spirits KEGGING!!!

frydad4

frydad4

As a somewhat experienced homebrewer, I am not quite confident in my abilities enough to give too much advice, BUT...

If you want to homebrew, INVEST IN KEGGING EQUIPMENT!!!!!

I did, and it is has made the homebrew experience so much more amazing than I could ever fathom!

For under $150 (shop around, maybe better) you can buy a couple of "c-kegs" and a small co2 tank, some hoses (not ladies of the night), and a tap. C-kegs are just old soft drink syrup containers. Stainless steel cylinders, about 5 gallon capacity, gas line in, liquid line out.

I have had no greater DIY experience than getting my friends HAMMERED (or delightfully and sophisticatedly buzzed) on picture perfect pints of homemade suds.

I haven't had to sanitize a bottle (other than for making mead) in over 2 years!

Give it a shot!! You won't regret it.
 
Exactly what I've been suggesting FD4... but if you HAVE to bottle I'd only use champagne bottles. 25 per 5 gal batch is WAY easier (IMO) than 50+ 12 oz.ers! May lose more if something goes wrong with the bottle, but I'd prefer over-sanitizing less containers, than under-sanitizing more. Plus, you use less caps. :)
 
I love bottling and that way I can travel with my brew, but I do appreciate the art of building a keggerator and kegging your stuff ;)
 
imaguitargod said:
I love bottling and that way I can travel with my brew, but I do appreciate the art of building a keggerator and kegging your stuff ;)
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True. Bottling does have its benefit of portability. The 10+ days it takes for a bottle to carbonate can be done in 2 with a keg. Plus there is no worrying about priming sugar, or whether that got thoroughly mixed before bottling. I've had some bottles end up totally flat and others that were gushers because I hadn't quite mastered the bottling technique. Major props to sticking with the science of bottling. :)
 
SumOfMyBits said:
True. Bottling does have its benefit of portability. The 10+ days it takes for a bottle to carbonate can be done in 2 with a keg. Plus there is no worrying about priming sugar, or whether that got thoroughly mixed before bottling. I've had some bottles end up totally flat and others that were gushers because I hadn't quite mastered the bottling technique. Major props to sticking with the science of bottling. :)
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Thanks. My first batch was decently carbed, but it took me a while of dialing it in. The real trick to rack some of the yeast into your bottling bucket.
 
All valid points...In fact, I have thought about bottling a six pack or so whilst kegging to share with friends.

Don't underestimate the WOW factor of showing up at a friends house with a chilled keg of homebrew (w/ small co2 canister). It's a bit more portable than one would think!

Imaguitargod, I was reading about your homebrew adventures. Any advice for a MILD way to introduce peppers into beer? Have you ever roasted or smoked malt before brewing with it?
 
frydad4 said:
Imaguitargod, I was reading about your homebrew adventures. Any advice for a MILD way to introduce peppers into beer?
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Introducing peppers is a fun way to jazz things up but too much is a different thing entirely. Definitly pair the heat level and pepper flavor with the beer you are doing (ie: Anchos with a Choco Stout or a Honey Porter; Chipotle with a Brown Ale; etc etc).

The best way is a few pods (depending on what you are using and making), boiled in hot water for about 8 minutes to staralize it, then toss it into the primary fermentor right before you add the yeast. (be sure to use a starter b/c the peppers will slow fermentation start a little).

Some do powder peppers in a hop bag in the secondary for a few days, but I say bah to that. Go all out. You can also add pods into the bottle to REALLY extract the heat (See my Jolokia Beer that I helped make).


frydad4 said:
Have you ever roasted or smoked malt before brewing with it?
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Not yet, but I know how to and probably will at the end of the summer.
 
I saw your jolokia ale, and it was equal parts awesome and scary!!

I swear I'm going to try it someday soon!
 
I, too, am fascinated and scared out of my wits by making a super-hot pepper beer. I'm down for taking a cap-full shot of hab vinegar sometimes, but that's not like drinking a 12 ozer of flame. Is there a way to par down the recipe and just make a sixer of it instead of risking a whole batch of perfectly quafable brew? Also... IGG (can I call you that yet?) any thoughts on a peppered mead [capsicamel (sp?)] recipe?
 
BTW-
FD4, way to take your own thread off-topic! To me KEGGING!!! can be construed as FREE4ALL!!! I'm down with this proposal, what say you?
 
I meant to call it FREE4ALL, but I hit the wrong keys.

Whoops. At least KEGGING sounds cool.

I (heart) homebrew.

So says I. BTW, Chicken-Mangos-Habs-Coconuts-Smoker-Beers....lets do it!
 
Meez thinkskeiens (thanks beer in hand) that maybe a new thread called "HomebrewersUnite!!!" might be in order. A thread where anything homebrewing goes. No worries on thread-jacking, no such thing as off-topic, no idea as to what "thread bumping" means...
 
The first time I made beer, I did the corn sugar in the bottle thing. What a pain in the ass. After that, I simply measured out 3/4 cup of corn sugar into a small sauce pan, siphoned some of the beer from the carboy into the sauce pan, brought it to a simmer(I'm paranoid about sanitation when brewing), and poured it back into the carboy. I let it sit in there for a few minutes(it'll mix itself if left to it's own devices) then siphoned the beer into bottles.

I've had several friends use the C-Kegs, and they all swear by them. I've always been put off by the expense, and not sure how to sanitize them.
 
You just sanitize them the same way you would a bottle. Fill 'er up with water, put some bleach or oxyclean or b-brite, whatever you use. Shoot some out of the tap to clean the lines, rinse, repeat. It only takes 5 minutes. Much easier than doing all of the bottles.
Be on the lookout for the c-kegs. They are seriously EVERYWHERE, and people (restaurants, concession stands, offices) cant use them for anything. Most people would happily give them to you if you found one somewhere. Just by being a garbage picker, I have found 19 c-kegs, and 2 co2 tanks that were just given to me. Much to the delight of my friends! I replaced the o-rings and bought new hoses and taps. Ask around, you might be surprised.
Otherwise, I agree, it is an expense.
 
SumOfMyBits said:
IGG (can I call you that yet?) any thoughts on a peppered mead [capsicamel (sp?)] recipe?
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Try a APC Cyser (sp?) and add Ancho ;)

SumOfMyBits said:
BTW-
FD4, way to take your own thread off-topic!
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Off topic happens here constantly and is well accepted...sometimes the first or second reponse can derain the whole thread. :lol:
 
Well...on kegging...

Mead actually kegs quite nicely, and under enough pressure can easily become a sparkling - champagne like product of which you have 5 gallons of on tap.

You lose the romantic element of pulling out a nice 8 month old chilled bottle, but the internal satisfaction of homemade drunkenness helps you easily forget that! I don't recommend ALWAYS kegging mead. Just some of the time!
 
True FD4. I've kegged 2+ 5 gal. batches of mead. The straight mead (fermented honey water) I find is usually not worth the effort of bottling. A well worked metheglin, cyser, pyments, etc. are worth bottling. These will most definitely change with age, and having them bottled allows the flexibility of enjoying them one bottle at a time. Kegging mead usually is under the intent of "this will be consumed with the quickness". I'm really not sure if I'd ever keg a mead again. I think I've always had a better quality mead come out of a bottle. AND carbonating a bottle of mead to make it "sparkling" is not difficult. I've bottled some before fermentation was complete, and it was some fantastic sparkling mead.
 
imaguitargod said:
I love bottling and that way I can travel with my brew, but I do appreciate the art of building a keggerator and kegging your stuff ;)
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Dude, that's what growlers are for ;)
 
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