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Redback
14th July 2010, 10:54 AM
FOR THOSE OF US THAT KEG THEIR BEER


CLEARING YOUR BEER
Clearing your beer will keep sediment out of your lines and keg. It also gives you a professional looking and tasting brew. Brew beer as normal. After fermentation is completed dissolve one sachet of beer clear (finings) and 3 teaspoons of white sugar in 250 - 300ml boiling water. Add this to the top of the brew and stir gently over the surface. Leave for a minimum of 3 days to clear. For an even better result, siphon beer into a secondary fermenter prior to adding finings. This leaves the majority of sediment in the first fermenter.
CLEANING AND STERILIZING
Just treat your keg like one big bottle - rinse out with fresh water and rinse out with pink stain. Pour some pink stain down the stem. (I don't recommend the use of sodium met to sterilize kegs as long-term use can RUST your keg). Leave upside down to drain and dry then rinse again and you're ready to go. I recommend cleaning your lines with line cleaner every 6 - 8 weeks if you're constantly using you system, and more frequently if it's left sitting for any time.
PRESSURE TESTING
Fill your keg to around the level of the top weld and purge the oxygen out by pressurizing to 100kpa and releasing 2 or 3 times. Now leak test your system by pressurizing to 300 kpa and spraying all joins and fittings including the relief valve with soapy water - if there is a leak it will foam up. If you don't do this and there is a leak you can lose a bottle of gas in a couple of hours.
CARBONATING
Beer absorbs gas quicker the colder it is, so if your keg has been in the fridge for a day or more it will take less time to gas up. I normally hook my gas up to the keg when it is warm and gas up at 300 kpa for around 48 hours. If the keg is cold gas up for around 30 hours. You'll soon learn what suits your system best.
IN A HURRY ???
Shaking the keg will make the beer absorb the gas quicker. Once the keg is COLD attach the gas at 300 kpa and rock fairly vigorously for 4 mins. , take the gas off and let the keg settle for around an hour. If it's not gassy enough, simply re-attach the gas and shake for a further 30 secs.(but remember to let it settle again).
If it should be over gassed simply release all the gas and rock the keg gently for 15 - 20 seconds and then release the gas again. Repeat this process until the beer pours O.K.

O.K. WE'RE GASSED UP - WHAT NEXT??
Now comes the best bit - Let's get stuck in !!
Turn the regulator adjusting dial all the way out and release all the gas from the keg. Connect the beer fitting and open the tap (or gun) and slowly adjust the gas pressure until the beer is pouring nicely, this should be somewhere around 20 kpa.
Don't worry if the first few glasses are a bit heady, as the release of the high-pressure gas can tend to do that.
WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED FOR THE NIGHT
Having a part empty keg in the fridge is like having a part empty bottle of Coke in there - the gas will come out of the liquid because of the empty space above it, so all we have to do is fill that space with around 60kpa of gas and our beer stays carbonated - so try and get in the habit of putting around 60 kpa into the keg when you've finished, turn off the gas and disconnect the lines.
Remember to release the gas before you start again or you'll finish up with beer everywhere.
AGEING - DOES IT HELP IN KEGS ???
Good question - I don't know if it helps - but it certainly doesn't hurt !
You can store your kegs either before or after gassing them but make sure to purge them well if you don't gas them, and release the pressure to around 100 kpa before you take them out of the fridge if you do gas them.

PROBLEMS ????
Basically there are only two problems you may face :
1. The beer is too heady and tastes flat.
The beer is over-gassed and you are losing all the gas in the head when you pour the beer.( A tell - tale sign of over-gassed beer is that the line from the keg to the tap will turn straight to bubbles when you stop pouring) - Simply degas the keg as explained in the section "IN A HURRY??"
OR you are trying to pour the beer too quick - turn the gas pressure down.
2. The beer looks dead and tastes flat.
Easy one - the beer is under-gassed. Take the beer line off, turn the gas up to 300 kpa and shake the keg for 30 secs., leave the keg to settle for a while and try again, or just leave the gas on 300 for around 4 - 6 hours.
THE GOLDEN RULE
Remember the keg MUST be cold to carbonate and it MUST be cold to pour a beer (who'd want warm beer anyway??).

FINALLY
If anything else goes wrong, ring and ask for help.

Congratulations on deciding to invest in this system, it will be one of the best purchases you'll ever make.

RIP IN AND HAVE FUN !!!!

LandyAndy
20th July 2010, 07:49 PM
To add to this.
Cleaning/Steralizing.
I only rinse with hot water till the keg appears clean.
I then add boiling water from the kettle fit the lid and shake,let sit for a few minutes,MAKE SURE THE VENT IS OPEN whilst sitting or you may crush your keg if you forget or get distracted!!!! remeber the old science experemint crushing cans back in school???

Clearing the brew.
I dont use finnings as such.I use saffale yeast(blue packet),it possibly has finings in it.All the dregs settle into a solid cake at the bottom on the fermenting drum.I still throw the supplied with the brew yeast in.

Ageing the brew
Dont be affraid to leave the brew in the fermenter for an extra week or 2 to age,I have never had an issue with bad brews doing so.The brew clarifys realy well.Be aware in hot conditione,ie summer any leftover live yeast can start eating the dead yeast cells.THIS WILL DESTROY YOUR BREW,only will happen in summer.

ENJOY
Andrew

Redback
21st July 2010, 07:29 AM
To add to this.
Cleaning/Steralizing.
I only rinse with hot water till the keg appears clean.
I then add boiling water from the kettle fit the lid and shake,let sit for a few minutes,MAKE SURE THE VENT IS OPEN whilst sitting or you may crush your keg if you forget or get distracted!!!! remeber the old science experemint crushing cans back in school???

Clearing the brew.
I dont use finnings as such.I use saffale yeast(blue packet),it possibly has finings in it.All the dregs settle into a solid cake at the bottom on the fermenting drum.I still throw the supplied with the brew yeast in.

Ageing the brew
Dont be affraid to leave the brew in the fermenter for an extra week or 2 to age,I have never had an issue with bad brews doing so.The brew clarifys realy well. Be aware in hot conditione,ie summer any leftover live yeast can start eating the dead yeast cells. THIS WILL DESTROY YOUR BREW, only will happen in summer.

ENJOY
Andrew

If you want to age your beer and don't want this to happen, you can transfer your fermented brew into another clean fermenter (the large brewerys call this Lagering) it is the way they CLEAR their beer, by adding 3 teaspoons of caster sugar and stirring it, replacing the lid and airlock, you can safely leave your brew for a further week or so and it will stop the live yeast cells attacking the dead yeast:)

It will also mean there's no need for finnings.

Also when transfering the beer from one fermenter to another, remember there will be dregs in the tap, so take the first 100ml or so (or till it's clear) into a beer glass or jug , then the rest into the fermenter.

Baz.

Celtoid
24th July 2010, 06:04 PM
Fantastic Posts Guys,

Dury is still out on the ageing in a keg....maybe some people know the answer.

Spirits, wine, port, etc, age in wood, wine has a 'head' of air in the neck once bottled as does beer in bottles. I think this is all about controlled oxidisation.

When you fill your Keg, you purge with CO2....does that prevent ageing or is there enough dissolved O2 to get the job done?

I'm erring on the side of caution and letting my beer sit for a few months in the Keg....but since I've only recently changed over to kegs, I have nothing to compare it with.

Anybody done any real testing....or do you all just drink straight away?....:beer::Rolling:

On the subject of clearing your beer, I change fermenters (I'd heard it called 'racking') which makes a big difference in most brews. I've never tried the castor suger in the second fermenter though...have to give it a go!

Regards,

Kev.

LandyAndy
24th July 2010, 06:22 PM
Hi Kev
I run 4 kegs.
2 in an inuslated cupboard in the shed next to the beer fridge and 2 in the fridge.
I only draw from 1 keg in the fridge at a time but both are on the gas.
Turnover is normally 1 keg a week(unless invaded by drunken mates).My brews are in the fermenters for 2 weeks minimum.
The fact that most brews have aged for 3 to 4 weeks makes for a very good clear and well gassed brew.I would like another 2 kegs to carry the ageing process a bit further.
NEVER had a failure,infection or bad tasting brew.
Andrew

Celtoid
1st August 2010, 11:33 AM
If you want to age your beer and don't want this to happen, you can transfer your fermented brew into another clean fermenter (the large brewerys call this Lagering) it is the way they CLEAR their beer, by adding 3 teaspoons of caster sugar and stirring it, replacing the lid and airlock, you can safely leave your brew for a further week or so and it will stop the live yeast cells attacking the dead yeast:)

It will also mean there's no need for finnings.

Also when transfering the beer from one fermenter to another, remember there will be dregs in the tap, so take the first 100ml or so (or till it's clear) into a beer glass or jug , then the rest into the fermenter.

Baz.

Hi Baz,

What does the caster suger do? I use a clean fermenter near the end but have never used suger....is it to keep the brew pruducing CO2?

Cheers,

Kev.

Celtoid
1st August 2010, 11:43 AM
Hi Kev
I run 4 kegs.
2 in an inuslated cupboard in the shed next to the beer fridge and 2 in the fridge.
I only draw from 1 keg in the fridge at a time but both are on the gas.
Turnover is normally 1 keg a week(unless invaded by drunken mates).My brews are in the fermenters for 2 weeks minimum.
The fact that most brews have aged for 3 to 4 weeks makes for a very good clear and well gassed brew.I would like another 2 kegs to carry the ageing process a bit further.
NEVER had a failure,infection or bad tasting brew.
Andrew

Hi Andrew,

I run 4 19l kegs....two sitting and two on tap...although they are staggered....a month or so apart. As I drink whisky and wine as well as beer, my kegs last a month or two.

I managed to put a bit of age on the beer before I first used the kegs, as I was depleting my bottle stock first.

I did lose a bit of age at one point however as I had a bad experience with one keg.....leaking connection.....which poured half a keg onto my study floor overnight....:(

On average, I'll have a keg sitting for a couple of months before use.

I'm moving house soon and when I get set up in the new place, I'm going to start trying different brews again,,,,just for variety.

Cheers,

Kev. :twobeers:

Redback
2nd August 2010, 07:22 AM
Hi Baz,

What does the caster suger do? I use a clean fermenter near the end but have never used suger....is it to keep the brew pruducing CO2?

Cheers,

Kev.

Yes, to stop them going off, sitting for long periods after they stop fermenting can send them off.

Baz.


,

Redback
2nd August 2010, 07:31 AM
I run 4 kegs also, two 19lt, one 45lt and one 10lt party keg, I run them all together at once:D

I have one 19lt keg at the bar at my pool, one 19lt, one 45lt in the fridge at my bar in the bottom room and one 10lt keg in my camping fridge upstairs, saves me going downstairs for a beer;):twobeers:

Like you Kev I drink whiskey as well, so the beer last me a while.

Baz.