Corny keg floating ball system

[labrewski]

Anyone using these
Do they work any flaws what's the general rating

 

[uDicko]

They work. They rattle when you move them. They do go to the bottom but you may occasionally have to jiggle the keg to get it to seat in the dimple at the bottom of the keg.

I personally have gone back to the dip tubes

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Anyone using these
Do they work any flaws what's the general rating

Floating dip tube in corny keg | The HomeBrew Forum

 

[Leon103]

Don't see any issues just using the dip tube.

 

[phildo79]

I swapped out my dip tube for one of these and another for a caskwidge. I have since swapped them back. Nothing wrong with either device but the caskwidge doesn't quite reach the bottom so you lose some beer. The floating ball is actually better for this purpose but I wanted it for my fermenting keg.

Both are good ideas but aren't totally necessary for a serving keg.

 

[fury_tea]

For some reason the floating ball kept getting stuck and sitting on top of the beer pulling in co2 and foam. After opening my pressure fermenter and my once-oxygen-free beer multiple times I ended up tying a SS washer to it and that seemed to do the trick. I do lose some beer at the bottom too though so unless it's a keg fermented beer I don't bother

 

[Wynne]

I use these:

https://clearbeerdraughtsystem.com/product/clear-beer-draught-system/
Pricey but they work very well with very little waste, I ferment in a corny and either serve directly from the fermenter keg or transfer clear beer, under pressure, to a serving keg.

 

[phildo79]

So long as you transfer very little debris between your FV and serving keg, an ordinary dip tube will be fine. In the past, I have had dip tubes clog up. It is a pain in the arse to fix. Unless a blast of co2 fixes it, you have to remove the post. Not ideal as you are introducing oxygen to the beer.

 

[LeeH]

Don't see any issues just using the dip tube.

I have been told on here that’s it’s impossible to serve perfectly bright beer without one.
I have no such issues, so must be special.

 

[Vandalay]

I use the plastic conteiner of a Kinder egg. It´s food grade plastic, cheap and my children ar happy. One hole in the centre for the dip tube and some holes in the top to avoid the bottom debris. No need to cut de dip tube

 

[Leon103]

I have been told on here that’s it’s impossible to serve perfectly bright beer without one.
I have no such issues, so must be special.

My dip tube must be magic as it also works ok

 

[Bill_g]

I simply cut 20mm off the bottom of all my dip tubes when I got my kegs. It leaves a bit of space at the bottom of the keg for the sediment but very little beer is lost, maybe half a pint. I pull off about the first quarter pint to flush the tube but more often than not the beer then runs clear until the keg is empty. (the full length tube is designed to pull out the very last drop of soft drink syrup so will just keep pulling any sediment which drops out)

 

[Spratt]

I'm sure everyone has interpreted your query correctly, but when I saw it I thought you were referring to this

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/kegball.html
If by any chance that is the case I can say that I'm pleased with how my Kegball is working so far. It's only my first time of using it, but it was easy to set up and seems to be behaving itself, slipping down the side of the corny as each pint is drawn off. A bit vulnerable to falling off if you move the corny too much - I jogged mine when trying to squeeze the 2nd corny into my fridge and knocked off the ball, but it was easy to re-attach it. A lot easier than trying to remember how many pints you've had out of a corny so far.

 

[phildo79]

I find that any sediment comes on the first and final pour and that's it. All the rest are fine. And now that I am doing closed transfers, there is virtually no sediment at all. A tiny amount comes through when the keg kicks but that's it.

 

[KGB]

I swapped out my dip tube for one of these and another for a caskwidge. I have since swapped them back. Nothing wrong with either device but the caskwidge doesn't quite reach the bottom so you lose some beer. The floating ball is actually better for this purpose but I wanted it for my fermenting keg.

Both are good ideas but aren't totally necessary for a serving keg.

does the tube not get clogged with krausen in your fermenting keg, or is the krausen suppressed enough fermenting under pressure?

 

[phildo79]

does the tube not get clogged with krausen in your fermenting keg, or is the krausen suppressed enough fermenting under pressure?

It doesn't get clogged up but the keg does need shook the odd time during transfer as it seems to get stuck somehow. But a shake of the keg does the trick.

I originally had it in my snubnose and it got clogged a couple of times after dry hopping. But a blast of co2 fixed it. Still, the caskwidge was far better inside the snubnose. The ball float worked fine in the serving keg. I have just bought a meshed filter to replace the tiny pickup tube attached to the ball. So nothing should get clogged now or no trub should be transferred.

 

[KGB]

It doesn't get clogged up but the keg does need shook the odd time during transfer as it seems to get stuck somehow. But a shake of the keg does the trick.

I originally had it in my snubnose and it got clogged a couple of times after dry hopping. But a blast of co2 fixed it. Still, the caskwidge was far better inside the snubnose. The ball float worked fine in the serving keg. I have just bought a meshed filter to replace the tiny pickup tube attached to the ball. So nothing should get clogged now or no trub should be transferred.

good to know, thanks. i have a floating dip tube and filter that i don't think i'll ever actually use in a serving keg (particularly after reading this thread), but will come in handy when i fancy using a corny as a second fermentor.

 

[phildo79]

good to know, thanks. i have a floating dip tube and filter that i don't think i'll ever actually use in a serving keg (particularly after reading this thread), but will come in handy when i fancy using a corny as a second fermentor.

Yeah, they are really only needed if you are filling your keg from a plastic FV and transferring debris. If your transfer is clean, they really aren't needed.