Check out our Kegging Tips and Tricks LIVE and read through the show notes below!
Kegging Tips and Tricks LIVE Show Notes
- Welcome everyone and thank them for joining
- Brief overview of Kegging
- We’ll be kegging Simple Elderberry Cider
- Talking about how to transfer
- Talking about carbonation techniques
- Touching on draft system setup
- What is everyone drinking / what are we drinking
- BrewChatter Rentals
- Presses and crushers coming end of the month
- Canner is super fun, check online for availability
- Added a Fancy Italian Corker for sours, cork and cage and all wine
- Quick congrats to the winners of the NVBC, medals coming soon!
- Talk about the In Store plaque and how it will make you famous
Kegging
- Why keg?
- It’s the reason homebrewing is still around
- It’s fast, easy, clean and fun
- Nothing like having your fermentation on tap!
- Types of kegs Cornelius (Corny) and Sanke
- We use Ball lock - Show Couplers
- Ball lock has better and more secure coupler
- Taller and skinnier than Pin Lock
- Easier to work with because you don’t NEED special tools to remove posts and the lid has a PRV
- Come in both new, used and multiple sizes. Very versatile
- Pin Lock - Show Couplers
- Better than not having a keg
- Can be converted to ball lock if you find them cheap
- We don’t like them as much because we’ve found the pin lock system to be harder to work with and doesn’t connect as well or securely as the ball lock system
- Sanke - Have one of our lightsaber snake spears to show how the system works and Coupler
- Commercial kegs are Sanke style, usually ‘D’ if it’s an American brand, but there are other types
- The coupling system is easier and more streamlined in one piece, which is why commercial breweries use them
- MUCH harder to work with as homebrewers
- Harder to clean
- Harder to remove the spear
- Harder to fill
- You have to have a separate coupler with the check ball removed to fill it
- If you’re set up with all of the tools, they aren’t as bad to work with, but still more work than cornelius kegs
- Transferring
- Always purge your keg!!
- Either get hose all the way to the bottom, or use the closed transfer with a coupler
- Purge the top of the fermenter or feed CO2
- All of this is to cut down DO
- DO, or dissolved oxygen, can mess with your finished product over time and make it taste like wet leaves or wet cardboard
- Sealing and Final Purge
- Some older kegs require a big burst of pressure to seal the keg - we do all of them at about 20 psi
- Make sure that it’s sealed, then purge the head space 2 or 3 times to make sure you’re getting out any potential oxygen
- Carbonation Techniques
- Technique 1 - Shake Carbonation
- This only works if what you’re kegging has been crash chilled!
- Put it at 20 psi and shake it for about 10 minutes - it’s drinkable right now!
- Pour a pint! It won’t be perfect for a week or so, but will be drinkable and give you an idea of what to expect what it tastes like when it’s carbonated
- Technique 2 - Force Carbonation
- 2 step carbonation method
- First, put your CO2 on and let it sit for 2 - 3 days at 20 0 30 psi (this will be a bit different for everyone, so do some testing and stick with what works best for you)
- After a couple of days, pull off the coupler and reduce the regulator to your serving pressure (more on that later) and purge the excess gas
- Purge the excess out of your keg
- Put the coupler back on and let it sit for 5 more days at serving pressure
- Drink it!
- Technique 3 - Slow and Low
- Seal and purge your keg
- Attach gas at serving pressure
- Wait 5 to 7 days
- Drink it!
- Troubleshooting Draft Systems
- Draft system set up
- All of our kits come with a standard 10 feet of beer line. This is so that you create enough back pressure or resistance in the line to pour a beer that isn’t foamy
- Gas line length is more about convenience than length. Once it’s pressurized, length won’t matter
- Everyone’s standard serving pressure will be a little bit different, but it’s usually 8 - 12 for homebrew and 8 - 15 for commercial beer, depending on the beer (Coor’s Lt and like beers are higher)
- Everybody is different because of elevation, preferred carbonation levels and temperature
- What to do if you’re pouring foam
- First, start by purging your keg. You keg could be overcarbonated
- Lower gas pressure and reconnect the CO2
- Make sure that the beer is cold! Your kegerator should be 36 to 42 ° F
- If lowering the gas pressure doesn’t even it out, raise it the same amount from your serving pressure
- Expand on some examples of this - we will definitely have questions