Transfer finished carbonated beer from one keg to another?

[dmcman73]

ok, so I've been kegging and force carbonating my beers since day one of brewing, i didn't want to deal with bottles.

For some time now a lot of my friends and family have been asking me to bring beer with me to parties/get togethers and I've been filling 24 packs of beer bottles. I don't want to drag my 5 gallon kegs around with me (plus I don't want them finishing all my beer since I make 5 gal batches) and figured I can buy a used 2.5/3 gallon one on the cheap along with a paintball CO2 tank and faucet.

My thinking is to make a connector to go from the Out post from my 5 gallon to the Out post on the 2.5/3 gallon keg and let the CO tank on the 5 gallon push the beer to transfer. Now, I probably would leave the lid off of the 2.5/3 gal keg so the beer can transfer and so I can see how much it's getting filled, otherwise I would have to stand there and hold the pressure relief valve to allow the beer to transfer and then guess how much transfered.

Are there any problems with doing it this way or is there an easier way? Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[andrewmaixner]

ok, so I've been kegging and force carbonating my beers since day one of brewing, i didn't want to deal with bottles.

For some time now a lot of my friends and family have been asking me to bring beer with me to parties/get togethers and I've been filling 24 packs of beer bottles. I don't want to drag my 5 gallon kegs around with me (plus I don't want them finishing all my beer since I make 5 gal batches) and figured I can buy a used 2.5/3 gallon one on the cheap along with a paintball CO2 tank and faucet.

My thinking is to make a connector to go from the Out post from my 5 gallon to the Out post on the 2.5/3 gallon keg and let the CO tank on the 5 gallon push the beer to transfer. Now, I probably would leave the lid off of the 2.5/3 gal keg so the beer can transfer and so I can see how much it's getting filled, otherwise I would have to stand there and hold the pressure relief valve to allow the beer to transfer and then guess how much transfered.

Are there any problems with doing it this way or is there an easier way? Thoughts?

Thanks

It's super easy, exactly as you said:
Run a line from the liquid out on full keg to the liquid 'out' port on small keg, so it bottom-fills through the liquid tube.
Run a line from gas in on full keg to CO2 source, to push it out.

 

[stpug]

You can certainly do it that way but you run the risk of losing carbonation and foaming if it's not done cold and under pressure. It sounds like it would be done fairly cold, but the pressure really helps to keep foam production in the smaller keg to a minimum. However you do it, make sure your smaller keg is fully purged of co2 prior to transferring.

A keg-to-keg transfer setup is the way to go. A length of tubing with liquid disconnects on both ends.

I would recommend keeping the lid on the smaller keg and simply venting the pressure (pull the relief valve or depress gas post) as needed during the transfer. Do this slowly and occasionally as the beer comes to an equilibrium (i.e. stops transferring) which can be seen in the tubing. By transferring slowly you are ensuring very little foam production. By going from sealed vessel to sealed vessel you are ensuring minimal-to-none oxidation.

Hope this helps.

BTW, what's been your method for bottling the 24 bottles.

Also, why not fill a few growlers to take over instead. A growler equates to about 5 bottles so it would only be 4-5 to get close to the case you've been taking. Besides, growlers don't tend to have the foaming issues that smaller bottles do.

 

[KegWrangler]

Can't you turn the relief valve 90 degrees to lock in in the up position?

What I usually do is start loosening the relief valve (turning counter clockwise) after I connect the jumper cable until it barely starts to hiss then I leave it there assuming is 1-2 psi lower than the tank pressure - which is perfect for transfer (slow).

 

[andrewmaixner]

Stpug has a good point about the growler -- or get some even larger 1Gal HDPE/PETE bottles (I save 1Gal PET bottles from apple juice). Unless you really want the "cool" factor of a keg, or you don't plan to have it consumed within a day or three, growlers might be a huge time saver for you.

 

[dmcman73]

You can certainly do it that way but you run the risk of losing carbonation and foaming if it's not done cold and under pressure. It sounds like it would be done fairly cold, but the pressure really helps to keep foam production in the smaller keg to a minimum. However you do it, make sure your smaller keg is fully purged of co2 prior to transferring.

A keg-to-keg transfer setup is the way to go. A length of tubing with liquid disconnects on both ends.

I would recommend keeping the lid on the smaller keg and simply venting the pressure (pull the relief valve or depress gas post) as needed during the transfer. Do this slowly and occasionally as the beer comes to an equilibrium (i.e. stops transferring) which can be seen in the tubing. By transferring slowly you are ensuring very little foam production. By going from sealed vessel to sealed vessel you are ensuring minimal-to-none oxidation.

Hope this helps.

BTW, what's been your method for bottling the 24 bottles.

Also, why not fill a few growlers to take over instead. A growler equates to about 5 bottles so it would only be 4-5 to get close to the case you've been taking. Besides, growlers don't tend to have the foaming issues that smaller bottles do.

My method for bottling is simply using a picnic tap with a racking cane jammed in the spout. I then have a small stopper on the racking cane to seal the glass bottle as well. Insert the sterilized racking cane/stopper/picnic tap contraption into the bottle and make a tight seal. Open the picnic tap and start filling. Once the beer stops flowing, I pinch the stopper a bit until the seal is broken to allow it to start flowing again.

This has worked great and in fact I've had beers I've bottled this way stay fresh and carbonated in the fridge for almost a month (I was testing to see if carbonation would be lost).

I'll transfer to keg this way as well, only difference it I won't know how much beer will be in the smaller keg.

As for the growler route, I could do it that way as well but the 3 gal keg would also have another purpose for me. When I want to brew another beer and there is only a gal or so left in my 5 gallon keg of a previous brew (I have a kegerator that only fits two 5 gallon kegs....the horror) I can transfer the remainder of that beer to the 3 gallon one and throw it in the fridge so I can get a 5 gallon one back for the next batch.

KegWranger, I've had my kegs for over two years and never knew that you can twist the purge valves to keep them open?? And here I've been pulling them up to open them when I purge them like an idiot, I'm going to have to try that out tonight on my kegs.

 

[dmcman73]

Stpug has a good point about the growler -- or get some even larger 1Gal HDPE/PETE bottles (I save 1Gal PET bottles from apple juice). Unless you really want the "cool" factor of a keg, or you don't plan to have it consumed within a day or three, growlers might be a huge time saver for you.

Yeah, I thought about it but as I just posted, the 3 gallon keg would also come in handy when I want to transfer a small amount of beer that may be left in the 5 gallon keg to make room for another brew. There have been times where I would bottle out about 24 bottles from a 5 gallon keg just to get the 5 gallon ready for the next batch that just finished fermenting. Growlers won't keep that amount fresh over a course of a week or two.

 

[jwalker1140]

I would recommend keeping the lid on the smaller keg and simply venting the pressure (pull the relief valve or depress gas post) as needed during the transfer. Do this slowly and occasionally as the beer comes to an equilibrium (i.e. stops transferring) which can be seen in the tubing. By transferring slowly you are ensuring very little foam production. By going from sealed vessel to sealed vessel you are ensuring minimal-to-none oxidation.

Makes sense, but how do you know when the receiving keg is full if it's sealed?

 

[trussell]

I haven't tried this yet but one way I heard is to do a closed syphon.

Purge the receiving keg with CO2
connect liquid to liquid and also have a gas to gas hose on hand.
Raise the serving keg above the receiving keg
Vent the lower keg for a second or so.
The pressure in the upper keg starts the flow.
Then you connect gas to gas so the gas pressure is equalized

The beer will syphon to the lower keg just like any other syphon except closed system.

 

[stpug]

Makes sense, but how do you know when the receiving keg is full if it's sealed?

Various methods could be implemented to get accurate results, or you could rely on intuition based on the weight of the keg.

Weight would be one method. Known weight of 2.5 gallons minus known weight of keg, and a scale of course.

Another simplistic method would rely on simply giving a slight tilt to smaller keg (prop up one end on a stick) such that the gas out valve becomes the lowest point. When the first sign of liquid comes out the gas post then you're full.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Makes sense, but how do you know when the receiving keg is full if it's sealed?

There's a noticeable condensation line on the keg you're filling with cold beer. Won't be a problem.

 

[dmcman73]

Various methods could be implemented to get accurate results, or you could rely on intuition based on the weight of the keg.

Weight would be one method. Known weight of 2.5 gallons minus known weight of keg, and a scale of course.

Another simplistic method would rely on simply giving a slight tilt to smaller keg (prop up one end on a stick) such that the gas out valve becomes the lowest point. When the first sign of liquid comes out the gas post then you're full.

Using a scale makes perfect sense as this is how they fill liquid propane tanks. I'll weigh the keg empty then weigh it again after filling with plain water to the desired level in the tank. Thanks for the idea.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Using a scale makes perfect sense as this is how they fill liquid propane tanks. I'll weigh the keg empty then weigh it again after filling with plain water to the desired level in the tank. Thanks for the idea.

The condensation line is easier. LOL... you don't have to weigh water though. It's 8.34lbs per gallon. Beer actually weighs a bit more, but we're not talking about filing a brewers report with the TTB, so you should be fine with the condensation line monitoring, or the scale.

 

[JuanMoore]

You can certainly do it that way but you run the risk of losing carbonation and foaming if it's not done cold and under pressure. It sounds like it would be done fairly cold, but the pressure really helps to keep foam production in the smaller keg to a minimum.

This. Transferring fully carbed beer without any head pressure in the receiving vessel is a recipe for a foamy mess. Use a spunding valve, or keep the kegs sealed and occasionally pull the PRV on the receiving keg to release just a little pressure at a time.