Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Possibly a dumb question about keg filling.

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Possibly a dumb question about keg filling.

    We filled our first set of kegs that we plan to sell outside the brewery the other day (the first was for a test batch that we ended keeping and selling via our taproom). We discovered in doing the math on volumes that we had more kegs than we should have. All said and done we had just over 4.5 gallons into each keg. I know you won't fill a keg totally full bit I would assume on a 1/6th bbl keg it should be closer to 5 gallons. We use a FOB on a keg filling head and when it shuts off we figured the kegs were full.

    Our process:
    Vent the kegs pressure (not quite all the way but full pressure shuts the fob off)
    Open the valve on the filler head
    We maintain a head pressure in the brite tank of 13ish while filling
    When the fob stops venting air, we close all the valves and disconnect

    My thoughts at this point are
    We are venting too much pressure in the keg and foaming is causing premature shut off or we are filling too fast and should have the head pressure lower on the brite.

    We are going to weigh a keg and see where its at but the math says 4.65 gallons in the kegs.

    I feel like I am missing something here and we wont begin selling these kegs until we straighten this out. Any answers or comments are welcome, we just want play fair and square with our local businesses. Thanks in advance.
    Bill Walden
    Oddball Brewing Co.
    Suncook, NH

  • #2
    So...If you are using GW Kent keg filler with fob...yeah, well there is an addition you need to make to your SOP. Unfortunately, the fob will shut down early and often. Especially on sixtels.

    Get yourself a sanitized poker (we use a paper clip). When the ball shuts the vent, poke the ball down and hold the poker in the fob until you see the foam change to mostly beer. (you'll get the hang of this with practice). Then pull the poker, shut the beer valve and pop the coupler.

    Oh, and don't break the plastic fob, you can't buy just the fob, you have to buy the whole thing.... Nice....

    Hope that helps.

    Phil

    Comment


    • #3
      You can at least by the FOB assembly now.
      GW Kent is the #1 equipment distributor of the wine-making and commercial brewing industries, offering a fantastic variety of quality products sure to meet the needs of any large-scale facility.
      Joel Halbleib
      Partner / Zymurgist
      Hive and Barrel Meadery
      6302 Old La Grange Rd
      Crestwood, KY
      www.hiveandbarrel.com

      Comment


      • #4
        You can also try using a higher head pressure on the brite tank. The FOB can only let off so much pressure at a time, so if you give it more, the pressure in the keg will be higher and you will see less foaming.

        Comment


        • #5
          How are you judging your BBT volumes? If a flowmeter is used has it been calibrated? Has your BBT sight tube been calibrated? If it is the FOB, you could put a valve inline before it and bleed off a little slower. One item that might help, after you bleed a little keg pressure down and open the beer line try leaving the bleeder FOB valve closed until the first gallon or so of beer is in the keg, this gets the internal keg pressure close to equalization pressure of the tank. Then open the bleeder valve. Takes a minute more time, but will cut down the foaming.
          Joel Halbleib
          Partner / Zymurgist
          Hive and Barrel Meadery
          6302 Old La Grange Rd
          Crestwood, KY
          www.hiveandbarrel.com

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by bwalden234 View Post
            We are going to weigh a keg and see where its at but the math says 4.65 gallons in the kegs.
            Better yet, keep a scale handy when you're filling sixtels so you know they're full before you disconnect the filler.

            Comment


            • #7
              I Second the scale for checking fill level. For most beers I use 8.4lbs per gallon as a base weight. Your 1/6 bbl should have at least 5.16 gallons (43.3lbs of beer) or more if you are selling it. You can also feel the keg get colder as it fills. As you fill, feel the side and top of the keg. If the top is warmer then the beer isn't there. With the GW filler I am almost always a bit over on the fill as it fills all the way to the top. Start filling with Keg and BBT at the same pressure, the GW fob should let the CO2 out of the keg at the right rate. If it's too fast you might need to add a needle valve to throttle it. My fill rate is about a gallon per minute with little to no foaming, no alteration to the fob and using the same fob for 2 years now.
              Prost!
              Eric Brandjes
              Cole Street Brewery
              Enumclaw, WA

              Comment


              • #8
                You never want to send a partially filled keg out to your wholesalers, accounts, or retail customers, even if it is only by a few ounces. If the customer hears sloshing in the keg due to it not being totally full, they will feel cheated.
                I have been using the same, basic set up for quite a number of years with great success: a keg coupler with valves on the "gas out" and "beer in" ports. The coupler is connected to the keg and the brite tank via a food-grade hose (I.D. around 1/4" to 3/8"). Brite tank at 15 psi, keg is pressurized with CO2, open beer valves on tank and keg, allow product to flow in. Slowly open "gas out" valve and put that hose into a bucket to measure any waste. If I run the "gas out" valve very slowly, I am able to completely fill the keg with minimal waste. I know the keg is full when it starts spitting foam out the "gas out" valve/hose into the bucket and the foam turns to liquid. You have to pay attention and have patience but I regularly am able to fill a 1/2 bbl keg in about two minutes with very minimal waste. My typical waste at the end of a kegging session (10-20 1/2 bbls or equivalent 1/6 bbl kegs) is about 0.1-0.2 gallons.

                my two cents.....
                Prost!
                Dave
                Glacier Brewing Company
                406-883-2595
                info@glacierbrewing.com

                "who said what now?"

                Comment

                Working...
                X