Keg to center parcs plan...

[rich27500]

Ok the answer to this question is not: "get a cornie keg"
I know all about them, one day I will get a family of cornies but today is not that day, nor is tomorrow!

So we are going to center parcs as a group for my wife's 40th. The plan is to take a keg of ale. Is it crazy to condition in a budget keg, siphon to a king keg the day before we go and add co2 when we get there? Don't want to disturb the sediment on the hour long drive up there.

 

[RobWalker]

not crazy, but certainly a little insane.

should work great. just make sure you clear it out well before you syphon it over and avoid as much sediment as possible - don't underestimate how difficult it is to syphon from a budget keg! i would weight the end of the syphon down with something.

when you transfer, gas it straight away with the lid on, then loosen the lid and close again before it runs out of pressure. repeat it, then gas once more so you have pressure holding in there. that will purge the oxygen out to prevent it spoiling :thumb:

 

[bobsbeer]

As long as you are going to consume fairly quickly. Rack it with the beer in as low a temp as you can get.

 

[Windy]

and add co2 when we get there?

If you pressurise the budget keg for a week or two then you will have a lot of CO2 in the beer which will get transfered over to the King keg. So make sure you screw the lid on the King properly so that you don't loose it, then you shouldn't need to add CO2 until it's half empty.

You will need to be careful not to damage the tap in the car when the keg is full.

 

[rich27500]

Cheers guys

 

[Kevin Wood]

Whatever you do I'd purge the head space of the barrel of air by injecting CO2. It'll slosh around on the journey and you don't want air around when that happens. As to whether you transport it fully pressurised... Well, it would make matters worse if the tap did get broken. :whistle:

Actually.. You could put it in a Polypin, as an alternative, assuming it's a beer that doesn't need huge carbonation and it's going to get drunk within a few days. It's more fun to pour from a polypin than a pressurised king keg.

 

[rich27500]

Polyp in sounds like a plan. Where can I get one?

 

[Steamedbeech]

Hi Rich, I've been looking into getting polypins for my beer engine, Murphy and son stock them, many thanks whoever put that up first :thumb:
cheers Dan :

 

[Kevin Wood]

My LHBS sell them too:

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/10_ltr_Cubitainer_Polypin.html

Never used one, I should add, but I think I'd give one a try in your situation.

 

[rich27500]

Looked at murphy and sons definitely the cheapest I've found. Think this will be the solution.

 

[bobsbeer]

Depending on how many you may use, Jigsaw are a good price. HERE

 

[TonyT40]

Just had a look at those on the Jigsaw site. Looks like the min order is 10, plus vat and delivery. It also looks like they are not re-useable and you need a tool at £34.90!!!! to fit the tap. Think i'd stick to the economy keg idea.

 

[bobsbeer]

You don't need the tool, it's just easier, and they can be reused if you don't push the tap on all the way, they have two positions. But the minimum order is 10. They are like the ones you get 3lt wine in from the supermarket, just a different size.

 

[TRXnMe]

If you haven't kegged it yet, then try treating the beer as though you were going to bottle it, put it in the fridge and chill it for a day or three until the trub settles on the bottom of the FV, rack it, repeat, then keg it with little or no trub to transfer.

Allow secondary fermentation in the barrrels as usual and take it in the initial barrle with minimal yeast in the bottom.

If you haven't breweed it yet, maybe try using a yesat like S-04 or Nottingham that forms a really solid yeast cake on the bottom, so it wont get stirred up :)

Oh, and don't forget to take the CO2 with you, or you'll get half way down the barrrel and be in schtuck

Alternatley, get a cornie, after all, it's not for you, it's for the wife, so that's legitmate brewing expenditure :twisted:

 

[rich27500]

Well I did a quick local test of 30 miles which was ok so we bought the keg to center parcs. Couple of hours settling and it was fine, lovely and clear no funny tastes.

 

[Andyhull]

Thats great, I never thought of transfering it to another barrel before travaling : :thumb:

 

[stuey]

Hi Rich,

All good news :)

What did you do in the end prior to travel?

Polypin? Rack into another pressure keg? How long before your journey did you rack and did you purge with co2 first.. blah blah blah

Sorry for all the questions..... just started out brewing beer and have 3 trips planned this year to meet groups of friends all of which would be improved by the presence of a keg of homebrew (the trips not the friends... having said that )

Cheers,

Stu :)

 

[LeithR]

Polypins - interesting!! They have become expensive, at one time off-licences used to sell what they called loose Sherry and dispensed it from a polypin into your own bottle then throw them away. I managed to persuade my local offy to throw a couple my way - still have them 30 years on. :whistle:

 

[rich27500]

Stuey I just left in the king keg, used gelatine as finings which I don't usually do. Only problem was I bought 16g bulbs my mistake and had to gas using a tea towel to protect my hands and wacking the bulb on the valve!

 

[stuey]

Stuey I just left in the king keg, used gelatine as finings which I don't usually do. Only problem was I bought 16g bulbs my mistake and had to gas using a tea towel to protect my hands and wacking the bulb on the valve!

Extreme gassing!! sounds lethal

Have committed the gelatine finings to the memory bank... thanks :)

I take it you added them a bit before you travelled to clear and "lock" the sediment bed down or did you fire them in when you arrived and set the keg up?

Again, sorry for the questions!

Churs,

Stu :)