serving bright beer from a cornie

A forum to discuss the various ways of getting beer into your glass.
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IPA
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serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by IPA » Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:07 pm

Ever since I started using Cornies I have been very disappointed with the clarity of the beer except for the last couple of pints before the keg is empty.
It has become such an obsession that lately I have considered ditching the cornies and going back to plastic. Knowing that the problem is due to sediment being sucked up the beer out tube even if it is shortened. As a last ditch attempt I researched various ways of dispensing by means of a float take off the same as used in King Keg top tap barrels and came up with this solution. It's not much different to other float take offs but it is cheaper.
https://www.balliihoo.co.uk/beer-float- ... p-478.html
Coupled with a gas in tube instead of the long beer out tube by a 60 cm length of silicone courtesy of the Malt miller https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product ... -6-5mm-id/
It looks like this when assembled.

Image

I have tried it with plain water in the cornie and it works. Yesterday I filled a cornie with beer fitted with the float and when it is conditioned I will post my findings.
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

It's better to lose time with friends than to lose friends with time (Portuguese proverb)

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gr_baker
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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by gr_baker » Thu Aug 09, 2018 2:26 pm

Interesting. I'm fairly new to kegging myself but I don't have a problem of cloudy beer. I cold condition and use gelatine finings so the beer is clear when it goes into the keg.

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with the thing you've made.

Fil
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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by Fil » Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:27 pm

I find it a bittersweet moment when i hold the last pint of a corny upto the light and witness the crystal clear nectar as i know its tha last i will quaff of that particular brew..

I had similar concerns and invested in a few of the caskwidge red floats which work a treat as long the the float isnt left to rise with the filling of the keg as it often gets stuck against the keg wall, so simply pulling the float out and resting it in a bowl of sanitiser while the keg fills and dropping it into the full keg solves that..

Now however i tend to use standard cornies before i use the float fitted kegs and let time and gravity do the clearing, If i end up quaffing a keg before its reached optimum clarity well opaque quaffing mugs means what you dont see wont bother you ;)
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by Jim » Thu Aug 09, 2018 7:34 pm

I can't say I've had much bother with cloudy beer from a cornie, though I always use forced carbonation having let the beer clear as much as possible in the fermenter.

Usually only the first pint or two has a bit of yeast in and from then on, all clear.
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sonicated
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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by sonicated » Thu Aug 09, 2018 8:48 pm

I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I did notice that's on a gas in post, not beer out though if you weren't aware.

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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by joe1002 » Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:12 pm

sonicated wrote:I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I did notice that's on a gas in post, not beer out though if you weren't aware.
Yep, he is aware:
IPA wrote: Coupled with a gas in tube instead of the long beer out tube

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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by sonicated » Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:07 pm

Yes it's a gas in tube but also a gas in post, a beer out disconnect won't fit.

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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by joe1002 » Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:29 pm

sonicated wrote:Yes it's a gas in tube but also a gas in post, a beer out disconnect won't fit.
I realise that but as he has already tried it with water I assume (I know that’s always dangerous) he knows what post it is.

It’s worth pointing out for others wishing to build one though.

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IPA
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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by IPA » Fri Aug 10, 2018 7:56 am

To take the photo I used a gas in post complete. But I obviously use a beer out post coupled to a gas dip tube when I use the float.
A word of warning. If you try this do not shorten the beer out tube but use a gas in tube which are easy to buy. Beer out dip tubes are very difficult to find.
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

It's better to lose time with friends than to lose friends with time (Portuguese proverb)

Alone we travel faster
Together we travel further
( In an admonishing email from our golf club)

Robwalkeragain
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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by Robwalkeragain » Fri Aug 10, 2018 10:48 am

My guess would be protein haze at such low temperatures, have you tried adding an auxillary fining directly into the corny? Should drop it bright in 2 days and you only need something like 50ml so should sit under the tap feed...

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IPA
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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by IPA » Fri Aug 10, 2018 2:19 pm

Robwalkeragain wrote:
Fri Aug 10, 2018 10:48 am
My guess would be protein haze at such low temperatures, have you tried adding an auxillary fining directly into the corny? Should drop it bright in 2 days and you only need something like 50ml so should sit under the tap feed...
It's not protein haze because I serve at 14°C and the last few pints are crystal clear. I will post a piccie of the first pint when I tap the modified keg. Plus when it is in plastic barrels it is crystal clear from the start
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

It's better to lose time with friends than to lose friends with time (Portuguese proverb)

Alone we travel faster
Together we travel further
( In an admonishing email from our golf club)

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gr_baker
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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by gr_baker » Fri Aug 10, 2018 3:06 pm

What is the cloudiness made of? Are you doing some of the fermentation (either primary or secondary) in the keg?

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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by f00b4r » Fri Aug 10, 2018 6:27 pm

Are the kegs "untouched" once put in the kegerator? The design of cornies with the concave bit at the bottom (although I have seen some Chinese ones with much more sensible convex bits) makes it very easy to disturb the sediment if they get knocked e.g. putting another keg in.

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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by Rhodesy » Sat Aug 18, 2018 5:17 pm

I have a similar set up for a few of my cornie's using one of these attached to the gas tube which is more or less the same setup. The tubing is the perfect length. I love it for beers I want to dry hop or be clear ASAP.

It was on here a couple of years back that highlighted it to me.

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Re: serving bright beer from a cornie

Post by IPA » Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:47 pm

Sorry about the orientation but here is a piccie of the very first beer out of the cornie using this float device. For me this is the clearest brightest beer I have ever served from a cornie. This is carbonated in the keg using priming sugar not force carbonated!

Image
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

It's better to lose time with friends than to lose friends with time (Portuguese proverb)

Alone we travel faster
Together we travel further
( In an admonishing email from our golf club)

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