Guru, Byron Burch once said “The tendency of a home brewer to look favourably on the idea of kegging home brew is directly proportional to the number of bottles washed during the course of his or her home brewing career”.

Kegging is a great help to brewers so it surprises me when someone comes into the warehouse with a keg system they bought from a friend who no longer uses it. It makes one wonder if the previous owners ever used it properly and had the right advice. I can assure readers there are many out there who religiously follow a procedure that at best is tedious and at worst destroying their beer. It really is simple and logical so don’t blindly follow anyone. Think things through yourself.

1. Don’t rack beer out of a fermenter unless you are aware of correct racking procedure. The beer is much safer left in the fermenter until it clears naturally. Improper racking oxidises and stales beer. Yeast cells can only seem to defy gravity in exceptionally thick beer.
2. Run beer through the fermenter tap until clear and then fill your keg.
3. Use a transfer tube from the fermenter tap to the bottom of the keg you are filling. This limits beer exposure to regular air that stales beer, see tip 1.
4. Once you have filled the keg usually to the weld inside but at least 25 mm below the plugs, close up keg and purge out the regular air that may be inside the keg. As you already know regular air stales beer.
5. Immediately put keg in fridge. Refrigeration exists because cold restricts the growth of bacteria. If your beer tasted ok straight out of the fermenter, (always check) and didn’t taste good when it was gassed up and cold you can bet bacterial growth occurred at room temperatures.
6. Gas with the regulator on 260KPA for 2 days. Regulators are called as such because they regulate or maintain an even pressure above the beer as gas is absorbed into the beer.
7. Adjust shelves or install shelves so that your fridge can store as much as possible of your beer cold. This lagering process allows beer to mellow i.e. reduce harshness.
If your brew shop doesn’t give you clear concise answers that are logical, find another brew shop.
For people who still bottle, some tips.
1. Fill bottles with as little contact with air as possible, see staling above.
2. Leave caps on loose until they are all filled, this allows air to escape.
3. If you want less gas in your beer, use less than 1 teaspoon of sugar per 750 mls. More than 1 teaspoon is dangerous.
4. Store outside your fridge for 2 weeks to carbonate and then if you have room, store inside fridge.

Dad’s Bitter and Twisted:

1. 1 can of Bitter, 500 gms Dextrose, 500 gms Light Malt – standard procedure.
Or for the more advanced
2. 1 can of Bitter, 1 kg Light Malt, 250 gms Cracked Crystal Grain, 40 gms Goldings Pellets.

Bring 3 litres of water to the boil, add 20 gms of Goldings pellets and boil for 5 minutes.Turn off heat, add 250 gms Crystal, put lid on and steep for 15 minutes.

Strain through a sterilised sieve into your fermenter, add can of Bitter and your 1 kg Malt, stir and add 20 gms Goldings Pellets.

Top up to 20 litre mark, add 2 packs of 514 Ale Yeast and don’t serve too cold.
Remember you are not bound to your nearest brew outlet. If you are not happy with a sub-standard result, go mail order or order online from our website…

www.homebrewerswarehouse.com.au
Cheers… Younga!