brewferm mini kegs

[Taffspeed]

Hi guys

Looking for some advice on brewferm mini kegs, just reading up on these and its generally agreed that you add 10g of sugar to prime the kegs. I am brewing a Razorback India Pale Ale which come with priming sugar which is great in bottles ,question do I make the kits as normal and add the 10g of sugar to prime the kegs or is the priming sugar with the kits sufficient ?
Many thanks , great site with lots of tips etc.

Mike

 

[Broken Toe]

I would say that whatever you would prime a bottle (500ml) with, multiply that by 8-10 for the 5l keg and add it at "kegging"

If you are just priming with sugar stick to the 3g/l they suggest as they can deform under to much pressure.

I have a batch in them at the moment with 3g/l and it has primed nicely.

 

[RichardM]

Mini kegs need a lot less priming sugar than bottles. I would go for 12g. You can use 12g of the sugar that came with the kit, add it to the keg before filling. Some people will say dissolve the sugar in boiling water and let it cool then add the syrup to the keg.

 

[yrhendystu]

TIL you are meant to use less sugar to prime mini kegs. That explains the excessive foam and having to open the bung straight away.

 

[Taffspeed]

Thanks guys for you help, I went with 10 g so fingers crossed!

 

[Poddyc]

@Taffspeed how did your minikeg carb turn out? Did your IPA condition and pour OK?

About to put some Festival Landlord into a couple of (recycled) minikegs. I normally batch prime into bottles. Plan to batch prime this again, as will still bottle some of the brew.

My vol CO2 calcs call for about 80g dextrose, i.e. about 3.5g/litre. Not a struggle for the bottles, but I'm a bit concerned I might be pushing the envelope with the minikegs?

(3.5g/l x 5=17.5g dextrose per 5 litre minikeg!)

If so, may split brew and prime separately?

BTW did a couple of Festival Razorback IPAs during early Lockdown. Both brews went into bottle but found the full 100g of dextrose supplied used on first batch to be excessive. Used only 80g on second and results were IMHO better.

Really impressed with Festival Razorback IPA though. Turned out excellent! Have kit waiting on shelf ready for third batch any day now!

 

[Taffspeed]

Hi
First impression went well tbh , still finding my feet .I put 10 g in and it carbonated well. I also bottled a few more and they carbonated excellent, I brewed as per directions, not too sure if I would have invested in the minikega if I am honest but its early days I guess.
Cheers

 

[Poddyc]

Thanks for update @Taffspeed. Couple of further questions, if OK by you?

How much did you carb bottles? And how has bottled compared with minikegged wrt pour and fizz?

I'm repurposing supermarket-bought 'full' minikegs which I'll seal with new bungs - bit of an experiment! So kegs were zero cost to me, but don't want to spoil beer I'd otherwise usually, and happily, bottle.

If it goes well then I'll consider filling a 'party' minikeg more often from session brews, for occasions where I'd otherwise be opening a couple of cases of bottles for (post-lockdown) 'bulk drinking' with mates!

 

[Wynne]

@Poddyc minikegs/minicasks are made of tin-plated steel with a polymer coating on the inside. They are intended for single-use. I have re-used them successfully as you plan to - the issue is that ultimately the lining will fail and the beer inside will become tainted with an unpleasant metallic taste making it undrinkable. I have now switched to using stainless steel minikegs and cornies rather than putting 5L of beer at risk in each minikeg.

 

[Poddyc]

@Wynne, thanks for update.

Yes, I'd read that on one of the threads and that 'excessive' use of VWP (my goto cleaner) exacerbates breakdown of the polymer lining. So TBH reuse of these does make me a bit nervous. But not sure I want to spring to cost of cornies and all necessary CO2 delivery paraphernalia just yet.

Is there any way you know of checking state of lining before refilling?

How long did those with which you had success generally last before failing?

What was your rule-of-thumb max limit on carbonation?

 

[Horners]

@Wynne, thanks for update.

Yes, I'd read that on one of the threads and that 'excessive' use of VWP (my goto cleaner) exacerbates breakdown of the polymer lining. So TBH reuse of these does make me a bit nervous. But not sure I want to spring to cost of cornies and all necessary CO2 delivery paraphernalia just yet.

Is there any way you know of checking state of lining before refilling?

How long did those with which you had success generally last before failing?

What was your rule-of-thumb max limit on carbonation?

Quite a few of mine failed on second use and I don't recall subjecting them to a particularly aggressive cleaning regime. Definitely a false economy in my case.

 

[Wynne]

@Poddyc I don’t think there is a reliable way to check the lining. It is most likely to fail at the joints, probably through cracking initially, which may not be detectable through visual inspection particularly at the top seam. I used them when making 23L batches, I used to batch prime in fermenter using a priming calculator and put 20L in minikegs and the rest in bottles. It worked OK until it didn’t and I lost the odd 5L minikeg out of a batch. I primed in the range 1.2-2 vols of CO2 and never had any minkegs distort or split from overpressure but at 2 vols of CO2 the beer was too frothy. One alternative is a pressure barrel but these can also be unreliable. Cornies and all the gubbins are not cheap but they do last - mine also double-up as stainless steel fermenters. Good luck!

 

[Poddyc]

@Wynne - thank you.

Not what I really wanted to hear. But definitely what I needed to know! Very grateful to you for the detailed info, and especially for the heads up!

May need to bring forward my corny investment plan!