CO2 purging barrels/cornys. How do you do it?

[Davegase]

On the water v starsan issue, as I use King kegs I’d have to make up 6-7 gallons of starsan to fill my barrels to sanitise and then purge. I’d then have to have a 7 gallon container/s to store the starsan for future use. I consider this a PITA so went down the route of using just a gallon (5 litres) of starsan to sanitise including a lot of shaking and swirling. That gets poured out and stored (leaving the foam in the barrel) and the barrel is filled with fresh cold tap water. My view rightly or wrongly is the water that comes out of my kitchen tap is clean and safe as it comes out of the tap so getting it in a barrel and sealing it with no or very few air bubbles has got to be very low risk. Pushing (or in my case sucking) the water out PDQ and replacing it with fermentation gas (CO2) must reduce the risk even more. Then doing a closed transfer from fermenter to keg immediately has got to reduce the risks to an acceptable level.

I think to flush the air from an empty keg would require high pressure supply of gas to mix with air and then exhaust. Sorry, I’m not convinced with a “slow” trickle flush

Fresh clean tap water seems perfectly ok to me. After all that's exactly what we use when we're making kit beers !

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Use some Sod met in the water and flush that out after your starsan sanitise. Most commercial wine has this in and I bet you still drink that @LisaMC .

You can't really sterilise with starsan just get rid of the bad guys.

If you want a sterile keg, purge it with high pressure steam and use the cold water to cool your burns.

It's all a compromise, just a lot more difficult if you are making super hoppy beers and want them to stay prime for as long as possible.

 

[Andrew Booth]

I asked a question recently about collecting fermentation gasses. On my next brew in the fermentersaurus I’m going to connect the gas in on the fermenter to a empty sterilised corny keg then keep that for purging purposes cheaper than co2

 

[ssashton]

I use fire. Simply fill keg with tube from CO2 cylinder (keg open). When a flame goes out at the mouth of the keg I know it's purged.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HJviAgfDjxzRKBnC9

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I use fire. Simply fill keg with tube from CO2 cylinder (keg open). When a flame goes out at the mouth of the keg I know it's purged.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HJviAgfDjxzRKBnC9

I suppose it beats putting a canary in there...

 

[Buffers brewery]

I use fire. Simply fill keg with tube from CO2 cylinder (keg open). When a flame goes out at the mouth of the keg I know it's purged.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HJviAgfDjxzRKBnC9

Method 6!

 

[SilverShadow]

Method 2 is what I do, as I've been using my full size CO2 bottle with profligate abandon for more than 12 months and I'm yet to see any detectable drop in pressure.
Don't get me wrong, I can see the intellectual attraction of collecting fermentation gasses but financially I just don't see the point :-)

Hey there

I'm curious as to doing this method, but use those tiny C02 metal cylinders. Do you have any inkling as to how much CO2 you normally use to clear a corny keg? Just so I know how many if those little bleeders i need to use

 

[Buffers brewery]

If my memory serves me well, 44 grms of CO2 occupy 22.4 litres.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

If my memory serves me well, 44 grms of CO2 occupy 22.4 litres.

Seems about right, 1.8 grams per litre of CO2 gas at 14.5 psi if my memory is correct.

 

[SilverShadow]

Cheers guys

So about 22g should sort my 10L mini keg

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

about 22g should sort my 10L mini keg

MM say on their mini-regulator page that: "one standard (16g) CO2 bulb is sufficient to dispense 7L of 'still' product, more if carbonated."

 

[Buffers brewery]

https://www.britannica.com/science/Avogadros-law

 

[nhenson22]

I am just about to do my first closed transfer and stumbled upon this old thread!

I want to do Method 2, where I purge the StarSan out of the keg, but is it really not an issue that you will be leaving some of the sanitiser behind in the keg?
I know it is 'no-rinse' but my kegs once empty will always have a decent amount of liquid left at the bottom that didn't make it out.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I am just about to do my first closed transfer and stumbled upon this old thread!

I want to do Method 2, where I purge the StarSan out of the keg, but is it really not an issue that you will be leaving some of the sanitiser behind in the keg?
I know it is 'no-rinse' but my kegs once empty will always have a decent amount of liquid left at the bottom that didn't make it out.

Good question. I always wondered that too.

 

[hoppyscotty]

How come your kegs don’t suck out all the liquid? I give mine a good wobble one I hear the tube sucking up co2 to make sure all the starsan makes it into the little dimple where the end of the dip tube is and pretty much get it all out. You might be able to extend your dip tube with some silicone hose?

 

[nhenson22]

How come your kegs don’t suck out all the liquid? I give mine a good wobble one I hear the tube sucking up co2 to make sure all the starsan makes it into the little dimple where the end of the dip tube is and pretty much get it all out. You might be able to extend your dip tube with some silicone hose?

Most of mine are slightly angled so they sit just above the bottom of the keg, so there is always a bit left over.
I will maybe do a test purge and try shaking it around to see how much is left.

 

[tigertim]

I know it is 'no-rinse' but my kegs once empty will always have a decent amount of liquid left at the bottom that didn't make it out.

I previously saw this message earlier in this thread from @RoomWithABrew with a fairly obvious method which, for some reason, I'd never thought of before! My kegs don't seem to leave much at the bottom, but I certainly got a 'mist' of StarSan out by using this method on my last brew.

invert the keg after the starsan is purged and it's pressured with ferment CO2.
Pull the FRV briefly and you'll vent the last of the starsan.

 

[nhenson22]

I previously saw this message earlier in this thread from @RoomWithABrew with a fairly obvious method which, for some reason, I'd never thought of before! My kegs don't seem to leave much at the bottom, but I certainly got a 'mist' of StarSan out by using this method on my last brew.

Oh wow, that's a game changer!! And yes, your right, so obvious! Thank's for pointing out, and thanks to @RoomWithABrew

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Most of mine are slightly angled so they sit just above the bottom of the keg, so there is always a bit left over.
I will maybe do a test purge and try shaking it around to see how much is left.

To get the last bit of cleaner out of my Cornies I turn them upside down and pull the pressure release (also to make sure it, too, is sterilised).

 

[AJA]

This is genius, and remarkably simple.