Kegging up.

[Adam]

My keg from Northern Brewer arrived with an o-ring kit and the connectors. This weekend I'm getting a mini-fridge to put the keg in, but I want to transfer my hefeweizen out of the fermentor to get it off the trub (been little over 2 weeks). I can at least get it in the keg, then when the fridge gets here, cool it and put it on CO2.

It's not cleaned, so obviously I have to do that. Replace the o-rings. Do the dip tubes come off at all? Sure I'll know more when I take it apart in a bit here.

To transfer under a blanket of CO2, how do I sanitize the gas line?

After the keg is cleaned and sanitized, I set the lid on it and push a bit of CO2 in it to seal, then release the pressure, remove lid and siphon the beer. Once it's filled, put the lid back on and seal it up with a bit of CO2. Did I get that right?

Thanks!

[macgruffus]

Welcome to the exciting world of kegging! For me it was a slippery slope. When I started kegging I went through more beer so I had to brew more and then I drank more and then .... well. You get the idea.

Figured I'd share some of my experiences ...

I can at least get it in the keg, then when the fridge gets here, cool it and put it on CO2.

You don't need to wait until you cool the hefeweizen to start carbonating. Once you have it in the keg just slap the CO2 on it and jack the pressure up. CO2 dissolves into solution faster and at lower pressure when the beer is cold but will still dissolve when it's warm. Here's a good chart showing you how much pressure to use at what temperature to achieve your desired level of carbonation.

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

It's not cleaned, so obviously I have to do that. Replace the o-rings. Do the dip tubes come off at all? Sure I'll know more when I take it apart in a bit here.

There are a bunch of videos on YouTube about keg cleaning ... here's one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9sFpfdUvwE

I take mine apart between each use and soak everything in PBW or fragrance-free OxyClean. Then sanitize all the parts, use keg lube on all the seals, put some sanitizer in the keg, close it up, shake it around and then push the sanitizer out.

To transfer under a blanket of CO2, how do I sanitize the gas line?

No need to sanitize the gas line. The gas in the tank is sanitary. you might want to shoot the top of the gas post and the inside of the coupler with sanitizer though. I keep a spray bottle of cheap vodka around to do that.[/quote]

After the keg is cleaned and sanitized, I set the lid on it and push a bit of CO2 in it to seal, then release the pressure, remove lid and siphon the beer. Once it's filled, put the lid back on and seal it up with a bit of CO2. Did I get that right?

Yep. Basically. The one thing you want to make sure you do is get all the air out of the keg and replace it with CO2. The best way to do that is completely fill it with sanitizer and then push all of the liquid out with CO2. This makes sure you have nothing but CO2 in the keg. I actually replace my gas coupler (grey) with a beer coupler (black) on the CO2 hose and then connect it to the empty, closed keg. I'll push in CO2, let off all the pressure with the release on the lid and then repeat a couple times. This pushes CO2 down to the bottom of the keg and pushes the O2 (which is lighter) out he top. Then put the grey coupler back on the hose.

If you want to get real anal about purging all oxygen then do what I used to do to transfer out of carboys. I use those carboy caps with the two nozzles sticking up. Stick your racking cane through the big one and push it down so that it is above the level of the liquid. Attach your hose to the other end of the racking cane and then shoot some CO2 down into the carboy through the other nozzle. This will push CO2 all the way through your hose. Now stick the hose into your keg and push the racking cane down into the liquid. With your regulatory set to no more that 5 psi push CO2 again down the second nozzle to start your siphon.

Hope some of this helps.

David

[sexpanther]

macgruffus bringing it strong!

[Adam]

Thanks for the info.

Currently I have just the attachment kits from Northern Brewer for the gas and beer lines. I was thinking of pushing the sanitizer (I use One Step) out with CO2 to sanitize the beer line, but didn't know if there was a better way.

I've got to do more recon on kegging. I only had enough cash to get one keg, but it looks like I might want to get at least one every paycheck so I can stock up. This weekend I'm getting the mini-fridge and installing the tower.

[Adam]

Note to others: a 19mm deep socket will work just fine for the poppet valves.

[10 SEC COMMUTER]

Once the keg is purged just hook up the siphon hose to the beverage out connector and fill the keg through the out post and use the pressure relief valve to bleed the pressure off as the keg fills. No need to remove the lid once everything is sanitized and purged.

[sexpanther]

Once the keg is purged just hook up the siphon hose to the beverage out connector and fill the keg through the out post and use the pressure relief valve to bleed the pressure off as the keg fills. No need to remove the lid once everything is sanitized and purged.

How have I never heard of this method?! That is f'n genius.

[Adam]

Once the keg is purged just hook up the siphon hose to the beverage out connector and fill the keg through the out post and use the pressure relief valve to bleed the pressure off as the keg fills. No need to remove the lid once everything is sanitized and purged.

Instead of hooking up to the beverage out connector, why couldn't I siphon it and let it drop down the dip tube? Just remove the poppet on the beverage out, stick the siphon hose in the dip tube entrance and rack into the keg through there? The beverage out assembly I have has hose clamps and stuff on it. Would seem much easier to remove the poppet, siphon down the dip tube, then put the poppet back on and connect the beverage out assembly.

Six in one/half dozen in the other?