I finished my most recent batch of beer last night and I ended up kegging half and bottling the rest. Im relatively new to kegging and in my weary state i forgot to burp the keg and put it under pressure. I remembered my error today and attempted to burp the keg. Does anyone know if this will affect the beer and is there anything else I need or can do to help the situation?
Kegging Question
- Thread starter Aggiebrew
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Probably no issue - assuming it was all sanitized as it should be. Purge the headspace and put it under pressure as soon as possible and I suspect you should be fine. The good news is you will have the bottled beer with which it may be compared.
Your bottles probably had a bigger opportunity to pick up O2 due to handling so I'd not worry.
Your bottles probably had a bigger opportunity to pick up O2 due to handling so I'd not worry.
+1 for LBussy advice.
I've done this same thing and as long as everything was cleaned/sanitized you'll be fine.
The key thing when burping a keg with that much air space is to really pump up the PSI to fill that thing up with Co2 quickly. Serving pressure isn't going to cut it. I usually dial it up to 30psi or so and it fills up that empty space pretty quick when purging it out.
I've done this same thing and as long as everything was cleaned/sanitized you'll be fine.
The key thing when burping a keg with that much air space is to really pump up the PSI to fill that thing up with Co2 quickly. Serving pressure isn't going to cut it. I usually dial it up to 30psi or so and it fills up that empty space pretty quick when purging it out.
Another thing I do is put a little co2 in before filling too. Keeps the beer under a nice blanket while filling. It's not necessary but adds a little comfort for less oxygen touching my hard work 
johngaltsmotor
Well-Known Member
Because the CO2 is heavier than air it will form a blanket so purging later should be okay.
The only time I had a problem with O2 in a keg was when I forgot to purge and then attempted to quick carbonate by shaking. That forced all that air into solution and may have altered the flavor a bit.
The only time I had a problem with O2 in a keg was when I forgot to purge and then attempted to quick carbonate by shaking. That forced all that air into solution and may have altered the flavor a bit.
kerant
Well-Known Member
Alright I'll bite as I will doing my first keg this weekend. What is " burping the keg ?"
BansheeRider
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It's when you replace the oxygen in the keg with co2 by pulling the pressure release valve. This ensures there is no oxygen in the headspace of the keg.
Thanks for the replys, I did all that just a day late and i guess at the very least i will see the effect of the error by comparing it to the bottles and if its bad enough i will really have learned the lesson this time..
