Kegging??

homebrew.ie

Mashtun wrote: »

Anybody know what causes this? When you bottle a beer it'll last for months on end!

With a bottle it is compleatly sealed nothing can get in or out but once its opened it won't last long. With a keg when you pour it you are letting air in so it is no longer sealed as well as it was.

Donny5

homebrew.ie wrote: »

With a bottle it is compleatly sealed nothing can get in or out but once its opened it won't last long. With a keg when you pour it you are letting air in so it is no longer sealed as well as it was.

With a commercial keg, though, you're just introducing CO2 and maybe nitrogen, not oxygen and certainly not air, so that doesn't fly.

homebrew.ie

The seal for the gas connection on a commercial keg once connected has a little chamber that will still have air in it and this little bit of air gets pushed in when you turn the gas on.

sham69

Still no update from me.
Local barman promised me a cylinder of gas or the end of a cylinder nearly 3 weeks ago, still waiting.
Seemingly they only order gas every few weeks.
The keg was tapped about 5 weeks ago so don't know how its gonna taste.
Its out the back garden.
Shame to waste a keg and a half.

rubadub

Donny5 wrote: »

With a commercial keg, though, you're just introducing CO2 and maybe nitrogen, not oxygen and certainly not air, so that doesn't fly.

I have heard commercial breweries will treat bottled/canned beers a lot more than kegged stuff (such as heat treating). I saw data on microbial activity in kegged Vs canned beers and there was more in the kegs. Heat treating and other chemical treatments etc would cost money and effect taste, kegs going in pubs are not usually going to last long so I presume this is why they give it less treatment.

What I am wondering is could you keg a stout, the force carb with nitrogen and bottle it adding a little more sugar to top up the gas, then if this is poured would it have a semi smooth nitro head.

Hamlet

sham69 wrote: »

Still no update from me.
Local barman promised me a cylinder of gas or the end of a cylinder nearly 3 weeks ago, still waiting.
Seemingly they only order gas every few weeks.
The keg was tapped about 5 weeks ago so don't know how its gonna taste.
Its out the back garden.
Shame to waste a keg and a half.

Hi Sham,

There is a few places around that hire the equipment out, Google home bar equipment and you will see who is near you.

one of them is in Navan, they have a German type name (not sure if i can post a link, but it starts with Wund) they sell a bottle that does 3 kegs for a €100 and €15 a refill.

the Guinness lads use to have these bottles in the van, they called them the party pack/bottle. there ones had a regulator on the top of the bottle, so you just connected the line to the kegging tap and away you go. so if you know any Guinness lads ask them for a loan.

another place in Smithfield rent equipment only for €80 but the charge for delivery as well, think its €20. it comes with gas and everything else ready to go.

this should help you to put a dent in your full keg but as for your other 5 wk old keg, well I think it might be gone to the dogs by now. but try it out before you bin it.

Hamlet

Donny5 wrote: »

With a commercial keg, though, you're just introducing CO2 and maybe nitrogen, not oxygen and certainly not air, so that doesn't fly.

I was told by a Guinness rep that once you tap the keg (add gas) you change the atmosphere in the keg and this is what starts the use by date. with larger I found it tasted fine the first wk, but you could really taste the difference by the second week. if you look at a keg it only has a born date not a use by date, but the rep said it is only good for 6 months untapped.

Donny5

Hamlet wrote: »

I was told by a Guinness rep that once you tap the keg (add gas) you change the atmosphere in the keg and this is what starts the use by date. with larger I found it tasted fine the first wk, but you could really taste the difference by the second week. if you look at a keg it only has a born date not a use by date, but the rep said it is only good for 6 months untapped.

Well, I'll take all of this experience over my theories. I just I knew why!

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

then if this is poured would it have a semi smooth nitro head.

You need high pressure mixing at the moment of serve to make the bubbles. On keg fonts there's a showerhead disc thingy in the tap to force the beer out at high pressure and mix the air in; with a widget the gas is released into the beer as it's poured; and at the basic level you have the sparkler for cask beer which again forces the beer through air at high pressure to make the bubbles. It'd be impossible to get the right sort of pressure from just pouring a bottle.

sham69

Finally got the gas and eveything is cool?
Strange that the guinness gas didnt do the carlsberg but I reckon there just wasnt enought gas left in the bottle.

I tapped it up last night and turned the gas on, you can really hear the gas going in so I left it on for about 2 minutes and then drew a pint off, it was lovely (but not as gassy as a pub?)
I am afraid to leave the gas on all the time as I don't know how to regulate it so am happy enough giving it a shot of gas every time I am going to use it.
Thanks all for the advice.
Cheers.

tetas

im in navan and i am looking for a cylinder of suremix 25 gas to pour guinness i have empty cylinder does anyone were i can get or buy one need it urgently

sham69

I think there is a guy in finglas who sells them or refills your old cylinder.
He also regulates it if you need him to.
I can try to get you the number if you like?
I think I might have to ring him myself, got a keg for good friday, waiting on a guinness tap from ebay and hoping it arrives tomorrow at the latest.
If not then I am going to have to try using a miller tap that I have, changing the tapping head to a u system and try to get a restrictor disc from somewhere.
Otherwise there is going to be a lot of pissed off people at my house on Friday and I have no money to buy cans now as all the money went into getting the guinness setup at the last minute.
Let me know if you need the number and I will PM it to you.
Sham.

sham69

PM sent tetas, just in case I am not online later and miss your reply.

sham69

hi,
in a bit of trouble again.
Got all my equipment setup and all seems fine.
Only problem is my Guinness was pulling really high on my first pint?
I have a regulator on my setup but I think it is set for lager?
Second pint I pulled I just gave the keg a shot of gas, pulled the pint and it was much better if a little too gassy.
I am not sure how to regulate it, i know it has to be 30 psi or thereabouts but how do I know what 30 is.
I have attached an image of the regulator (with gas off)
When gas is on it is closer to the second mark.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Sham.

sham69

got sorted.