Saturday, August 4, 2007

Meanwhile....

While I grout and do other work around the house, I have 15 gallons of beer waiting to be bottled. I hate bottling. I dream of kegging my beer someday. I need to suck it up and just do it.
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3 comments:

Jeff said...

I built my own kegerator about a year ago, and while my I haven't had a chance to brew up a batch of beer I actively refine wort into ethanol and I use kegs as my fermentors. Kegs can commonly be found on craigs list for about $20 each and the tapping mechanism is easily removed using a hammer, screwdriver and a pair of pliers. I have made so called "jungle juice" by adding enough concentrated fruit juice to make 15.5 gallons when re concentrated and then adding spirits to bring the alcohol content up to around seven percent and then retapping the keg. Then using a CO2 tank connected to my kegerator I carbonated the keg of fruit juice and ethanol over a period of several days. The regulator connected to my 10lb CO2 tank is set up to be connected to two kegs. I don't remember the equations for calculating the total CO2 which would dissolve into the mixture placed under 12PSI. I am certain I could find the equations in my general chemistry book. For a batch of beer which I am yet to do, I would assume all you would need to do is serialize the keg and then transfer your 15.5 something gallons of beer into it. Then either add enough sugar to charge it, or if it was me, just place the keg under pressure for a few days to get the same results. I would be worried about blowing up the keg if I put to much charging sugar in the batch, or just as bad over carbonating and then ending up with foamy beer when it is dispensed. Really over all I think kegging beer would be far easier then bottling. On one hand a good kegerator will set you back at least a few hundred dollars if you build your own, but in the end is well worth it. For me being a Chico CA native having fresh Sierra Nevada on tap is fantastic.

August 4, 2007 at 11:11 PM
Brian said...

Hey, nice blog. I started kegging my beer last year, and I am much happier than when I used to bottle. If I need to take beer somewhere, I either take it in it's keg (with a neoprene insulating jacket I purchased), or in a growler. It just depends on how many people I plan on sharing it with.

August 5, 2007 at 11:57 AM
Chemgeek said...

Kegging for me is not too far off. Right now, the biggest deterrent is the capital expense. When my major home improvement expenses cease, perhaps I can invest in the world of kegging.

August 5, 2007 at 11:27 PM

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