Comments on: How to Keg Homebrew Beer

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:20:57 +0000

Steve – I can be stored at room temperature – the problem is that it is difficult to serve at room temperature unless you have your keg lines adjusted as the serving pressure when the keg is at room temperature will be very high so there is a tendency to foam a lot with typical keg lines.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:55:04 +0000

can you store it at room temp……?

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:39:43 +0000

You can store it without carbonating it, but you do need to apply some CO2 pressure to purge the air out of the keg up front or the air at the top of the keg will spoil the beer.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:23:33 +0000

When kegging do you need to carbinate before you store it? Can you just pour it in and age it first or does it have to be carbinated before hand?

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:39:41 +0000

No – as long as you purge the keg of all air by pressurizing it and releasing the pressure a few times (to push the air out) there is no reason your keg can’t be half empty to start with.

Brad

By: Nate

Nate — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 07:39:34 +0000

I bought a couple soda kegs so I could make two batches simultaneously but change one variable and scientifically see how differences in the brewing are expressed in the final product. And I hope to be “experimenting” frequently, certainly more often than the time it takes me to work through 10 gallons of beer. Heeding the need to purge all the oxygen from the keg for carbonization, is there any reason why I shouldn’t be only filling a 5-gallon keg with 2-3 gallons of non-carbonated brew?

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:39:02 +0000

I don’t know about your tank but my regulator will typically read in the green when full (mine is at 800 psi right now). The only problem is when it is near empty it drops off pretty quickly so you do need to keep an eye on it once the tank nears empty.

Brad

By: Brad Simmons

Brad Simmons — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:11:23 +0000

Hey i just purchased a kegerator that came with a 2.5lb c02 tank. I went to the local store and had it filled but the max psi only reads 500. is this correct? 500 reads in the red so it doesnt seem right? Any know what if a 2.5lb c02 bottle is full what the psi should read?

Thanks Brad Simmons

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:08:40 +0000

Brad, thanks for the tip…but the link was asking me for a username and password.
Thanks, Nick

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:48:56 +0000

Nick,
You should not have to turn the beer down to 4psi to serve it. Try balancing your keg lines instead which will allow you to serve it at the same 10psi you store it at. See the following article:
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/wp-admin/post.php?post=2275&action=edit

Brad

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:44:59 +0000

I was reading that at around 10 PSI is what I need for my beer and the fridge temp. The carbonation is good but I have to dial it down to about 4 PSI to serve. After serving should I turn the dial back up to 10 PSI or will the beer “hold” the carbonation level?
Thanks, Nick

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 16:26:22 +0000

Hi,
Force carbonation does work quickly – generally you will have carbonation within a few days and certainly have full carbonation with nice little bubbles within a week. If the beer is not too young tasting, you can drink the beer as soon as it is carbonated (often within a day or two). I personally force carbonate just about everything.

Brad

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 16:23:04 +0000

Hi,
I would carbonate it at serving temperature (normally in the fridge if possible) and pressure, then transport it, and then if possible cool the keg back down to serving temperature again on arrival. This should result in relatively even carbonation after the first few glasses.

Brad

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:06:38 +0000

Hey Brad, I want to try to take some homebrew to a wedding later this summer that is 8 hours away. Im fairly new to kegging but am aware of the different options to carbonate. If it were you, how would you go about carbing and transporting? I was considering force carbing at room temperature at home leading up to the travel day then once I get there cooling the kegs and putting on gas (serving temp & serving pressure) immediately. I’ll have at least 18 hours between my arrival and serving time. Thanks for any advice, love the site.

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:05:37 +0000

I’m fermenting my first beer and going straight to a Corny keg. We have run regular (store bought) kegs for years, so the keg part is not a mystery. The mystery is the timeline for kegging. The instructions for my Nut Brown Ale (from Northern Brewer) say 2 weeks to ferment, 2 weeks to condition in the bottle. No keg instructions. I have read lots of comments about priming with sugar vs. force carbonation, and in the cases with sugar priming, the beer is left to condition for about 2 weeks and gain carbonation. The question is, if you force carbonate, and it takes only a few days to do that, does it mean the beer is ready to drink that much faster? It seems to good to be true

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:57:29 +0000

Hi,
I believe you can leave the CO2 bottle inside or outside of the fridge.

Brad

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 04:09:58 +0000

Hi there Brad,

Can you tell me if it’s okay to put the co2 bottle / reg etc inside the fridge at the same time? I don’t really want to go buying a new fridge or drilling holes in the current one..

By: Gregory Strike

Gregory Strike — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:56:59 +0000

Yup, I just want to agree with Kirk. Love the site.

I feel with this article alone I learned exactly what I needed to keg my home brew!

Thanks Brad!

By: Kirk

Kirk — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:53:00 +0000

I’m a long-time home brewer about to start kegging. Outstanding info on your website. Responses to questions are to-the-point and practical. Very helpful. Thanks

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:27:54 +0000

Scott,
I would certainly recommend an airlock if you are storing in a carboy as the carboy is not designed to handle pressure that might build up during fermentation and could break. Once you have it in the keg (which is a pressure vessel) you can certainly seal it.

Brad

By: Scott R

Scott R — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 04:48:55 +0000

Hi Brad

when storing and aging beer in a carboy/Demijohn do you need to have a breather in the bung or is it fine to seal it when you intend to force carbonate when kegged?

awesome site BTW.

Cheers

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:31:04 +0000

Brian,
As long as the keg is under positive CO2 pressure, you can remove it from the fridge with no problem. It only will become skunky if the beer itself is exposed to air.

Brad

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 03:57:59 +0000

If you are using a sanke keg and are doing 5 gal batches but always using the same type of brew can you add to it by double batching or triple batching or does it need to be from the same fermentor

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 03:05:31 +0000

I am going to start putting my home brew in the corney kegs and read about pressurizing it in the fridge can the keg then be taken out of the fridge after the week of forced carbination or will it skunk if it is taken out and gets to room temp? or if I am going to be not drinking it for a while should i carb it with sugar instead?

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:24:47 +0000

Stewart,
You can do it but you need to pressurize it to a pretty high level when carbonating at room temp (the carbonation tool can tell you what pressure to use). Also you need a consistent serving temperature for the beer – the problem is that if the keg is too warm, it will be at a higher pressure when serving which will result in a bunch of foam. So its important you cool it down to refrigerator temp and also significantly reduce the pressure on your CO2 keg when serving to avoid excessive foaming.

Cheers,
Brad

By: Stewart

Stewart — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:40:13 +0000

Just getting into brewing. My question is this. I am looking at kegging my beer in order to bring out to my football tailgates. I think it would be a pretty cool addition and I think all of my fellow tailgaters would enjoy it as well. Would it be acceptable to carbonate without a fridge and then bring the keg out to the tailgate and just ice it down in a barrel or something similar?

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 04:48:28 +0000

Matt,
You don’t strictly need to refrigerate to carbonate but the problem is that at room temperature you need much higher pressures to carbonate to a typical 2.5 volumes or so (lets say roughly 30 PSI at room temperature will reach 2.5 volumes of carbonation). This is fine if the keg is just sitting there but if you plan to drink out of it at room temperature you will likely serve up a whole bunch of foam because at 30 PSI your serving pressure at the tap is about 4x what it needs to be. So you need to either carbonate at cold temperature or cool the keg before you serve the beer.

Brad

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:46:09 +0000

Hello all,
I was just wondering if it’s absolutely neccessary to put the keg in the fridge to force carbonate. Could you do it outside the fridge? If not, why?

Thanks,

-Matt

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:53:17 +0000

Brian,
You really want to make sure the beer is fully fermented BEFORE you keg it. Finishing fermentation in the keg is not a great idea unless you really know what you are doing. Once fermentation has stopped, keg your beer and put it under pressure in the fridge to carbonate it. You may still need to wait 4-6 weeks after you keg it for the flavor to smooth out. After kegging it will still have a “young beer” flavor that will fade over time.

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:48:16 +0000

The only problem with this is potentially the fact that the dip tube may eventually no longer be submerged depending on which way you turn your keg. To get all the beer out you will eventually need to set it upright again.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:42:10 +0000

Hello

Is it ok to store a keg on it’s side wile tapped in a refrigerator???

Ty
Mike

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:26:54 +0000

Hi. I haven’t brewed before. But I got a kit for Christmas and I want to start using it. This question my have been answered all ready, but making the beer and carbonating it with my kegorator will ensure that is fermented? This is where I’m confused. I understand that it will have the carbonation, but will it have the full body and alcohol content that it was intended to have if it doesn’t sit, say, 4-6 weeks? Or does this instantly happen during the boil and cooling phase? Thanks for your insight.

Brian

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:32:52 +0000

Gary,
The term “naturally carbonating” involves adding sugar to the keg and fermenting it (usually warmer) for a week or two before tapping the keg. However, most people who have kegs do “forced carbonation” which is simply applying CO2 pressure and putting the keg in the fridge for a week or two without sugar. The CO2 pressure itself will carbonate the beer. Try setting your keg system at 10-12 PSI and put your keg in the fridge (checking for leaks first of course). It should carbonate the beer in a week or so.

Brad

By: Gary B

Gary B — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 02:24:16 +0000

How do i naturally carbonate my beer in a keg do i add co2 or will the sugar force the air out and does it have to be in the fridge can i store it at room temp

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:35:33 +0000

You can use compressed air for the pressure test (use some soapy water to find any leaks – they will bubble). However, you do need CO2 to carbonate and store your beer. Air will spoil it due to oxidization.

Brad