Entropy continued

[MicMaven]

I will need to chew on the idea of fermenting inside the keg

I'LL DRINK TO THAT !

Given the convenience and efficiencies of kegs vs bottles, you might accept some loss of product when you approach the bottom of the keg. You can add the top-feed thing in due course. I suspect the only down side is the cost of kegs versus cost of bottles (which you already have) - but if cost is not an object, the keg seems a no-brainer.

And speaking of efficiency ... here is where it could end up ... (image below)

Happy trails, James

 

[JohnRoberts]

I'LL DRINK TO THAT !

Given the convenience and efficiencies of kegs vs bottles, you might accept some loss of product when you approach the bottom of the keg. You can add the top-feed thing in due course. I suspect the only down side is the cost of kegs versus cost of bottles (which you already have) - but if cost is not an object, the keg seems a no-brainer.

no downside and I can recycle the dregs from the last keg into the next batch of beer that I cook.

I already have a float pickup but no hurry to hook it up. The first keg I will tap (soon) has priming sugar in it so that will just make some light sediment in the bottom. I can work around that.

JR

And speaking of efficiency ... here is where it could end up ... (image below)

Happy trails, James

 

[JohnRoberts]

This is what I did today instead of doing my taxes..



This keg was naturally primed with sugar but I followed the advice to use 1/2 the normal amount of priming sugar used when bottling. In no great surprise it is slightly under carbonated.
[edit- that was bad information... the mini kegs have a pressure relief blow off at 65# so impossible to over prime /edit]

Tonight I can crank up the CO2 pressure to add some carbonation overnight.
[edit- carefully.. the tap is low pressure so must be disconnected before pressurizing the keg higher than a few pounds. /edit]

Beer good.

JR

 

[MicMaven]

This is what I did today instead of doing my taxes.. . . . .
the tap is low pressure so must be disconnected before pressurizing the keg higher than a few pounds.

* Do you have to bleed off some pressure before you can replace the tap?

* Gee. It looks a bit like motor oil. What style is it?

Parenthetically, I like a dark beer, Stout, Porter, Dopplebock, Eisbock, Dunkle, etc. Come to think of it, I ALSO like light Lagers, Pilsner, Amber Ale, ...

Maybe, I just like beer!

(However, I do NOT like most IPAs or murky sour Weiss styles)

Cheers! / James

 

[JohnRoberts]

* Do you have to bleed off some pressure before you can replace the tap?

yes, I shouldn't connect the tap with the keg pressurized to 25#. This is easy enough to do the mini kegs have a pressure relief pull valve (that automatically protects against over pressurizing to make it idiot proof). Then the pressure regulator also has a pressure relief pull valve, and a cut off valve in series. So it will be simple to turn down the regulator pressure, then pull either the keg or regulator pressure release. Then close the in-line cut off valve. After I reconnect the tap, I can open the cut off and pressurize the keg to a nominal 3-4# PSI. I don't expect the beer to be fully carbonated from one brief session. The advice calls for a full week @ 25 PSI.

I have a proper tap tower on order that I can mount to the top of the beer refrigerator this weekend.

I am late to the DIY beer kegging game but this is a mature discipline and there are lots of accessories available. The dedicated beer refrigerator has a rear bracket for holding the CO2 bottle, with a hole in the back of the fridge to feed the CO2 line inside......BUT the hole is not big enough for two CO2 lines since I wanted to be able to pressurize two mini kegs at different pressure. There is a shelf inside for the CO2 bottle that I am using now. I guess with a full size keg the hole size is adequate.

* Gee. It looks a bit like motor oil. What style is it?

It's somewhere between stout and porter. Over the years I have evolved my recipe to be somewhat lower alcohol but I keep it plenty dark with crushed roasted barley, and different roasted malts.

Parenthetically, I like a dark beer, Stout, Porter, Dopplebock, Eisbock, Dunkle, etc. Come to think of it, I ALSO like light Lagers, Pilsner, Amber Ale, ...

I generally like stouts, but while traveling around the UK with my Peavey rep we sampled many different black and tan combinations assembled from the different pub local tap selections. A black and tan is closer to a porter than a stout. I had good luck finding stout and dark ales in the UK and coincidentally Australia. Germany was mostly disappointing in my dark ales pursuit (over several years of Musik Messes). For relief I had Peavey associates who knew me who would bring me a few bottles of Belgian tripls to tide me over.

Back in the day when I used to throw my major house parties, including having live bands in my living room. I used to also brew occasional light beer batches that I affectionately described as "girly beers" on my party invites. For good parties you want to make the girls happy.

Maybe, I just like beer!

me too

(However, I do NOT like most IPAs or murky sour Weiss styles)

IPAs were over hopped on purpose to survive long ocean trips from GB to India. I don't like the excessive bitterness from all the extra hops. Weissbier was popular in Germany but not high on my list despite multiple samples. The only time I enjoyed a tall glass of weissbier, was in Atlanta on the 4th of July after running the Peachtree 10k race. The weissbier with a slice of lemon really hit the spot after running 6 miles in the Atlanta summer heat.

Cheers! / James

yup... Beer good.

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

My kegification project is making excellent progress. I'm thinking I should have done this years ago.

It took me a couple days to get the carbonation right in my first keg and the difference between flat beer and properly carbonated is significant. I am already enjoying the rewards of losing the beer bottles. I didn't completely understand how much time and effort this was consuming.

I am still learning the new rhythm of kegging vs. bottling. Using beer bottles I could use the beer bottle caps as a proximate gauge of my nightly beer consumption. Since I don't have an easy way to know how much beer is left inside each keg, I just ordered a shipping scale that will fit inside the beer refrigerator underneath the keg. That way I can gauge my nightly consumption by weight, and get warning as the keg empties.

JR

 

[Tubetec]

I heard of a recording studio once ,cant remember where , everyone who came in was given a bottle opener with a unique punch built into it , the idea was they counted up the bottle caps next day and applied the charges per person depending on how many beers you capped .

 

[JohnRoberts]

I heard of a recording studio once ,cant remember where , everyone who came in was given a bottle opener with a unique punch built into it , the idea was they counted up the bottle caps next day and applied the charges per person depending on how many beers you capped .

Even musicians could figure out how to get around that.
===
The thing I like about having a keg tapped literally a few paces from where I am sitting, makes beer o'clock pretty much any time of my day.

JR

 

[Brian Roth]

The thing I like about having a keg tapped literally a few paces from where I am sitting, makes beer o'clock pretty much any time of my day.

JR

It's Five o'Clock Somewhere!



Bri

 

[JohnRoberts]

I am making good progress on my beer kegification project. I have installed a shipping scale under the beer keg so I can literally measure each beer draw by weight. At my current rate of consumption (3.5 pounds a night) my first keg will go empty in 3-4 more days.
===

I am wrestling with my inner packrat. I need to throw away roughly 25 gallons of empty glass beer bottles that took me decades to accumulate.

From where I live in nowhere MS, it cost more to ship glass bottles to a profitable glass recycling operation.

JR

[edit I checked with the local recycling place and they won't take my old baseboard heating elements either. It's hard being green...at least replacing the resistance heat with a second heat pump will use less electricity. That's green. /edit]

 

[Youngwhisk]

Do you have a scrap metal recycling place nearby? Metal, not electronics.

 

[MicMaven]

Do you have a scrap metal recycling place nearby? Metal, not electronics.

I had the very same thought. Perhaps you could exchange it at a scrap yard for pocket change, and start a sinking fund to acquire more, or larger, kegs and, ultimately, increase production. James

 

[JohnRoberts]

[email protected]
we recycle metal. no glass
===
I also have a few baseboard heater units
any interest?
====
No Sir, we do not.
Thanks
====

A couple years ago I gave a few hundred pounds of aluminum extrusion to a very old local tin can collector. I designed a custom aluminum extrusion for my first generation drum tuner. Alcoa insisted on a minimum 500# push through the extrusion die. So I had hundreds of pounds left over just collecting dust. I helped him load the aluminum extrusion onto his trailer to carry it over to the scrap yard. The typical deal for stuff like this is to split the scrap value with me.... I told him to just keep it.

I feel bad about trashing all these good beer bottles, and working baseboard heaters but I don't need more detritus cluttering up my casa. I will drag it all (and more) out to the curb for next month's town junk collection. Often My junk pile gets picked through and decimated within the first 24 hours.

A good solution might be to sell the bottles filled with beer but nah....

JR

 

[MicMaven]

A good solution might be to sell the bottles filled with beer but nah....

Right - Selling alcoholic beverages without a license is not a good plan. Many States have rather draconian liquor control laws defining "sale of alcohol" and "furnishing alcohol" as including giving it way, let alone selling it for a price. And, they do not always specify a safe amount you can distribute before you become subject to liability for violating said laws. Moreover, you may be liable for injuries sustained by third parts after "selling or furnishing" alcohol to second parties who injury said third parties whilst intoxicated from consuming your unregulated and un-taxed intoxicating beverages without a license. Who knows, the Feds might consider your sale competition and participation in "interstate commerce" without a license or paying Federal tax or in violation of some regulatory scheme or other without a permit. We won't even consider the possibility of local regulatory control. ... No, it is not entirely safe to even give it away, let alone sell it to others. Crazy, but as far fetched as you might think. (No smiley face, because I am almost, not quite, kinda, sorta serious!)

Better you should consume any surplus quietly at home. Cheers - I'll drink to that. Happy trails to you. James

 

[JohnRoberts]

I was not serious about selling my beer... while it would be a neat way to dispose of the bottles.

JR

 

[MicMaven]

I was not serious about selling my beer... while it would be a neat way to dispose of the bottles.

Yeah... I know, but I had fun mentioning how crazy silly and draconian the law can be!

Sidebar - I used to give a speech about silly laws around the country to civic service organizations such as the Jaycees, Rotary International, AMBUCs, and similar civic minded groups. It is a big hit and gets a lot of laughs. That would get me a free lunch on the "Rubber Chicken Circuit" and occasionally drummed up new business as I could showcase my speaking style and sense of humor. The research was easy and well worth the time and effort over the years. No shortage of material in that one!

Happy days. / James

 

[JohnRoberts]

According to my postage/shipping scale mounted beneath the keg inside my beer fridge I am down to approximately 2# of beer left. That means it will run out tonight.

So far beer from near the bottom of the keg is still very good. With beer on tap literally a few feet from my chair, I have switched to a smaller drinking glass. I found a nice 8oz double insulated glass.

It looks like it will take me about 2 weeks to finish drinking one 5 gallon keg. Coincidentally I have been fermenting my beer for two weeks in the fermenter, so if I start brewing a new batch every time I switch out a keg, I will have a fresh batch of beer ready when the new keg runs out...

To help clean my used kegs, I bought a picnic keg pump so I can load some cleaning solution into the keg and pressurize it to pump the solution out through the beer lines to clean them out.

JR

PS: I am still wrestling with my inner packrat, I have a pile of beer bottles to discard, and other bottling paraphernalia I don't need.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Sometimes tools need to be repaired.


The crimp on my cheap electric screwdriver drill bit was loose and causing the drill to slip.... I re-crimped it with my big dog compound crimper that I used for making wire-rope cables for my weight machine. The drill is a little wobbly but not slipping any more.

JR

 

[MicMaven]

According to my postage/shipping scale mounted beneath the keg inside my beer fridge I am down to approximately 2# of beer left. That means it will run out tonight.

So far beer from near the bottom of the keg is still very good.

THAT is good news. I was curious what sort of life span it has.

switched to a smaller drinking glass.

Good plan. Better to manage the temperature.

It looks like it will take me about 2 weeks to finish drinking one 5 gallon keg.

Cool beans.

so if I start brewing a new batch every time I switch out a keg, I will have a fresh batch of beer ready when the new keg runs out...

Once again, timing is the essence of good comedy!

James/K8JHR

 

[JohnRoberts]

THAT is good news. I was curious what sort of life span it has.

That post was 10 days ago, and I am now finishing the next keg that followed that last one, so 10 days which is less than 2 weeks. Once again the beer from the bottom of the keg is just fine. Like I think I have said before this is a mature technology so they have it mostly sussed out.

Good plan. Better to manage the temperature.

I am using a double insulated 8oz glass and this works very well. I worry a little about the fragile double insulated glass, but I have seen double insulated metal 8oz mugs/glasses for after this breaks.

Cool beans.

I am drawing the last draughts from this current keg, and I already have a new batch of beer brewing on the stove. The next keg is already chilled and carbonated (3 days at 25# CO2 pressure) so it will only take minutes to swap over. Two ball lock connectors on top of the keg, one for 4# CO2 pressure in, and the other for beer out.

Once again, timing is the essence of good comedy!

I am still fine tuning my beer supply chain but have to ask myself why didn't I do this sooner?

JR

James/K8JHR