Colossal Cookbook/ColossalCookbook.cdr/beer/2879/keg.doc

Text File | 1991-08-01 | 13KB | 238 lines

A BASIC INTRODUCTION TO KEGGING YOUR HOMEBREW

by Tom Lyons 76474,2350


Some of the comments I make in this file are just my opinions,
and other folks may have different experiences and better ideas.
If you are thinking about getting into a keg system for your
homebrew, check around and ask questions.  There are a lot of
friendly homebrewers and shop owners who are willing to help.


I started kegging my homebrew in the summer of 1990.  I have
found it to be far, far easier than bottling for several reasons.
I only have to clean one container, rather than 48.  I can carry
a keg to a party and don't have to worry about collecting bottles
afterwards.  I enjoy sediment-free beer (and my friends do,
too!).  I can use my kegging system to carbonate my beer if I
want, rather than priming with sugar, and get better control over
the amount of carbonation.

Of course, there are some trade-offs to be made as well.  There
are certainly some costs involved in purchasing the equipment
that you don't have when you bottle.  I have been able to keep my
costs down by some scrounging and a little good luck.  Another
problem is in sharing your beer with others.  It's not as easy to
carry a keg as a six pack!  There is a method that can be used to
fill bottles from your keg without losing carbonation, though,
that works fine for filling an occasional bottle for a friend or
for sending off to a competition.  It calls for another piece of
equipment called a Counterpressure Bottle Filler which I will
explain later.

The minimum equipment required to begin kegging consists of the
keg itself, a carbon dioxide (CO2) bottle with regulator, plastic
tubing, proper fittings for attaching the tubing to the keg, and
a tap of some kind.  Also you will need a few small band clamps
or something similar for securing the tubing to the fittings.
Advanced equipment can include additional kegs, a better tap,
lines and fittings for hooking up multiple kegs, etc.

The first consideration in kegging is refrigerator space.  Most
of us don't have a spare fridge laying around and our spouses
frown on taking over the one in the kitchen.  Mine does, anyway.
I searched the classified ads in the newspaper for a while before
I found my solution.  I bought a used "Brewmeister" beer
dispenser for $100.  Not only did I get a half-height
refrigerator with a built-in tap and drain, but it also came with
a CO2 bottle and regulator and various plastic tubing and
cleaning equipment.  Tough to beat at that price.

Used CO2 bottles and regulators can be found.  Try calling
beverage dispenser companies that sell soda equipment.  Also try
fire extinguisher companies.  If you buy used equipment, make
sure it has a current inspection date stamped on it.  CO2 bottles
must be tested ever four years or so, depending on your local
laws, and you won't be able to get it refilled if it is out of
date.  You can get your bottle refilled (and tested if necessary)
at larger fire extinguisher companies.  Regulators come with
either one or two gauges.  One gauge will show pressure output, a
second gauge if present will show pressure inside the CO2 bottle
itself.  The second gauge will tell you how much CO2 is in the
bottle, which is nice to know but not absolutely necessary.

The best source of kegs is the soda-dispensing kegs that Coke and
Pepsi use.  Check some restaurants in your area, you may find
someone who will let you have a keg or two for the price of the
deposit they pay on them.  These types of kegs are also available
from many homebrew supply shops.  New kegs are fairly expensive,
the used soda kegs can be purchased for around $25.  They will
often have syrup remaining in them which must be cleaned out
before use.  Also, a good idea is to replace the rubber o-ring on
the keg opening when buying a used keg.  Some soda kegs come with
pressure relief valves on them, some do not.

Coke and Pepsi use different types of fittings on their kegs.
The Coke kegs use a pin-lock fitting, and Pepsi uses ball-lock.
I am only familiar with pin-lock.  Homebrew supply shops often
carry fittings for both types.

There are two fittings on the top of the kegs, one for the CO2 to
come in and the other for the beer to go out.  If you unscrew the
input fitting, you will find a very short stainless steel tube
under it, which just sticks down into the very top of the keg.
Under the outflow fitting, however, is a long stainless steel
tube that goes all the way to the bottom.  These are set up to
allow the gas to flow into the top of the keg, which pushes the
liquid up from the bottom and out.  Since a "keg-conditioned"
beer will have yeast sediment on the bottom, the first thing to
come out when you open the tap will be sediment.  Some people cut
off the bottom 1" of the outflow tube to prevent this, but I
don't agree with doing that.  If you go ahead and expel the
sediment, you won't have to worry about it any more.  If you
leave it in the keg, every time you move the keg the sediment
will get stirred up.  Go ahead and leave the tube long, in my
opinion, and just get rid of the gunk with the first glass or two
that you pour.

Since the keg and most of its parts are stainless steel, some
special consideration must be given to cleaning and sanitizing.
There is a problem with using chlorine bleach solutions, as I
understand the bleach is corrosive to stainless steel.  This is
true if it is left to soak for long periods, and short contact
should not be much of a problem, but why tempt the fates, right?
There is a product called B-Brite that will clean and sanitize
stainless steel without any corrosive action.  It is available
at, of course, most homebrew supply shops.

The simplest type of tap is the little black plastic "party tap"
that is used on many commercial keg tapping systems.  It is
simply attached to the end of the beer line.  Other types of taps
can be really fancy, but must be mounted on some surface.  One
option is to drill a hole through your fridge and mount the tap
in that hole.  You should rig a catch-basin and drain of some
type for a tap like that.

Lastly, locate some plastic tubing for connecting the CO2 bottle
to the keg, and for connecting the keg to the tap.  The CO2 line
should be rated for pressurized gas (although we are dealing with
fairly low pressures) and the tap line can just be clear tubing
as used for syphoning.  Secure each connection with a band clamp
or those little plastic self-locking clamps.

When you have your keg system set up, test it by putting some
plain water in your keg and pressurizing the system.  Open the
tap to expel the water.  Check each connection for leaks,
including the fittings on the keg itself.


LET'S KEG SOME BEER!

The process for brewing beer to be kegged is no different than
for bottling, until time to prime and fill.  First, sanitize the
keg.  Unscrew the fittings, remove the lid and o-ring, and remove
the input and outflow tubes.  Be careful not to lose the input
tube, it is very small.  Also take care not to lose the little o-
rings on the top of the input and outflow tubes.  Fill the keg
with plain water and mix in 1 tablespoon of B-Brite per gallon.
Drop in all the parts you have removed from the keg to sanitize
them as well.  Let the solution soak for an hour or so, then
drain and rinse the keg.  You can sanitize the keg well in
advance of brewing, just reassemble it and pressurize it slightly
with CO2 to keep it sealed.

When ready to fill the keg, put your priming sugar solution
directly into the keg (you do not need to use a priming bucket).
Use less primer when you keg than when you bottle, about 1/2 cup
sugar or less per 5 gallons.  With the lid of the keg open, turn
on your CO2 regulator slightly for a moment to put some CO2 into
the keg.  The carbon dioxide is heavier than air and will settle
to the bottom of the keg.  As you then syphon your beer into the
bottom of the keg, it will be covered by a layer of CO2 which
will help greatly in preventing oxidation of your beer during
syphoning.  When your keg is full, replace the top and then once
again open your regulator slightly.  Pressurize the keg only very
slightly.  This will help seal the top, and will allow you to
check for air leaks in your fittings.

Once the beer has had time to carbonate, pop the keg into your
fridge and then give it a try.  You will draw off some sediment
in the first glass or two, which you may discard if you wish.
You may get a little additional sediment later as well, but no
big deal.

A great deal has been discussed about the proper pressure for
dispensing beer.  I think around 5-7 psi is fine.  You don't want
to gas it up too high.  Experiment with what works best for you.
At least as much has been said about proper serving temperature.
You know what you like, so act accordingly.

An alternative to priming for carbonation is to "force prime"
your beer by injecting CO2 directly.  This method works very
well, and if done correctly will allow you to control carbonation
very precisely.  The best thing about force priming, in my humble
opinion, is that there will be little or no sediment in your beer
at all.  There are tables and graphs that will show the amount of
pressure you should use at different temperatures, but trial and
error worked well for me.  Basically, get the beer cold and pump
up the CO2 to about 20 lbs or so.  Lay the keg on its side and
gently rock it back and forth a couple of hundred times.  You
will hear the CO2 continue to flow into the keg as it is being
absorbed into the beer.  Put the keg back in the fridge for a day
or two with the pressure turned back down.  Release pressure in
the keg back to normal and give it a try.  If the beer is
overcarbonated, release more pressure and let it settle for a
while.  If undercarbonated, just pump it up again.



COUNTERPRESSURE BOTTLE FILLERS

A problem I mentioned earlier about kegs was that you can't
easily fill bottles to send to others.  You can't just stick a
bottle under the tap, fill it and then cap it.  You will lose all
carbonation, and probably oxidize the beer too.  The problem is
that when the beer is under pressure inside the keg, the CO2
stays in the beer.  When the pressure is released (when the beer
goes through the tap into the outside air) the CO2 forms bubbles
and escapes.  A perfect solution would be to have a pressurized
room, so the carbon dioxide would remain in the beer while being
poured into the bottle and capped.  Alas, this is not a perfect
world, and building a pressurized room is beyond my scope of
abilities and resources.

A workable solution is to pressurize the bottle, fill it with
beer, and then release the pressure very gradually.  Once
unpressurized, the cap can be applied and the beer will hold most
of its carbonation.  This really does work quite well.  It
requires the use of a special piece of equipment called, of
course, a counterpressure bottle filler.  I'm not going to be
able to give plans for one in this file, but a very good one was
detailed in a recent issue of Zymurgy.  I built it and have been
using it fairly regularly.  To use it, you should first get your
beer as cold as you can.  You fill the beer bottle with CO2 until
it is the same pressure as the keg.  You then open a line from
the keg to the bottle.  Since the pressures are equal, no beer
will flow.  Start slowly releasing the pressure in the bottle,
though, and the flow will begin.  Slow is the key.  The more
gradual the change in pressure on the beer, the less carbonation
will be lost.  When the bottle is full of beer, you shut the beer
line off and continue to slowly release pressure.  When all
pressure is off, remove the bottle filler and cap the bottle.


KEGS AT PARIES

This is a real chance to experience the full benefit of kegging
your beer.  Pack up your keg, CO2 bottle, lines and tap, find a
tub that the keg will sit in, pick up a couple of bags of ice,
and head out.  You don't need to have the whole keg immersed in
ice, but try to get at least the bottom half in ice and maybe
drape a towel over the top half.  A plastic 5-gallon bucket (I
know you got one of them) works well.  Show folks how to operate
the tap (open it up all the way instead of just cracking it open)
and let them have at it.  They will love it.  Of course, a
responsible homebrewer encourages his friends to enjoy in
moderation if they are going to drive.  If they ain't driving,
though, then ignore that last statement!