wastage

[Wallingbrook]

Hi

This might seem a very stupid question but how much wastage is there when getting to the bottom of the keg? Is it OK to tilt the keg a little when getting near the bottom? My last brew lost me 1.5 pints and the last one to drink was pretty cloudy. Hate the thought of wasteing any. Suggestions welcome. I use the cheapo bottom tap kegs.

[Barm]

yeh - def tilt the keg. do it very gently and prop it eg with a wooden batten or similar laid flat under the rear of the keg.
I'm using top-tap kegs; due to the float device these can leave as little as 1/2 pint behind; and believe me it's not a 1/2 pint you'd want to rescue and drink because it's more or less a sludge!!

[Dances]

If you are bothered about wastage and don't fancy bottling, try transferring your brew to a secondry for a couple of weeks before putting it in your final keg.

This keeps the last few pints clearer and means you are more likeley to get a clearer pint when tipping up the keg.

I eventually moved onto using a cornie, clearing down in a secondry before putting the brew in the cornie and force carbonating. The first pint is usually fairly clear (the draw tube draws from the bottom) but this is a slighty more costly method at first but worth it.

It isn't a daft question although I have asked a few daft ones myself on here and they always get answered.

[6470zzy]

I am going to suggest that you indeed take up the practice of transferring to a secondary fermentor before going into your King Keg. That way you will be drawing slightly cleaner pints at the bitter end.

Cheers

[Ditch]

Nothing wrong with Basic Kegs. I favour them myself. Keeping ye little bits of wood to hand is good too. Try to put them under last thing, after ye draw the last of the night. That way the beer has maximum time to resettle before ye back at it again.

Happily, for me, Coopers Stout tends to form a bottom 'sludge' like a liver. Ye'd virtually have to put it though a blender to make it soluble. At clean up time, it all but needs digging out with a stick. That's handy too; Because it would be heart breaking to waste a drop!

[Dances]

[quote="Ditch"]Nothing wrong with Basic Kegs. quote]

I agree totally and still use one - I didn't mean to be negative on them.

[Wallingbrook]

Thanks all for your advice. If I do a secondary in a FV when do I add the sugar? In the FV or the keg or both?

[TC2642]

Thanks all for your advice. If I do a secondary in a FV when do I add the sugar? In the FV or the keg or both?

You want to prime in the Keg not secondary otherwise you'll throw up extra yeast and carbonation that is not needed when in secondary.