Shipyard keg reusable?

[rich1985]

Thinking of starting to keg some of my homebrew.

I currently bottle condition adding priming sugar to the secondary prior to bottling. Would I be able to continue doing the same (I brew apa and ipa) but put them in these mini kegs rather than bottles?

Also read somewhere you can re use certain shop bought kegs. Has anyone done so with these shipyard ones?

https://groceries.morrisons.com/webshop/product/Shipyard-Brewing-Co-American-Pale-Ale-Keg/382863011?from=search&tags=%7C105651&param=keg&parentContainer=SEARCHkeg

Thanks in advance!

Richard

 

[fatmat]

Yes you can have a look here https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01GZT4CX0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Fil]

If your taste is for the more fizzy APA's then you may struggle achieving that level of condition with priming in a mini keg as if you add any more than 20g as a priming charge with a beer that has bottomed out at its final gravity, you run the risk of blowing the mini keg out and splitting the thin film coating protecting its interior. Bottles while a pita to clean could be better suited to your brews. You can always use a few 2l pet bottles to cut down on the bottle washing and prep, just be prepared to decant out in one to minimise the sediment disturbance..

 

[rich1985]

We do 120g in 20l so we're looking at 30g. Does that sound too risky then? Shame as I just brought two home!

 

[Fil]

i wouldnt risk 30g priming charge in a mini keg, if you have a regulated co2 supply you could consider pressure conditioning as a 5l mini keg is easy to fit in a fridge and reduce in temp well below yeast viability temps when a modertate or low pressure can add a high level of condition over a week or so.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...=xbA22cKg6g1riDhoRe225w&bvm=bv.58187178,d.ZG4

 

[MickDundee]

It's highly unlikely that 30g would blow the keg, I've tried 25/26g before with no ill effects in that respect. However, rather than having higher carbonation, it will probably just give you a keg full of foam. I'm not sure how the science behind it works, but more than 20g will just give you foam.

I have a mini keg chiller/dispenser and I have actually found that if I have the dispenser set to 2C for around 24hours then let it gradually rise to serving temp then the carbonation seems much higher than it would otherwise.

 

[rich1985]

I'll have a read of this. Thanks for the advice both of you. Tempted just yo stick to bottling now! We are only on batch seven and so maybe should just stick to refining the quality of the beer first.