King Keg

[floydmeddler]

Hi folks,

Wondering how a King Keg (or any other pressure bottle for that matter) works. Instead of bottling, is the priming sugar added straight to the pressure keg then left for a few weeks to carbonate?

How many pints does it stay carbonated for before you have to start adding co2 from capsules?

Cheers

[Eric]

Hi Floyd,

Mix about 80 to 100 grams of sugar with boiled water and let it cool. Add it to your keg and give a blast of CO2 through the inlet valve of the lose cap into the keg. This will provide a blanket free of oxygen over your beer. Syphon your beer into the sugar solution and give another blast of CO2 over the beer before you screw down the cap. (Remember to smear a thin cover Vaseline on the washer and threads.) The CO2 produced will depend upon time elapsed and amount of fermentable sugars. The amount absorbed by the beer will depend on its temperature (colder liquids will hold more gas). Any excess gas will be lost through the safety valve so the next factor could be the speed at which you draw the beer. If you have no leaks and you are not greedy, you may have drank most of the beer before you have to top up the gas. It will be obvious when there is enough CO2 in the barrel when you pour a pint by the dispense pressure.

Tip. Don't wait to find out if your barrel is properly sealed, push down the safety band a little until you hear the gas escape after an hour or so after transfer. If there's no hiss, take off the cap and find out why it didn't seal and rectify.

The King Keg needs a greater pressure than other types as it has to lift the beer. It is vital the cap seats properly and advisable to get CO2 absorbed rather than be allowed to escape through the relief valve.

[gunner]

The King Keg needs a greater pressure than other types as it has to lift the beer. It is vital the cap seats properly and advisable to get CO2 absorbed rather than be allowed to escape through the relief valve.

Hi Eric,is this information for both top and bottom KK,and could you elaborate on the term lift the beer if you would be so kind.

Regards Graham.

[Lillywhite]

What he means is that beer is taken off the top when a KK Top Tap keg is used via the latstock float system. This clearly requires more CO2 pressure than a KK Bottom Tap or any other keg e.g. budget with a bottom tap where the weight of the liquid will allow beer to be drawn off even with a reduced CO2 gas pressure.

I've managed to empty bottom tap kegs without any additional CO2 although care must be taken to ensure that air does not glug back through the tap as oxygen will quickly make beer go stale.

[Eric]

Thank you Lillywhite, I couldn't have put that better. My King Keg is a top tap one, I didn't know there was another kind, so I'm sorry for the confusion. With care and with normal use you don't need a lot of CO2.
Eric.

[floydmeddler]

Hi Floyd,

Mix about 80 to 100 grams of sugar with boiled water and let it cool. Add it to your keg and give a blast of CO2 through the inlet valve of the lose cap into the keg. This will provide a blanket free of oxygen over your beer. Syphon your beer into the sugar solution and give another blast of CO2 over the beer before you screw down the cap. (Remember to smear a thin cover Vaseline on the washer and threads.) The CO2 produced will depend upon time elapsed and amount of fermentable sugars. The amount absorbed by the beer will depend on its temperature (colder liquids will hold more gas). Any excess gas will be lost through the safety valve so the next factor could be the speed at which you draw the beer. If you have no leaks and you are not greedy, you may have drank most of the beer before you have to top up the gas. It will be obvious when there is enough CO2 in the barrel when you pour a pint by the dispense pressure.

Tip. Don't wait to find out if your barrel is properly sealed, push down the safety band a little until you hear the gas escape after an hour or so after transfer. If there's no hiss, take off the cap and find out why it didn't seal and rectify.

The King Keg needs a greater pressure than other types as it has to lift the beer. It is vital the cap seats properly and advisable to get CO2 absorbed rather than be allowed to escape through the relief valve.

Cheers Eric. Great info. I brew 40 pints at a time and these usually last around 4 weeks. Would I need to top it up with co2 more than once?

[crafty john]

Hi Floyd,

Mix about 80 to 100 grams of sugar with boiled water and let it cool. Add it to your keg and give a blast of CO2 through the inlet valve of the lose cap into the keg. This will provide a blanket free of oxygen over your beer. Syphon your beer into the sugar solution and give another blast of CO2 over the beer before you screw down the cap. (Remember to smear a thin cover Vaseline on the washer and threads.) The CO2 produced will depend upon time elapsed and amount of fermentable sugars. The amount absorbed by the beer will depend on its temperature (colder liquids will hold more gas). Any excess gas will be lost through the safety valve so the next factor could be the speed at which you draw the beer. If you have no leaks and you are not greedy, you may have drank most of the beer before you have to top up the gas. It will be obvious when there is enough CO2 in the barrel when you pour a pint by the dispense pressure.

Tip. Don't wait to find out if your barrel is properly sealed, push down the safety band a little until you hear the gas escape after an hour or so after transfer. If there's no hiss, take off the cap and find out why it didn't seal and rectify.

The King Keg needs a greater pressure than other types as it has to lift the beer. It is vital the cap seats properly and advisable to get CO2 absorbed rather than be allowed to escape through the relief valve.

Cheers Eric. Great info. I brew 40 pints at a time and these usually last around 4 weeks. Would I need to top it up with co2 more than once?

How on earth do you make it last 4 weeks