How to Keg Beer
The following guide will walk through How to Keg homebrew beer to help you take your brewing to the next level. This is a general overview on how to keg homebrew beer into Cornelius kegs, carbonation, and the cleaning process. Kegging beer has its definite benefits such as not having to clean and fill bottles, carbonation can be set precisely, and it allows for additional processing such as filtration or counter pressure bottle filling for those folks who don't want yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottle.
Kegging Overview
What you will need to purchase:
A Kegging Setup as shown below (comes with everything except the fridge):
A typical kegging system consists of the following:
1.) Keg - Cornelius (soda kegs) are the common keg used by home brewers as it holds 5 gallons, is reasonably easy to transport with one person, is tall and slender allowing multiple kegs to fit into a fridge, and is relatively inexpensive compared to other options. Often these can be found at your local homebrewing supply store. Often they are reconditioned units which will work perfectly.
2.) Carbon dioxide (CO2) Tank - carbon dioxide is what is normally produced by the yeast as sugars are converted to alcohol. This is why bottles of homebrew are primed with sugar to activate the yeast to create carbon dioxide which results in a pressurized bottle of beer and carbon dioxide being dissolved into the beer. In the case of kegging the yeast has already completed the majority of the conversion of sugars to alcohol and a carbon dioxide tank is needed to pressurize the keg. This pressure results in the carbon dioxide being dissolved into the beer within the keg. If the tank is purchased new it will need to be filled by a local gas supply shop.
3.) Pressure Regulator - A pressure regulator is used for maintaining carbonation and pressure for the dispensing of draft beer from keg to faucet. It is recommended that the regulator be a dual gauge regulator which measures both the pressure of the tank and the pressure of the output from the regulator. Pressure settings are controlled from the regulator which can be set to different pressure levels depending on if the keg is being charged up (carbonating) or is being served.
4.) Ball locks, Hoses, and Dispensers - these are the critical components for delivering your beer. Hoses should fit over hose barbs which will be supplied with the ball locks and dispensers. Hose clamps are used to lock the hoses onto the barbs.
5.) Refrigerator - a free old refrigerator which still works is the perfect candidate for keg storage. It needs to function properly to get cold enough for your pleasing. Plan on putting a tap handle on the outside of the door and converting it into a kegerator.
Build your custom kegerator kit here