New to Kegging w/ Free Pin Locks - Question

[Lucky7s]

My cousin is management-level sales with Coca Cola. He brought me (6) pin lock kegs at a fantastic price...free! All are clean inside with just a few stickers on the outside and all hold pressure. I have always bottled, but am ready to keg and have all the lines, fittings, tank and regulator. One of the kegs has a manual release in the lid but the others are standard pin lock lids.

My question is about purging the head space with CO2 on the kegs without the manual release. Can I put the CO2 in through the liquid side (by setting up a line with the correct liquid side fitting to the regulator) and the purge though the gas side? My thinking is that by doing this I wouldn't have to apply CO2, remove the line, purge, refit the CO2 line and repeat.

Just a thought.....

 

[thadius856]

Yes and no. Mostly no.

To do that, you'd have to remove the liquid dip tube or you're going to spray beer everywhere. So, say you remove the liquid dip tube, then purge... now you have to get it back in there. How do you do that without letting the O2 back in?

If it's taking anything more than a couple seconds, either you disconnects are gunked up or you need to apply keg lube. I can imagine 5-6 headspace dumps taking anything more than 2 minutes with pin locks.

Edit: oops, read it wrong. Sure, you could do this, but I don't see it taking any less time. Your call.

 

[Mike37]

Yes, but just pay super close attention that you don't reduce the PSI while it's hooked up like that. The drop in pressure will definitely suck beer through your co2 line.

 

[raouliii]

I have a two regulator setup with an extra gas fitting external to my keg cooler that I dial up to 30psi. I use one of these depressurizers and alternate between pressurize and depressurize a few times. Takes all of a minute or two.

FWIW, I fill my kegs up to or above the gas in diptube sometimes. I make sure to lean the keg so the headspace is at the gas diptube otherwise you can make quite the mess.

 

[Huff360]

I just hook to gas in and pressurize, remove QD, hit the poppet with a car key, open end wrench, coat hanger, spoon handle, nail, folded bottle cap, pocket knife, small twig, ink pen, cell phone charger, extension cord, etc.

Whatever is laying around basically. Hook up QD, pressurize, repeat. Do it a few times and you're good.


Another easy option is to not seal the lid completely. hook the gas up and let it run for a couple seconds, then seat the lid. You're blowing CO2 in while the lid is (just slightly) open, reducing the concentration of air inside the whole time.

 

[H-Balm]

Don't stress.

Just follow Huff360's advice... no biggie.

Ball lock release valves are overrated (IMHO). When you spend hours and hours brewing, sanitizing, cleaning... the couple seconds it takes to unhook, purge, then rehook.... well not that big a deal.

But... if you are a tool addict, Midwest sells a little plastic nub that fits over the post and costs a couple bucks. Same as a screwdriver or key.... just... tool-y-er!

 

[thadius856]

Don't stress.

Just follow Huff360's advice... no biggie.

Ball lock release valves are overrated (IMHO). When you spend hours and hours brewing, sanitizing, cleaning... the couple seconds it takes to unhook, purge, then rehook.... well not that big a deal.

But... if you are a tool addict, Midwest sells a little plastic nub that fits over the post and costs a couple bucks. Same as a screwdriver or key.... just... tool-y-er!

The ball lock keg is more sought after mainly because of its reduced diameter, which allows you to cram more in a keezer where height isn't an issue until 28" or so.