filling kegs

[gallon]

I was wondering how people are filling kegs. I have been using a filling coupler and just bleeding off the pressure in the keg slowly while filling. I would like to attach a pressure gauge to the coupler and a flow switch of some sort to shut off when the keg is full. Then I might fill a few kegs in series. Does anyone have any good ideas or know where to buy a flow switch. Another problem is the type of thread. Is there a conversion to NPT?

Thanks
Tim

[Darel Matthews]

If I'm doing small batch stuff (too small to run on the racker) I'll pull the spears from the kegs then force carb. Laborious but you get good at pulling spears after a while.

[Sulfur]

kegs

I've filled hundreds of kegs that way. You don't really need a pressure gage IMHO. You can tell when the keg is full by watching for a steady stream of foam (i.e. not fobbing, but steady) in the vent line. Also, if your kegs are not insulated, you can roughly see the level of the beer by looking at where water condensates on the side. The few times there is a question (due to bleeding off the pressure too rapidly), you can simply weigh the keg. Why the flow switch? Is it for tax purposes? In Germany, I used to have to weigh empty and full kegs for tax purposes. This system works very well if you're not filling a lot of kegs. You can speed it up by splitting the line into two coupler/fillers.

[burcher]

sulfur,

are you using a sanke coupler and going in through the beer out side (i.e., backwards?). I assume you remove the ball?

[gabewilson50]

sulfur,

are you using a sanke coupler and going in through the beer out side (i.e., backwards?). I assume you remove the ball?

Yes, you have to remove the ball, and you have to remove the check valve from the gas side (Thomas valve). You're basically forcing the coupler to act in the reverse of how it was designed.

If I'm doing small batch stuff (too small to run on the racker) I'll pull the spears from the kegs then force carb. Laborious but you get good at pulling spears after a while.

Who has tanks of uncarbonated beer sitting around their brewery? Why would someone go through the work of removing a spear, filling a keg, replacing the spear, then force carbonating if they absolutely didn't have to? It doesn't make any sense, especially since counter pressure filling a keg is so easy by just slowly bleeding off pressure.

[Sulfur]

sulfur,

are you using a sanke coupler and going in through the beer out side (i.e., backwards?). I assume you remove the ball?

That is correct.

[Darel Matthews]

Yes, you have to remove the ball, and you have to remove the check valve from the gas side (Thomas valve). You're basically forcing the coupler to act in the reverse of how it was designed.



Who has tanks of uncarbonated beer sitting around their brewery? Why would someone go through the work of removing a spear, filling a keg, replacing the spear, then force carbonating if they absolutely didn't have to? It doesn't make any sense, especially since counter pressure filling a keg is so easy by just slowly bleeding off pressure.

Who doesn't have tanks of uncarbonated beer sitting around? How do you ferment? Age? All of this is under pressure? Not here. I also do a lot of filling from barrels - try counterpressure filling from a barrel.

[gabewilson50]

Who doesn't have tanks of uncarbonated beer sitting around? How do you ferment? Age? All of this is under pressure? Not here. I also do a lot of filling from barrels - try counterpressure filling from a barrel.

Okay, now I understand where you're coming from. I'm pretty sure that the original poster doesn't condition his beer in the same way you do. Usually, especially on a microbrewery scale, kegs are filled directly from serving tanks, the beer is fully carbonated and pressurized, and it's the pressure put on the tank and the slow bleed-off of the pressure in the keg that actually drives the beer into the keg.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was really having trouble getting my head around your posts (this and the one about filling soda kegs), even wondering if you were expecting people to decarbonate the beer before filling kegs, but it was my own paradigm paralysis that was stifling me. Carry-on barrel ageing, it's something I wish I could do in my own brewery.

[gallon]

I do counter-pressure fill the kegs and bleed of the gas slowly. I use one of those fill valves with an in and out shut-off. They come without a ball.

I wanted to come off the "out" with a tee, but the coupler thread is different from NPT thread.

Then I wanted to install a pressure gauge so I don't fill too fast.

Then I thought, if I had an automatic shut off that would close the valve when the keg was full, I wouldn't have to stand right there.

I don't know if they make such a valve or a way to convert the couple to NPT thread.

Tim

[gabewilson50]

Then I thought, if I had an automatic shut off that would close the valve when the keg was full, I wouldn't have to stand right there.

I don't know if they make such a valve or a way to convert the couple to NPT thread.

Tim

At another brewery I worked we had some pressure relief valves that were connected to the gas end of the coupler. I was told that they were actually pressure relief valves designed for passive solar water heating systems. They worked great first off for bleeding off pressure at the right rate, but then also for stopping the fill when it was full (even when they were old, they only allowed a slow trickle of liquid after the keg was full). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to track these down to use in my own brewery, but maybe you can find them and use them.

[BrewinLou]

Just found these on Kent.

https://breweryparts.com/detail.asp?n=1756&market_id=2&category_id=351

[gallon]

Wow. That is exactly what I was looking for. I just talked to GW Kent the day I made the post and was told they don't have anything like it. Maybe it's new Anyway I ordered one!

Thanks
Tim

[Brancid]

I'd really love to put my hands on one of these, but can't seem to find it on the Kent website. Seems that the previous link is broken. If anyone has a lead, it would be greatly appreciated.

[gabewilson50]

I'd really love to put my hands on one of these, but can't seem to find it on the Kent website. Seems that the previous link is broken. If anyone has a lead, it would be greatly appreciated.

http://breweryparts.com/index.php/eq...eg-filler.html

[Brancid]

Thanks for the reply. I did find that, but was hoping that just the valve would have been available.