OVHA Chat

Well I did it. I made the first purchase for equipment to start moving towards 10 gallon batches. This step will greatly increase my ability to control mash/sparge temps and and simplify my process for 5 gallons until I can afford the next addition.

You might as well put a down payment on the brew barn for the backyard.

It's a slippery slope, man!

You should probably consider a RIMS system for 10 gal sized batches, or a "brew tree" system, as it's not safe to carry or pour that much hot liquid, and unless you are a LOT tougher than most folks, a danger to your back as well!

Peter

Luckily I'm not going to have to pour at any stage. I'm using valve spigot pots. And my plan is to go with a conical in January. That way I can chill my wort and just open the valve, then drop the cold break out the bottom of the fermenter.

I'm still playing with a 3 tier system in my head for the long term solution. I just don't want too though.

You should come out and see the "brewing machine" -- it can double as a plain gravity system if you want.

Peter

That sounds great!

I got my first brew pot last night, holy crap is it big.

So a kegging question. I'm going to have to keg or spend the rest of my life filling bottles. I was thinking of going with 2.5 gallon kegs for easy portability without having to haul too much of my precious at once.

It says that you don't have to prime your beer but can carbonate by infusing the beer with CO2 for three days? Is there any noticeable difference between this and standard priming? Is it more consistent? Can I infuse a keg for 3 days and remove the CO2 tank in order to infuse a second tank in case I need to have a couple of them carbonated? Will the first tank maintain it's carbonation or does it have to remain on the CO2 until you drink it fully?

Not much difference once the CO2 has completely dissolve, although there are purists who maintain that the "natural" carbonation is finer and last longer. Probably just a matter of letting the CO2 completely dissolve.

You will have to add pressure to dispense once you have used part of the beer. For a while you can shake the keg to drive more out, but then the beer is flatter. You can get adapters to put a CO2 cartridge on there instead, this will work fine for pushing carbonated beer out. although you will have trouble carbonating a keg.

We usually jack the pressure up to 10 or 15 psi and shake the keg to carbonate it, this only takes 10 minutes or so. Reduce the pressure to 4-5 psi to dispense, though!

Peter

So, can I pressure it up a few days, which will cause the CO2 to dissolve, then remove the CO2 to hook back up at a later time?

I take camping trips with my middle ages group and I'd like to have a few kegs carbonated just in case I need them ready to go throughout a week long period.

I understand your alternative your saying it doesn't really take 3 days if you rush it by shaking it up?

Here is an info sheet I put together for a discussion we had on kegging at one of the meetings. http://www.ovha.net/images/posters/OVHA_Kegging_101.pdf

You can easily put a T barb on the gas line and carbonate two kegs at once. They carbonate much faster the colder you can get the beer.

Thanks a lot. I have only used the 1.25 gallon kegs. I'm not sure if I missed it but I still don't see the answer on charging them before I go on trips. Can I do that, unhook the CO2 and then they'll be ready when I get there and hook it back up?

Yes, once they are carbed, they will stay carbed. Granted your kegs do not leak air when they are unhooked from the co2. I would up the pressure a little bit before I unhooked them to give the lid a really good seal. Maybe 15lbs or so.

I use this rig for remote dispensing so I don't have to lug the big co2 tank around.

For co2 pressure: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products ... rodID=4570
The tap: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products ... rodID=5779

The little co2 cartridges only supply the pressure to serve it after you've carbonated it with your big tank. When the flow gets low, just squeeze the trigger and give the keg some shots of co2. I'll bring them to the meeting tonight so you can look it over.

I use those little guys on the 1.25 gallon mini kegs. That's crazy that's enough for the bigguns.

I know someone mentioned using the BeerGun before. Will that work for me without a walk in cooler? Can I pull bottles and a keg out of the fridge and expect it to work? Second guessing myself on it.

I've been using the BeerGun for a while with no problems. I just pull the keg out of the fridge and start filling chilled bottles. It works as advertised.


We are planning an informational session on kegging for the next meeting. Chris Norrick has a good presentation with some information to hand out. We will also have some of the different hardware on hand and we will be doing a demo with the BeerGun.