Title says it all. Can I bottle off a warm keg or will it not being cold affect the carbonation? I'm thinking the answer is no but figured its worth asking. Thanks.
Can You Bottle Off A Warm Keg?
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mikescooling
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IMHO you can, but why would you want to? I put the keg in a 5 gallon bucket filled with ice and crash it for a few hours. I can't see not doing it.
OP
OP
mikescooling said:
This is what I ended up going with. It's just been like 95f here all week and I've been lazy.
nh_homebrew
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I had the same question but for the purpose of not having to refrigerate the bottles. See I want to force carbonate with the keg (saving time) but not have to refrigerate the bottles. Especially if I give some out. Am I right that cold beer in a bottle that came from a cold keg needs to stay cold namely refrigerated?
There's less dissolved CO2 in warm(er) beer, so yes, it's going to be less carbonated.
I'd chill it down to 40-50F while force carbonating it for a day (30 psi). Let sit for another day at 12-15 psi to stabilize, then bottle.
I'd chill it down to 40-50F while force carbonating it for a day (30 psi). Let sit for another day at 12-15 psi to stabilize, then bottle.
nh_homebrew
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with your method islandlizard would you still need to refrigerate the bottles?
I am willing to let it force carbonate for a week at room temperature rather than have to refrigerate the bottles.
95F? I don't even understand what this number means. We got all the way up into the low 40s this weekend. I went outdoors without a coat. It was glorious.
Allow me to extend this.
If you've ever looked at a carbonation table, to get the same amount of volumes of carbonation at warmer temps you need to carbonate the beer at higher PSI. Beer "accepts" carbonation more readily at lower temps. Warm it up, and the carbonation will come out of the beer.
That's why, for instance, if you're pouring cold beer through warm lines it will be a foamy pour; the CO2 comes out of suspension in the beer as it warms.
If the keg was carbed cold and then warmed, you'll lose CO2 to headspace in the keg. To some extent this can be mitigated by using a counterpressure filler, such as the "poor man's beer gun" where a stopper prevents excess foaming by allowing the beer in the bottle to reach equilibrium.
In short, you'll lose some carbonation if you bottle from a warm keg unless you account for it in your carbonation and temperature regime.
If the keg was carbonated at the warmer temperature, then it's not going to be the same kind of problem.
No you don't. What's in them stays in them, beer and CO2. But you should chill them for a few hours (or, better, a day) before you drink if you want it well carbonated in the glass instead of pouring all foam.
Carbonating at room temps requires a much higher pressure to get your 2.5-3 volumes of CO2 in the beer. Then you'll get a lot of foaming when filling, even when you turn the filling pressure way down.
If I don't have fridge space for chilling, or I want it faster, I stick the keg in my chest freezer for a few hours (4-6) to get the temps down, while under pressure. But you can't leave it there or it will freeze solid, or bust, so you need to keep an "eye" on it. When the temp is where I want it to be, I take it out, force carbonate it by rolling for 10 minutes, wrap it in a thick sleeping bag for 6-12 hours. Then back in the freezer for another 2-4 hour cycle, etc. The carbonation is usually just right after 24 hours.
OP
OP
Lol its always nice looking back at old threads and realizing how far you've come 
Lol its always nice looking back at old threads and realizing how far you've come
I sometimes wish for an easier to spot telltale when answering a necro thread. I don't always check the date apparently.
So, you're saying you've gotten better at bottling from warm kegs?
UglySister
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I'm curious what the benefits of force carbonating as apposed to bottle carbonating. Is it just so you can start drinking it a week sooner or is there a flavor difference?
Here are three that are important to me; YMMV:
1. You can drink it carbonated within 24 hours of kegging. I always keg crashed beer (at 32 degrees or so), thus there's no waiting for chilling the beer.
2. No yeast layer in the bottom of the bottle to have to avoid. This is esp. important (IMO) when I give bottles to someone else. Their tendency is to just empty the bottle, with predictable results. Force carbed beer? No yeast layer.
3. I have tap beer which I generally prefer to bottled beer.
Also with multiple kegs on tap, I often have half a glass of each instead of full pints. It at least makes me feel like I'm conserving beer.
Also bottling is ~50x more of a PITA than kegging.
Lastly with kegging I can do a second dry hop in the keg if Im feeling a little frisky
Also bottling is ~50x more of a PITA than kegging.
Lastly with kegging I can do a second dry hop in the keg if Im feeling a little frisky
Morrey
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You make a good point...not good pint...a good point promoting kegging, LOL.
I keep 5 beers on tap and frequently want a smaller portion so I can have a couple different ones. I found 10 ounce small pour glasses shaped like the Queen's pint glasses in pubs. I also keep 4 ounce tulip glasses for a quick sip or if a guest wants to try something. I'd hate to see someone waste a full pint of one of my year old barrel aged sours. Gulp.
UglySister
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Yeah I get the kegging part. I love kegging! I was just curious about carbonating in a keg for bottling. Bottle carbonating seems easier if your not in a hurry.
OP
OP
The main reasons I know people bottle off kegs are to not have sediment or just want a few bottles for a particular reason like a comp/boat/whatever. Force carbing is faster but priming/conditioning leaves a lower amount of O2 in package which will extend the freshness of your beer before its starts showing characteristics of oxidation.
nh_homebrew
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So am I right that if you chill a keg and bottle from that chilled keg, those bottles have to be refrigerated?
dyqik
Well-Known Member
It helps, but it's not completely necessary if you can cap as you go to prevent too much foaming. Using a counterpressure filler (or at least biermuncher's rubber stopper device) helps as well.
If you chill the bottles (or any container) you're filling from a keg you'll get much less foam. You also need to lower the CO2 pressure in the keg, i.e., disconnect the gas line and vent keg a little.
I use a Blichmann Beer Gun on the few occasions I bottle. That way I can purge the bottle w/CO2 & fill w/ only 2-3 PSI.
No, that's not right. Fill your bottles from a cold keg, preferably into cold bottles, then you can store the bottles in the closet at room temperature no problem.
[edit: sorry, I see this was answered several times; I didn't see an answer within a few posts and added mine]
To extend just a bit:
i've used Biermuncher's poor-man's beer gun too and it works great--I use it in my garage in the sink as there's occasionally a spritz from it and I don't want that happening at my keezer. I'll have a keg and a separate CO2 tank and regulator there for that purpose.
I have a keg force-carbing right now in my ferm chamber in the garage; I'm going to bottle off that tonite using this technique.
But I also bottle directly off the keezer taps using a growler filler. I did 13 last night and didn't refrigerate the bottles. However, i had cold Star-San in a vinator to sanitize them and I think this helps cool them down. Very little foaming but I do want a little as I want to cap on that foam. That foam is full of CO2 so in capping on foam I'm capping bottles that are purged of oxygen.
If I had someone to cap for me, I could do two bottles a minute this way.
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I do get a little more foam this way until the faucet itself cools down; when that occurs, I might have no more than about 1/4" of foam on the beer as the bottle fills. If I think of it, I might take a video showing it and post it here.
Julian Høstan Urrea
Soyyojuli
Did you ever make that video?
Yeah. I use a vinator to spritz each bottle with Star-San (and both the bottles and the Star-San are chilled), and keep the bottle caps in the vinator to sanitize them. That's what I'm reaching into to get the bottle cap. I pull the bottle off the vinator where it's been draining, put another one on, a couple pumps of star-san and it drains while I fill the first bottle.
