Advice for a novice

[EoinMag]

Thanks for clearing that lot up for me Eoin. Just on your last point, does that mean kegs aren't really suitable unless you're going to use some sort of co2? Or does it depend on the type of beer and how long you want to keep it? - just thinking about Ditchs' scenario when he was left without any gas, is it different with stout for example?
Also just on the practicalities, are you saying that you would draw your first 10 - 12 pints without any co2 then give it a blast, or would you not let it get to that stage. And if you did, is it then too late, the beer is flat and you giving it a blast wouldn't save it?
Sorry for all the questions, but for some daft reason it seems dead important.

Cheers

Kegs need some type of gas scenario normally, unless you are going to drink the beer fast, before the gas has all come back out of solution. Ales are well suited to casks where they aren't that fizzy, just have a low level of carbonation and once you put a head on it then it's fine mostly. I don't think it's all that different with stout, but I think Ditch has found a drink he gets on well with, and well he just gets on with it.
I would tend to draw the first few pints and then before it's completely dead and has absolutely no power left then I'd gas it up. If you left it sit a while with no pressure then it's too late for the natural priming, but you can use gas to get some carbonation in there, if you put more gas in pretty soon then you can be alright. The last keg I had before this one, I didn't really let it prime for long enough in the keg as I'd run out of beer, so I drew off one or two pints and then force carbonated it with the small bulb and it was fine throughout the keg, although wasn't quite ready as a beer yet, and I ended up using more bulbs than usual, but it was a fine drinkable keg of beer, the second one, same beer that was allowed to mature and prime was a much nicer beer.
If you move onto lagers or very fizzy styles you'll have to bottle to get the correct level of carbonation, kegs won't cut it.

[Tom Sawyer]

That's great Eoin, thanks for your patience. I mentioned earlier that I was thinking of eventually moving to the mini kegs with a co2 tap - would these be suitable for lagers or more fizzy beers?

Cheers

[EoinMag]

That's great Eoin, thanks for your patience. I mentioned earlier that I was thinking of eventually moving to the mini kegs with a co2 tap - would these be suitable for lagers or more fizzy beers?

Cheers

If you're talking about Cornelius (Cornie) kegs, they have a pressure regulator on them and a gas bottle pub stylee, and you can carb them to any level you want quite accurately, so you effectively have a professional dispensing system with them.

Eoin

[Tom Sawyer]

No Eoin, sorry. This is the sort of thing I meant:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/party-st ... ystem.html
I think you use four 5l kegs and you have a removeable co2 tap

Cheers

[EoinMag]

No Eoin, sorry. This is the sort of thing I meant:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/party-st ... ystem.html
I think you use four 5l kegs and you have a removeable co2 tap

Cheers

In all honesty, if you're looking at those sort of prices, you'd be much better off going for a cornelius keg setup, it does mean you might need a dedicated fridge to hold the stuff in, but in fairness I think you'll get a basic setup for cornies which hold almost 20l of beer in one keg for in or about that price.
It'll do exactly what you want and is suitable for any beer type more or less.
I don't think those 5l kegs would be much advantage over a king keg or a budget keg myself, apart from portability and the space one keg takes up.

[Tom Sawyer]

Mm, see what you mean about the price and I did think about the cornie option but don't have (or room for) a dedicated fridge, What I liked about the mini kegs is that I could put 1 or 2 in our normal fridge.

Cheers

[techtone]

Also just on the practicalities, are you saying that you would draw your first 10 - 12 pints without any co2 then give it a blast, or would you not let it get to that stage. And if you did, is it then too late, the beer is flat and you giving it a blast wouldn't save it?

A lot depends on tbe temperatures. Keep the keg in a south facing windowsil and you will go a long way before needing to add extra gas. Put the keg at garage temperatures in the winter and you will struggle to get a couple of pints out before appearing to run out because more has been absorbed into the beer at lower temperatures - bring the keg into the house and the pressure will return as it warms up.

You can always save flat beer by adding co2 but if you let air glug in through the tap when the pressure has dropped and a vacuum has formed then it can go stale after another week or so.

[EoinMag]

Well my ales are all served at the room temperature in my kitchen....now if I was brewing lagers this would probably change and I'd need a fridge.
If the consideration is to be able to put some in the fridge then those small kegs are probably the right choice, just be sure you don't outgrow them too fast, the cornie setup would be a lifetime job normally.

I'm not sure about how much those small yokes will carb up either, maybe a report from someone on here that uses them would be the business.

[Tom Sawyer]

Thanks fellas.
Eoin, do you keep your keg in the kitchen all the way through from kegging then, or do you move it out into the cold then bring it back into the kitchen when it's time to drink?


Cheers

[EoinMag]

Thanks fellas.
Eoin, do you keep your keg in the kitchen all the way through from kegging then, or do you move it out into the cold then bring it back into the kitchen when it's time to drink?


Cheers

After kegging it stays in the spare room where it's been brewed to prime and then it's into the kitchen for serving. It spends no time in the cold, except one time I emptied out the bottom of the fridge to cold condition a banana flavour out of a chocolate stout before a party. It got two weeks in the fridge and the banana flavour disappeared. It was not kept cold for the party itself.