King Kegs - Are They Really That Bad?
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beermaker
Regular.
can't say I've ever used a king keg although I had a friend who had them and was happy with them. I just used the budget kegs from Wilkinsons and they did what I wanted them to do most satisfactorily. I suppose the advantage of top taps are nice but i just made little wooden "hop up" stools for my kegs or put them on a shelf and had no probs. Gone over to cornies now but only because I got a job lot of them for cheap or I'd still be on my cheapo barrels!
My coopers stout isn't holding any head unless I give it a squirt of gas every pint.
Is this normally the case or is it the sign of a leak?
It's only just gone into the cold from two and a bit weeks in secondary.
Other than that its bloody deelish!!
Is this normally the case or is it the sign of a leak?
It's only just gone into the cold from two and a bit weeks in secondary.
Other than that its bloody deelish!!
I gave mine a bulb of gas, waited a day, another bulb then it had a little head. I think the key is allowing the brew to absorb the gas. I'll be adding another bulb today then leaving it for 4/5 days before pouring another.
For a stout maybe less will do. But I'd still imagine gassing and leaving for a while is the best bet.
For a stout maybe less will do. But I'd still imagine gassing and leaving for a while is the best bet.
LeithR
Landlord.
Kinleycat and Marcus,
Are you priming your KK's with about 50 - 75grms of sugar? If you are and the beer is flat them you may have a gas leak. Have you used vaseline on the cap threads and the sealing o'ring, if not slap some on.
My 3 KK's once primed hold enough gas/pressure to dispense about 2/3rds of of a full 5G brew with pretty good head retention before requiring any gas.
Good luck with it. :
Are you priming your KK's with about 50 - 75grms of sugar? If you are and the beer is flat them you may have a gas leak. Have you used vaseline on the cap threads and the sealing o'ring, if not slap some on.
My 3 KK's once primed hold enough gas/pressure to dispense about 2/3rds of of a full 5G brew with pretty good head retention before requiring any gas.
Good luck with it. :
Primed with 100g sugar, vassed my ring (oo-er) etc.LeithR said:Kinleycat and Marcus,
Are you priming your KK's with about 50 - 75grms of sugar? If you are and the beer is flat them you may have a gas leak. Have you used vaseline on the cap threads and the sealing o'ring, if not slap some on.
My 3 KK's once primed hold enough gas/pressure to dispense about 2/3rds of of a full 5G brew with pretty good head retention before requiring any gas.
Good luck with it. :
I've not got a spray gun so I'll get one tomoz and check my seals.
I guess this one will cost me a bit in gas and just have to be drunk pretty quick (never mind)!!
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My experiences with King Kegs and the like:
- Worked fine for about 10 months then I went thru a period of nothing but trouble, would not hold pressure but it was a gradual leak so hard to track down.
- In fact, it was 2 problems - some of the seals were leaking, plus the pressure release valve somehow went faulty and had to be replaced.
- Holds pressure OK now, but I'm still not convinced it's pressurising up to the level of when it was new.
- Float was a bit of a pain to start with, but I drilled 4 holes in the side at the lowest bit, plus re-positioned the tube so it sits lower in the beer.
Trouble is, with the above problems, it was hard to know about them whilst the beer was conditioning, unless you regularly drew off a small amount of beer to test pressure. Much prefer my budget Wilco barrel 'cos I know when it's got good pressure (it deforms a bit).
Gonna stick with the King Keg and see how I get on. Bloke in the homebrew shop had a whole box of faulty pressure release valves from customers who'd brought them in, so seems like a common issue. He also recommended renewing all the seals every 3-4 brews.
On the whole, I found the premium keg experience a bit of a pain, and I now tend to keg/bottle 50/50 just in case. But they are great when they're working.
- Worked fine for about 10 months then I went thru a period of nothing but trouble, would not hold pressure but it was a gradual leak so hard to track down.
- In fact, it was 2 problems - some of the seals were leaking, plus the pressure release valve somehow went faulty and had to be replaced.
- Holds pressure OK now, but I'm still not convinced it's pressurising up to the level of when it was new.
- Float was a bit of a pain to start with, but I drilled 4 holes in the side at the lowest bit, plus re-positioned the tube so it sits lower in the beer.
Trouble is, with the above problems, it was hard to know about them whilst the beer was conditioning, unless you regularly drew off a small amount of beer to test pressure. Much prefer my budget Wilco barrel 'cos I know when it's got good pressure (it deforms a bit).
Gonna stick with the King Keg and see how I get on. Bloke in the homebrew shop had a whole box of faulty pressure release valves from customers who'd brought them in, so seems like a common issue. He also recommended renewing all the seals every 3-4 brews.
On the whole, I found the premium keg experience a bit of a pain, and I now tend to keg/bottle 50/50 just in case. But they are great when they're working.
beermaker
Regular.
ok - I've just aquired a King Keg off Freecycle! My missus spotted it and got it for me! Will get a "can of syrup" kit on to try it out and report back my findings :) Used to use CO2 bulbs - even replaced the little brass valve with a proper injector on my old plackker kegs as I found the brass seemed to be leaching its zinc a bit. nowadays I use Midget Widget - handy size and reasonably inexpensive and great to take camping. Still use a pub bottle in the man cave though!
Wassail!!
Phil
Wassail!!
Phil
[quote="Kinleycat]Primed with 100g sugar, vassed my ring (oo-er) etc.
I've not got a spray gun so I'll get one tomoz and check my seals.
I guess this one will cost me a bit in gas and just have to be drunk pretty quick (never mind)!![/quote]
I pumped a full 10 gas bulbs into my first brew just so that I could drink it without having to chuck it. Defo sounds like you have a gas leak. Mine was in the pressure release, on the tiny clear plastic seal/sleeve under the lid. It had slid down beyong the hole on the bottom of the pressure release valve.
Just fill it with a gallon of water when you get it emptied next and turn upside down over some tissue paper. Leak should reveal itself. Maybe even put a bulb of gas in too.
I've not got a spray gun so I'll get one tomoz and check my seals.
I guess this one will cost me a bit in gas and just have to be drunk pretty quick (never mind)!![/quote]
I pumped a full 10 gas bulbs into my first brew just so that I could drink it without having to chuck it. Defo sounds like you have a gas leak. Mine was in the pressure release, on the tiny clear plastic seal/sleeve under the lid. It had slid down beyong the hole on the bottom of the pressure release valve.
Just fill it with a gallon of water when you get it emptied next and turn upside down over some tissue paper. Leak should reveal itself. Maybe even put a bulb of gas in too.
Kinleycat said:
I pumped a full 10 gas bulbs into my first brew just so that I could drink it without having to chuck it. Defo sounds like you have a gas leak. Mine was in the pressure release, on the tiny clear plastic seal/sleeve under the lid. It had slid down beyong the hole on the bottom of the pressure release valve.
Just fill it with a gallon of water when you get it emptied next and turn upside down over some tissue paper. Leak should reveal itself. Maybe even put a bulb of gas in too.
1/2-2/3 of a keg has devoured a full s30 cylinder and it is as flat as a pancake. :sick:
I think I have overtightened the lid (I'm sure I've read I shouldn't have done this) a i can't now get it off.
I've some pet bottles so i've attempted to re-prime and save the 7 litres that where in the keg with 4g of dark brown sugar.
Time will tell I suppose. :pray:
I aren't going to give up the ghost on the keg, i'll give it a good check over once emptied and cleaned (if I can get the lid off!!!) and hopefully put the mild in it.
Onwards and upwards etc etc etc!
I think I have overtightened the lid (I'm sure I've read I shouldn't have done this) a i can't now get it off.
I've some pet bottles so i've attempted to re-prime and save the 7 litres that where in the keg with 4g of dark brown sugar.
Time will tell I suppose. :pray:
I aren't going to give up the ghost on the keg, i'll give it a good check over once emptied and cleaned (if I can get the lid off!!!) and hopefully put the mild in it.
Onwards and upwards etc etc etc!
TRXnMe
Landlord.
My experience of king kegs, top and bottom tap and value kegs is that bottom tap is the way to go. The three top tap kegs I've got have all given me some form of grief over the last 10 months I've been brewing, not every brew, but each one has caused me a problem once.
Neither of my bottom tap KKs have caused a problem.
The only problem I've had with my value kegs is cleaning them if I put something like a stout in them, that hole really is too smal to get into and guiding a benddy brush about 'blind' is time consuming compared to just shoving your arm in up to the bicep and giving the thing a quick scrub.
I've not paid full price for any of my KKs, the wife bought me the first value keg for our weddng present last year, after that eBay and car boot sales have provided the rest.
The best kit for a keg, any two can kit that suits your beer preference.
Oh, you can get a C spanner for removing tight lids, just don't go using it to tighten the lid as you'll deform the O ring and lose the seal.
Neither of my bottom tap KKs have caused a problem.
The only problem I've had with my value kegs is cleaning them if I put something like a stout in them, that hole really is too smal to get into and guiding a benddy brush about 'blind' is time consuming compared to just shoving your arm in up to the bicep and giving the thing a quick scrub.
I've not paid full price for any of my KKs, the wife bought me the first value keg for our weddng present last year, after that eBay and car boot sales have provided the rest.
The best kit for a keg, any two can kit that suits your beer preference.
Oh, you can get a C spanner for removing tight lids, just don't go using it to tighten the lid as you'll deform the O ring and lose the seal.
home brewer
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bottom tap KK, was a bad experience for me,it was brand new and couldnt retain any pressure. Cornies off Norm were a major step forward for me, gave me far more control of carbonation, never looked back.
Second kegged batch (a stout) went into the Top Tap King Keg last month. I was convinced pressure had built up but when I went to pour off a pint at the weekend nothing happened because the flotation thingmy hadn't submerged!! Despite me drilling extra holes in it!!
Really frustrated with my KK now. I'm back to using a gas bulb for every 6 or 7 pints I pour just to get the ****** emptied again because it won't hold pressure.
Basically what I think happened is that the keg had pressure but the float hadn't sunk. Assuming there was no pressure I tried to put a bulb in. The excess force of the keg putting it back out caused that rubber sleeve to slip down and now it won't hold pressure at all. I'll verify later tonight but I think that's what it was...
Really frustrated with my KK now. I'm back to using a gas bulb for every 6 or 7 pints I pour just to get the ****** emptied again because it won't hold pressure.
Basically what I think happened is that the keg had pressure but the float hadn't sunk. Assuming there was no pressure I tried to put a bulb in. The excess force of the keg putting it back out caused that rubber sleeve to slip down and now it won't hold pressure at all. I'll verify later tonight but I think that's what it was...
RobWalker
Well-Known Member
same thing happened to me. you gotta stick your (clean) hand in to fix it. flippin nightmare.
Interestingly enough the float had submerged. In fact the float had came off and sank to the bottom!! And the fridge was so cold that the stout had half frozen! Big solid chunk at the back of the keg.
I know I shouldn't have stout in the fridge anyway. Not at that temperature. Disaster.
I know I shouldn't have stout in the fridge anyway. Not at that temperature. Disaster.
Will I ever get a decent head on my KK'd beers?
I've used either BE or 1/2 dextrose 1/2 spray malt to aid head but its just been the fluffy stuff that goes in a minute.
Will using all spray malt make any difference?
I've used either BE or 1/2 dextrose 1/2 spray malt to aid head but its just been the fluffy stuff that goes in a minute.
Will using all spray malt make any difference?
Maybe if you leave it for longer? I've never tried. Can't resist drinking anything in the KK right away. Last brew in it had 1kg of dark spraymaly and heading powder but there was no head after 2 weeks warm and a week cold conditioning.
TRXnMe
Landlord.
Kinleycat said:
Kits, or AG?
I add a small amount of torrified wheat to my mash in order to help head retention, usually works on the KK until I'm down to the last few pints, then it goes flat in short order, dunno why (I have theories, but nothing to confirm them)
No idea on how to help head retention on a kit, but I'll be ther site does, use the google search function to find the answer :)
