Kegging 101

KEGGING 101 ALEiens Homebrew Club

Why Keg?

Easier to clean 1 keg over 50 cleaning 50 bottles

Force Carbonation allows easy adjustments of carbonation

Kegs can last forever

Friends will be Jealous

Kegs store beer longer

Kegging Equipment

Cornelius Keg (Corny)

CO2 Tank and Regulator

Faucet

Beer and Gas Tubing

Keg Connectors

Types of Kegs

Pin Lock vs Ball Lock

Connections

Keg Lid

Pressure Releif

Dip Tube

Simple System

More Complex System

Standard Kegerator

Keezer

Old Fridge

Carbonating Beer

Filling Beer Bottles

Carbonating Tips

Standard carbonating can take about 4-7 days.

Kegs can be force carbonated quicker by turning up the pressure very high and rocking the keg gently.

It’s always better to aim at a lower carbonation level and tweak it up to the desired level. It’s is far harder to remove carbonation.

Kegging Beer Tips Add as clean of a beer as possible into the keg.

Let the keg sit still in a fridge for a couple days to a week to let the yeast and proteins fall to the bottom. Your first couple pints of beer will be cloudy, but the beer should clean up with age.

Try not to shake up a keg.

Make sure all your connections are tight and clean. Use keg lube to help with better connections.

Once Keg is sealed and carbonated, it is safe from light and oxygen.

Spray a soapy (star san) mixture on all connections and look for CO2 Leaks.

Kegging Cleaning

It is recommended to break a keg down after every use and clean and sanitize every piece.

Soak a keg and keg parts in hot water and PBW/Oxyclean

Clean keg taps, lines regularly.

Balancing a Keg System 3/16 in. (4.75 mm) inside diameter (ID):

3.0 PSI/ft. (67.9 kPa/m)

1/4 in. (6.35 mm) ID:

0.8 PSI/ft. (18.1 kPa/m)

5/16 in. (7.94 mm) ID:

0.4 PSI/ft. (9.0 kPa/m)

3/8 in. (9.53 mm) ID:

0.2 PSI/ft. (4.5 kPa/m)

Common Beginner Issues

Foamy Beer System needs balanced

Cloudy Beer Dirty keg or lines, Keg needs to settle

Flat Beer System may have a leak

Foul Beer Possible left over cleaner, dirty connections or facuets

Sour Beer (non intentional) Dirty keg, bad connections