Guess who just got a keg system!

[Lebowski]

Yeah me Unfortunately the guy forgot to give me the regulator so I had to drive back out there but he gave me a dented tin of tooheys draught for my trouble.

Just put a tooheys dark ale with some malt brew enchancer stuff the Westbrew guy gave me and a bit of honey and safale into the fermenter. Hopefully will be ready by the time I sort out the fridge and go rent a gas bottle.

I decided I was going to rack my beer for the first time so got a bit of tubing. When do I rack? Do I just connect the tube to the 2 taps and open them both up?

I'm sure I will have 100 kegging questions over the next few days.
Heres one for now, the guy mentioned something about the tube that goes into the keg and what to do or not to do.. but I cant remember what, anything important I should know?

[gregb]

anything important I should know?

Yeah, don't drink it all at once!

Cheers,

Greg

[db]

I decided I was going to rack my beer for the first time so got a bit of tubing. When do I rack? Do I just connect the tube to the 2 taps and open them both up?

Lebowski, i generally rack once the brew has hit its fg.. mainly due to laziness & one stuck ferment, which i presumed was from racking to early.. i have successfully racked earlier on many occasions tho.. so i guess its really up to you
connect the tube to the tap of fermentor #1 & coil it into fermenter #2 (thru the top opening.. with the tap closed) & transfer it slowly.. once the water/beer level rises above the hose flow (about 5litres) i usually open the tap all the way

[Shaun]

Heres one for now, the guy mentioned something about the tube that goes into the keg and what to do or not to do.. but I cant remember what, anything important I should know?

Some HBS recommend you cut 1/2 - 1 inch of the end of the beer dip tube (stainless steel tube that draws beer from the bottom of your keg) so it sits higher off the bottom of the keg. Their theory is that you will get cleaner beer however you loss some in the bottom . I find it is not necessary as the first glass will suck up any sediment that there is then after that the rest are crystal clear and you don't waste any beer

[Dogger Dan]

I know some people who recommend cutting a bit off the end of the tube so it sits above the bottom of the tank and therby you don't get any sediment.

I don't buy into this, I have found only your first two glasses will have some sediment then the rest is fine

Congrats on the new toy, you won't look back

Dogger

[grabman]

Go Lebowski!

My Keg setup is among my most prized possessions! Great way to spend an afternoon, sitting by the keg watching the footy and talking sh!t with the boys.

Have fun

Grabman

[Aussie Claret]

Hi,
I did my first racking last night after reading through other articles in the forum.
I just attached (all sterilised) tube from the tap on fermenter 1 (which has a sediment reducer on it) and let flow into the second fermenter.
Progress was slow and was careful not to oxygenate the flow, coiled the tubing into bottom of the second fermenter.

Before starting I poured about an inch into a glass to remove any sediment that usually builds up around the sediment reducer; and bob's your uncle. I think I did everything right.

I racked after 8 days in primary and air lock on second fermenter started bubling again after about 1hour.
Cheers
AC

[undercover1]

Top job, AC, sounds like you did everything right.
I have never run off the first inch, sounds like an idea though.
You will be amazed at what a difference it makes to the look of the beer.

[Guest]

Hi,
I did my first racking last night after reading through other articles in the forum.
I just attached (all sterilised) tube from the tap on fermenter 1 (which has a sediment reducer on it) and let flow into the second fermenter.
Progress was slow and was careful not to oxygenate the flow, coiled the tubing into bottom of the second fermenter.

Before starting I poured about an inch into a glass to remove any sediment that usually builds up around the sediment reducer; and bob's your uncle. I think I did everything right.

I racked after 8 days in primary and air lock on second fermenter started bubling again after about 1hour.
Cheers
AC

AC, one of the best bits of advice i got when i started racking was to throw away my sediment reducer.. it's not really necessary & just interferes with the flow..

db

[Lebowski]

Why do you coil the tube in the bottom, is it ok to just attach the tube to both taps and open them? (sounds like it would save me sterilising the outside of the tube)

[Aussie Claret]

Hi Lebowski,
Its only my first attempt but you put the tube in the bottom of the fermenter and coil it around to stop any splashing and unnecessary airation of the brew which can cause other problems.

I simply sterilsed my tube but coiling it around inside a bucket making sure that all surfaces inside and out got serilised.
Just a precaution cause I'd be pissed if I ruined a batch from taking short cuts.

I'm sure that other could help you more, people here are really helpful.
Cheers
AC

[Tipsy]

AC, one of the best bits of advice i got when i started racking was to throw away my sediment reducer.. it's not really necessary & just interferes with the flow..

db

Good advice, I had one of these block up on me and had a hell of a time.
I've thrown them now and my beer quality hasn't changed a bit.

[Lebowski]

Ok I've got a few questions now that I've put my beer into the keg. I also learnt a valuable lesson, remove the goddamn sediment reducer before you put the beer in.. its very hard to unclog/remove with 15 litres of beer in there. Hopefully didnt manage to infect the beer.

First question that comes to mind is how do you get rid of the water in the line to the fridge tap? or do you just blow it out into a bucket or something untill you get the beer? What about if you want to alternate between beer kegs?

What temperature should the beer fridge be at?

I set the regulator to 300kpa and let it run for a while then rolled the keg around on the ground for 15 seconds and repeated 3 times, disconnected the gas and put it back into the fridge, is this correct?

[grabman]

Lebowski,

not sure on the sediment reducer problem, I just rack into the keg as I would when racking into bottle bucket and bulk priming.

As for the water in beer line, when you hook kine to keg the pressure will force water out thrugh tap when you open it, just pour of first glass to clear line. If alternating between beers you can follow same idea to purge old beer. However I always wash lines between kegs, generally as I wash out the keg push cleaner then water through etc

My keg fridge is at about 5C to keep beer nice and cold.

Grab

[Lebowski]

Heres a couple of pictures



There was already some hole in the bottom for drainage so just drilled it out a bit and stuck the gas line out there.

Any tips for what to do with the tap line so it isnt all over the place?

Cheers

[Shaun]

Lebowski I simple disconnect from one and connect to the next when changing kegs and only clean the lines every couple of months.

As for your gassing the beer maybe under carbonated have a read of this thread it is covered there.

http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... highlight=

[anti-fsck]

Heres a couple of pictures

Umm, when do I move in, mate?
Phwoar!

[grabman]

Lebowski, if you grab some of the 3M Contact Command strips, you know the ones with the "magic" removable adeshive, with a cable clip on them you can run them around door and down to keg to keep it all tidy. Bunnings has all this sort of stuff.


Grab

[Lebowski]

Will try getting some of that adhesive, is it best to attach it along the side of the door then along the side of the fridge?

I couldnt wait the required 24-36 hours for the beer to cool (it had been cooling in 2 degrees for 8 hours) so decided to try and hook things up.. unfortunately all I got was a bunch of foam

It looked like there was a bunch of air in the line and the foam filled up the glass really quickly as soon as i opened the tap. The regulator was set to 100kpa but I tried lower and higher as well. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

[grabman]

patience grasshopper!!

Let it cool before trying to pour,

as for the adhesive, I'd go for both on the door and down side of fridge. I've used cable ties in mine but is hard to move lines if needed as you need to cut the tie.

Enjoy