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Just slip a hose over the spigot, put the hose down to the bottom of the bottle, fill the bottle, and then pull the hose out. The hose will take up roughly the same volume as a bottling wand, thus leaving the beer at the right level. Also, chill your bottles and hose before attempting the procedure. Doing so will prevent most all of the CO2 from coming out of solution. Of course, depending on how quickly you hope to consume them, you may want to cap on foam, so just set the bottle down on the table hard once and that should make enough foam for capping. At least in my experience, bottling from the keg is the best thing in the world. You get all the advantages of kegging, but if you need a six-pack, it takes roughly as much time as it does to go into the store, grab a sixer, and check out at the register. Also, you can fill growlers that way too.
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Sep 20, 2011 20:56
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Capping on foam is done to prevent there from being any O2 in the bottle with the beer. Since the foam is all CO2 coming from the beer, and the foam pushes out any air sitting on top of the beer, if the cap is actually mushed down into foam when you cap it, you're guaranteed to have eliminated almost all of the O2 from the bottle. This is irrelevant to kegging and is more or less just a good practice for bottling in general. Of course, if you're going to drink the bottles in fairly short order, it won't matter, but if your beer may be sitting around for quite some time before consuming, eliminating O2 from being in contact with the beer is desirable. Of course, you can go full-OC and get a $500 beer gun (or whatever they cost) which actually purges the bottle of air by forcing it full of CO2 before filling with beer, such that the beer never touches the air in the first place. Even so, in that case you still want to cap on foam.
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Sep 20, 2011 22:34
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Umm, poo poo. It completely slipped my mind. And Jo3sh is still waiting on his. Welp, guess I know what I'm doing today! 
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Sep 23, 2011 14:37
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If you put the splitter after your check valves, you're effectively opening a vent from one keg into another. While probably not normally a problem, if one beer got infected, it could lead to the other getting infected. Similarly, if one keg vented itself for some reason, the other would vent as well. Basically, anything that happens to one keg will happen to the other.
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Sep 27, 2011 05:07
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I see 5 gallon cornies on kegconnection.com for $35, which seems pretty normal: http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=421
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Oct 17, 2011 19:08
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Jo3sh posted:With that much outward bound gas, there's no need for a sanitizer barrier. That's not necessarily true. Works great for bacteria, but less so for critters like fruit flies, which will crawl through the fluid in your air lock and into your beer, unless said fluid kills them.
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Oct 24, 2011 16:54
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Jo3sh posted:When they invent a fruit fly that can crawl through the door of my ferment fridge, I will run screaming in the other direction. Just wait'll they invent a fruit fly that comes with its own bottle opener. Or, for those of us that keg, its own CO2 canister.
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Oct 24, 2011 18:27
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If it's a standup, go through the door. If it's a chest, go through the compressor hump. In general, though, you should be able to plug your fridge/freezer in, turn it up (colder), and let it run for a while. Then, feel the various surfaces on the outside. If you find one that isn't warm, that's a "safe" wall. For instance, the door won't warm up on a stand up fridge.
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Nov 1, 2011 18:52
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And once you've done that, pick a new site because you just found something you don't want to drill through.
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Nov 1, 2011 19:02
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Imasalmon posted:Run the fridge on max cold for about an hour, this will get the refrigerant lines good and warm. Then mix up a batch of corn starch and rubbing alcohol into a paste and smear it onto whatever part of the fridge you are drilling into. The area above the refrigerant line will dry first because of the heat. That sounds like a wonderful mess. :/ Also, it really depends on what kind of fridge it is. If it's a full size fridge, the door is safe. If it's a chest, the lid is safe. If it's a mini fridge and a tower is going on top (like Imasalmon suggested) then it's likely that just about ANY surface is safe, since they get their cooling from the icebox inside. So...what kind of fridge are we working with, here?
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Nov 1, 2011 20:24
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Plate chillers are also pretty good, and you only expend cooled water in roughly the same volume as the cooled beer. Get your intake on the plate from a cooler of ice water and it'll work even better.
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Nov 8, 2011 05:22
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A simple capper is probably cheaper than buying all the special bottles you'd want. Most brewing starter kits include a capper.
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Nov 9, 2011 22:20
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This secret santa thing looks cool. Is there a way we can specify what we're able to send, as well?
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Nov 18, 2011 01:09
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Anyone have advice for shipping corked bottles? I want to take some back with me to AK, but I feel like the pressure/temperature fluctuations in the hold of the plane could easily remove the cork. Is ground shipping probably my only option?
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Dec 5, 2011 18:26
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Imasalmon posted:You are using cork cages, right? No. Are you referring to the sort of wire harness that goes on a champagne bottle? If so, these are just regular wine bottles with fully internal corks. It's not a carbonated beverage in the bottle.
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Dec 5, 2011 19:58
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Naw, depending on where it's going, it'll sometimes end up in a container on a barge out of Seattle. My other option is to try to take it on the plane with me and I'm sort of tempted to just check a cooler and risk it. If it pops, at least it'll still be sealed in the cooler and I'll just need to do some washing when I get there. 
Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Dec 5, 2011 |
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Dec 5, 2011 20:17
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Put your bottles in the freezer. Bottling from a keg is awesome and a cinch. Also standard pouring rules apply: don't half-open the faucet, smooth continuous pour, etc. With proper form and prep (cold gear) you'll actually find you're having trouble getting enough foam to cap on.
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Dec 9, 2011 20:19
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Yeah, most wands will nicely fit in a party faucet. I did that for a while too. Pretty sweet coincidence.
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Dec 9, 2011 23:01
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Grainger is usually overpriced on just about everything, it seems, but they're also likely to have local warehouses that you can check for certain products being in stock. The more likely you are to find an item at a construction site or similar, the more likely they are to have it on hand, of course, but even if they don't you can place an order through a local warehouse and get it shipped there, and you should be able to skip on the shipping costs.
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Dec 10, 2011 16:07
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Funny that you, of all people, should post that, because I too just got something from the internet today, and at the end of the note it said, Umm, is it the FedEx University of Hard-Core Shipping Engineering?   Just kidding, the packing job was impressive and there was a bunch of cyclotron spectroscopy fourier transform resonance cascade flux capacitor stuff...the one that really caught my eye was something about "paramagnetic resonance," which I'm pretty sure means "dancing iron ghosts." Of course, no leaks or broken bottles, looking forward to trying these bad boys out. Looks like I got: Imperial Age Stout Apple Head Cider Ironic Banana Untitled Porter Awesome! Thanks a ton! I'll post a trip report later on.  As for my own shipment to some poor sap, I'm going to send it out first thing next week, since I conveniently mailed a similar package to a friend and want to make sure it arrives okay before I commit to sending out more to other people.
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Dec 16, 2011 23:01
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I dunno, I'd drink it, just to say I did.
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Dec 19, 2011 00:50
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drewhead posted:Secrete Santa Eww. e: Sent out my yeast samples today. Expected delivery is the 27th, sorry it won't make it in time for Christmas.
Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Dec 21, 2011 |
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Dec 21, 2011 16:58
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For the secret santa thing, do we need to provide proof of shipping to anyone? I can't even remember who's organizing it at this point, but my stuff is shipped.
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Dec 22, 2011 16:27
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Oh, sorry, I didn't mean for that to be unclear, but you're not my secretee, it's someone else. Didn't mean to get your hopes up, dash them, and then maybe get them up again. 
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Dec 22, 2011 21:33
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Imaduck posted:Cool, thanks! Anybody use BeverageFactory.com ? They seem to have good prices. I got my faucets and shanks there. No special report or AMAZING A+++ @LOOK@, but everything worked as expected and arrived on time. I think keg connection seems to be more competitively priced these days, though, at least if you're getting a kit (you can swap parts from kits for better parts, just call them.)
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Jan 3, 2012 03:16
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LeeMajors posted:Wow. Keg connection looks to have pretty awesome prices. Are those not including kegs? Their basic kits are very very cheap compared to other places. Definitely yes. A friend who lurks this thread got his four-tap setup through them, and swapped out for a different regulator, perlick faucets, and all stainless shanks.
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Jan 3, 2012 03:39
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LeeMajors posted:Definitely yes to 'not including kegs,' or to customizability? Sorry, definitely yes to being allowed to substitute parts. You'll pay some amount of difference in the price of the parts, of course. Also, the inclusion of kegs depends on the kit. It looks like they're "keg optional" if you look at their kegerator kits: http://stores.kegconnection.com/Categories.bok?category=*Homebrew+Kegerator+Kits
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Jan 3, 2012 04:43
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Daedalus Esquire posted:Just ordered the 2-Keg pin lock premium kit from keg connection. It does not include kegs or CO2 cylinders. After I went through and added 2 kegs and a CO2 tank, it ended up costing $212 shipped. The regulator is only a single gauge, but it comes with a manifold. code:
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Jan 3, 2012 04:51
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Well, it's not like the second gauge hurts, it'll give you a little bit of warning that your gas is running low, just not very much. A bottle of CO2 at 800psi is still a sizable amount of gas relative to pouring a pint. But relative to the number of pints you'll have gotten out of it previously, it's a pretty quick change. Also, manifolds are good no matter what. They let you isolate a keg or kegs from the system (good for disconnecting or just not driving a keg) and have check valves in them to prevent backflow (from one keg to another and from a keg to your precious regulator.)
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Jan 3, 2012 05:06
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5lb is the "normal" size for most bars, I think. You LHBS will both sell and fill 5lb tanks, almost certainly. If you buy a used one, you can just swap it at your LHBS for a full one. Your case may be different, but I'm pretty sure my LHBS doesn't do anything with non-5-lb. tanks.Darth Goku Jr posted:Though i do want to upgrade to a 5# tank, my 20oz gets me through force-carbing and serving 3 kegs before needing a refill. Yeah, 3 kegs seems like hardly anything at all. Whereas I drive an 8-keg setup from my 5lb tank. In that case, though, it's all about how much usage it sees (not much as of late.)
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Jan 3, 2012 05:18
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LeeMajors posted:I don't have a local homebrew store here in charleston. I'm not sure exactly where I'd be going to fill--probably a paintball store or something. Ok not sure what kind of tank they can fill though. Hmmm. I don't think most paintball stores will fill a proper 5lb. tank, or really any tank with the sort of fitting you'll have on yours. They might be able to, but it's far more likely that they won't. Welding shops, air supply shops...there's someone near you that will fill. Maybe this place? http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=co2+near+charleston&hl=en&cid=2205356279624587869 If it's anything like my experience, you'll call the place, they'll say yeah they can fill it, but it's some old guy and his wife and the dude is only there tuesdays and thursdays and you'd better call to make sure he's not out at lunch (no, it doesn't matter when you were thinking of coming by) and when you get there, you find out they only take cash, but the guy is a hoot and doesn't over charge. Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 07:41 on Jan 3, 2012 |
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Jan 3, 2012 07:39
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Prefect Six posted:Definitely call them to swap out stainless shanks. I didn't realize it didn't come with them and am kicking myself due to the problems I've had with perlick faucets connecting to the chrome shanks. What problems? When I built my bar, I parted it from a bunch of different places and at the time, I ended up with chrome shanks (when I move, I intend to rebuild and replace with stainless just because I don't want to eat any more chrome) but I haven't had any problems with the connections, so I'm curious what you're seeing.
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Jan 3, 2012 19:49
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Prefect Six posted:The teeth on the chrome shank and perlick faucets don't match up well. It seems a copious amount of keg lube and tightening the ever-loving poo poo out of the faucet sealed it up well enough. Huh, I wonder if maybe you got a bad shank or two? I have eight and they all match up perfectly well, never had any trouble at all. Either that, or I'm just lucky. 
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Jan 3, 2012 20:04
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Using dishwasher soap might have been recommended against, I could see that being the case. But you can still send them through the washer with no soap and just steam/heat clean them.
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Jan 3, 2012 20:13
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indigi posted:I wish they made shorter, more squat airlocks. I'm gonna have to build a new shelf in my fridge cause the airlocks are always right up against the ceiling and any movement can dislodge them or the airlock. I get worried easily. Jam a hose in and run it to a bucket of sanitizer. Should allow enough clearance and still vent properly, although it'll take up more space overall.
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Jan 5, 2012 20:17
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My story is: 1) Brew a batch of beer, bottle it 2) Buy a 3-keg system to tide me over while I build my eight keg bar 3) Bliss
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Jan 25, 2012 02:06
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Wow, that's sorta ghetto...I mean, it's great that copper tubing sometimes fits into those, but they aren't even close to the right attachments. Copper tube into a male hose barb?  I agree, though: don't mess with it if you're going to return it. However! If you insist, here's how I'd fix it (aside from just ripping off that hose barb and putting the proper fittings on there and/or soldering it myself: Get a few inches of vinyl hose of the right size for that hose barb. Pull the copper tube out of the barb, slip the tubing onto the male barb, as well as a couple loose hose clamps, then put the copper tube back through the whole thing to where it was, and tighten the hose clamps down on each end. Here's a crappy ascii art cross section: code:Otherwise, if you want to get even more silly, just fill that poo poo in with super glue. But still, don't do that, just get one from someone who knows how fittings and/or a torch work.
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Feb 9, 2012 03:42
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On a side note, yours is about $40 for 25' of 3/8" copper pipe. For $14, you can get 20' of the same from home depot. For $43, you can get 50' of the stuff. But let's just go with the 20', so that's a $14 baseline. Add in the cost of a torch (comes with a tank) for another $13 and we're up to $27, throw in a little spool of solder and some flux ($3.50 + $2) and you're looking at $32.50. That leaves you $6 for the two fittings you'll need, AND you get a soldered chiller, AND you now have a torch and soldering supplies, AND you learned to solder. I don't think everyone should be making every bit of equipment from scratch, but it's definitely an option and it's not really a daunting project. And like Jo3sh said, if you get the compression fittings, they'll work just as well, and you can then save money by not buying a torch and soldering gear, so you can spend all your money on copper instead and pay, say, $10 more for a 50' chiller instead. Midorka posted:In my homebrew group we're doing a cereal competition with random teams. The goal is to make a beer using a cereal in the mash. Does anyone have any good recipes for ones with Fruit Loops by chance? I think most "candy" cereals like that are likely to have a lot of preservatives which might make getting anything useful out of them somewhat difficult, and what you do get out will probably not be things you want... Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Feb 9, 2012 |
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Feb 9, 2012 03:52
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Dry hop it Which is actually not a bad idea, because you could easily take some on-hand beer and just give it a try to see what it does.
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Feb 9, 2012 04:09
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That little filter/aerator should unscrew, although if it's never been taken out, it could be a little stuck.
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Feb 10, 2012 01:58
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