throw it all in there instead of bottling some. My kegs dont have pressure relief valves that you can just pull on to get rid of the pressure while you are filling. It has something like a fuse, is that something I should or can replace? to make life a little easier? Does anyone think its worth changing to ball lock fittings too? I replaced the main oring seal and external post seals because they smelt odd. Then I let some CO2 run into the keg for a few seconds after I dumped priming sugar and pressurized to seal it. Hopefully I got it all right, we will see how it goes in a couple weeks when its carb'd.
Just curious... why did you decide to use priming sugar? Most keggers use CO2 pressure from the tank to carbonate. Edit: Also, generally you want to purge the air from the keg (with CO2) before and after filling with beer.
Ive had forced and naturally carb'd beer and always felt I could tell the difference. Jester King always naturally carb's their beers in the keg and this is a bourbon barrel aged stout with chocolate and coffee so Im not in a huge rush to have it tapped. My buddy told me he just filled his kegs gently and then purged with CO2 so I did it that way. Maybe Ill purge it some more when I get home. I would have probably done it more last night but not having a ring to pull made it a real pain. The only way to purge this keg is my taking the air line off and pressing he poppet. Thanks for the advice, Ill do that next time.
