Corny keg questions

[MDE]

I've been brewing for 45 years and have always either bottled or (mostly) used polypins. Now that I am making cider as well, I'm finding that the beer needs to keep longer than it used to. Also, it seems to me that the more hoppy beers now in vogue (which I like) benefit from a bit more CO2. Bottling is a pain, so I'm wondering about moving over to using kegs. So a few questions:
Does the beer keep well in corny keg?
Does it need to be bright to avoid yeast pick-up in the tube? With the polypins, the sediment sits below the tap.
I've read about problems with leaking - am I better to buy new rather than used?
Using polypins, I always keep them cold in storage then condition with a sugar addition before use. Should I avoid adding sugar to the kegs and just use the gas to condition?
Any other advice from keg users?
Thanks.

[gobuchul]

Does the beer keep well in corny keg?
Does it need to be bright to avoid yeast pick-up in the tube? With the polypins, the sediment sits below the tap.
I've read about problems with leaking - am I better to buy new rather than used?
Using polypins, I always keep them cold in storage then condition with a sugar addition before use. Should I avoid adding sugar to the kegs and just use the gas to condition?

Keep well? It should if you "burp" the kegs with CO2 and get a good seal.
Yeast pick up? I have trimmed my pick up tubes so they sit just above the dished bottom. This allows the yeast to settle out.
New or used? The Home Brew Co sell used kegs so cheap they are definitely worth trying,
Sugar or force carb? I always force carb my beer, others prime with sugar. Horses for courses!

[ManseMasher]

My beer keeps very well in corneys. I have left my pick up tube at its original length and not had any crud issues in my pint. I add priming sugar, then purge all of the air left in the headspace with co2 by gassing at 25 -30 psi, venting, gasing, venting, gassing (3 or 4 times) then leaving it at that pressure. When I am ready to pour I knock the pressure in the corney down to 10psi. Works for me, but as said, there are loads of variations. All of mine are used, but I replace all the o rings, and I use food grade silicone spray (Arco sells the Buffalo stuff for about £4).

[MDE]

Thanks guys. I'll try and do a side by side tasting of keg (with low carbonation) vs polypin. This for the Candy Kaiser I just made from the Brewdog DIY recipe.

[Kev888]

Does the beer keep well in corny keg?

Yes, stainless kegs are very good, they keep light out and (unlike plastic) very little oxygen gets in. If you are reasonable with cleaning & disinfecting, the beer will keep for several months or more if kept somewhere reasonably cool. If you dispense using CO2 then the beer hardly deteriorates even as the keg becomes empty; this is what I love about stainless kegs - the ability to have a few on tap at once without worrying that the beer will oxidise if not consumed quickly. However there are some other considerations, for example hop aroma does fade whatever you keep it in and wheat beers can drop clear over time, so you may not want to leave some styles so long.

Does it need to be bright to avoid yeast pick-up in the tube? With the polypins, the sediment sits below the tap.

As standard, the dip tube does suck from the bottom of the keg, and even relatively bright beer can have some yeast in it that will settle over time (unless you fine and filter etc). So some people saw off say half an inch of the tube to clear the yeast, others simply discard (or put up with) the first yeasty pint or two.

I've read about problems with leaking - am I better to buy new rather than used?

Yes cornies can leak; the the lids seal mainly due to the pressure forcing them tight shut and they are designed to be used at higher pressure than we try to use them at. So add in wear & tear (some that I had dated back to the 70's) and you may find some leak especially at low pressure (for less carbonated beers). The rubber seals can also go, some are just O-rings and can be replaced cheaply, some can need the poppets or PRV replacing which is more costly (and in some cases challenging since there are numerous similar but incompatible types about).

You could buy new ones to avoid much of that, buying them used is just a matter of reducing outlay these days (it was different some years back, new ones weren't really about and used ones were better value too). But if you were considering new then I'd suggest also investigating sankey style beer kegs, formerly available to us direct from crusader but now sold by brewuk instead. These are purpose designed for beer and have fewer seal problems even at virtually no pressure. Though some prefer the wider necks of cornies and find them easier to deal with than beer-keg spears so its very much down to personal preference.

Using polypins, I always keep them cold in storage then condition with a sugar addition before use. Should I avoid adding sugar to the kegs and just use the gas to condition?

You can prime kegs with sugar, though due to the pressure seal on cornies you may well find that a blast from a gas bottle is needed to get it sealed up initially or the priming gasses may escape. Some feel carbonation from priming has a slightly different quality to it, some struggle to find a cheap local supply of CO2, some prefer it for other reasons. But IMO trying to use cornies without any gas is a dubious route to take (I'd choose crusader/sankeys for that), so unless there is some reason not to then one may as well take advantage of their ability to force carbonate.

Any other advice from keg users?

If you choose to go the stainless keg route, don't underestimate the extra complication of finding gas supplies, setting up regulators disconnects/couplers, lines, taps and so on. I like it for the advantages in beer shelf life and others love their keggerators etc, but it is quite different to bottling and polypins or even plastic barrels; its not for everyone. There can also be challenges of foaming during dispensing, particularly if theres no way to keep the keg/beer temperature cool and stable, so you may want to anticipate a keggerator and/or spending some time getting to grips with the dispensing setup and process

[Fil]

I've been brewing for 45 years and have always either bottled or (mostly) used polypins. Now that I am making cider as well, I'm finding that the beer needs to keep longer than it used to. Also, it seems to me that the more hoppy beers now in vogue (which I like) benefit from a bit more CO2. Bottling is a pain, so I'm wondering about moving over to using kegs. So a few questions:
Does the beer keep well in corny keg?

yes

Does it need to be bright to avoid yeast pick-up in the tube? With the polypins, the sediment sits below the tap.
I've read about problems with leaking - am I better to buy new rather than used?

new seal kits or sourcing them individually is a cheap enough investment in 2nd use kegs,
if you condition the beer with pressure then the sediment is generally minimal and effects the initial draw of 1/4-1/3rd of a pint only.. though the last pint out is always the clearest for some reason ..

some 2nd use kegs can be a punt, reconditioned kegs from Norm were what i bought, if buying now i would consider new tbh..

Using polypins, I always keep them cold in storage then condition with a sugar addition before use. Should I avoid adding sugar to the kegs and just use the gas to condition?
Any other advice from keg users?
Thanks.

just use the co2, and bearing in mind the low headroom volume if kept in cold storage fully condition them in advance. if left in outside ambient temps, check pressure and seals after any frost or sudden drop in temp, its a realistic risk to loose all pressure in a keg due to a sudden temp drop with all the seal maintaining pressure being lost to co2 absorption stimulated by the temp drop..

dont forget cornies are just the containers of a dispensing system that generally includes a regulated gas supply restricting beerline and tap, and some form of temp control.