You know you did it wrong when...

Nosybear said:
It's been a while since anyone posted here so I thought I'd report my latest misadventure. Having taken up kegging, I wanted to test for difference between kegged and bottle conditioned beer. So I split a batch of my Kentucky Common, bottled half and kegged half. Have to admit, I drank a bit of the beer from the keg but finally I wanted to package the beer. So I started bottling by stuffing a bottling wand into a picnic tap, using the bottom valve and the tap. I got several bottles of foam before finally figuring out that I was driving the beer out at 12 psi. I adjusted it down to about 4 psi, burped the keg and got three good bottles before the 2.5 gallon keg kicked. It's enough for my test but I'm likely committed to enter the bottle-conditioned variant in the NHC. And I have a bottle for the test and I learned to bottle from the keg so all's well.
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Yeah, I would for sure get the process down before entering in a competition.
Are you using a drilled stopper with the wand thru it at the bottle? Helps to purge the keg of pressure and have as low as possible to keep flow, releasing pressure at the bottle as well to keep flow moving. Slow is the name of the game here...and practice. Once you have it down, it works extremely well.
 
By the last three I had it down pretty well. Since my eventual goal is to bottle most of my beer off the keg, a beer gun is in my future, just not here yet.
 
Nosybear said:
By the last three I had it down pretty well. Since my eventual goal is to bottle most of my beer off the keg, a beer gun is in my future, just not here yet.
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One of the better purchases for me in the last few years. With my fixation on saisons and sours I'm always going to be bottling, so it was totally worth it in my opinion.
 
I'm kegging to reduce oxygen. I figure if I can cap on foam it will be the lowest O2 level I can practically achieve. So most of everything will go into bottles even though I keg it first.
 
Nosybear said:
I'm kegging to reduce oxygen. I figure if I can cap on foam it will be the lowest O2 level I can practically achieve. So most of everything will go into bottles even though I keg it first.
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But surely you tap the keg as well bit of both?
That way you get an early pour on the product too no waiting a fortnight for the bubbly stuff.
 
My keg fridge recently died during a string of 40°C + days, on the surface it's not such a big deal right?
The freezer compartment also held every single yeast slant I own along with kilograms of hops and the crisper drawer held all current liquid vials and bottles .
My only failing was to not touch my own taps for a few days to realise that the beer was now hot enough to make tea with.
Hats off and raise a pint to remember the trillions of yeasties I accidentally went all Old Testament on and burned to death....

I will start my collection again of course but since several of those cultures I had captured from the wild or essentially had smuggled into the country they're basically irreplaceable
 
Mark D Pirate said:
My keg fridge recently died during a string of 40°C + days, on the surface it's not such a big deal right?
The freezer compartment also held every single yeast slant I own along with kilograms of hops and the crisper drawer held all current liquid vials and bottles .
My only failing was to not touch my own taps for a few days to realise that the beer was now hot enough to make tea with.
Hats off and raise a pint to remember the trillions of yeasties I accidentally went all Old Testament on and burned to death....

I will start my collection again of course but since several of those cultures I had captured from the wild or essentially had smuggled into the country they're basically irreplaceable
Click to expand...
:(And a clink of glasses Mark, like losing friends.
 
Mark D Pirate said:
My keg fridge recently died during a string of 40°C + days, on the surface it's not such a big deal right?
The freezer compartment also held every single yeast slant I own along with kilograms of hops and the crisper drawer held all current liquid vials and bottles .
My only failing was to not touch my own taps for a few days to realise that the beer was now hot enough to make tea with.
Hats off and raise a pint to remember the trillions of yeasties I accidentally went all Old Testament on and burned to death....

I will start my collection again of course but since several of those cultures I had captured from the wild or essentially had smuggled into the country they're basically irreplaceable
Click to expand...
Ah man that sux there Mark.
See where not having a little sample can get you:rolleyes:.
 
Mark D Pirate said:
My keg fridge recently died during a string of 40°C + days, on the surface it's not such a big deal right?
The freezer compartment also held every single yeast slant I own along with kilograms of hops and the crisper drawer held all current liquid vials and bottles .
My only failing was to not touch my own taps for a few days to realise that the beer was now hot enough to make tea with.
Hats off and raise a pint to remember the trillions of yeasties I accidentally went all Old Testament on and burned to death....

I will start my collection again of course but since several of those cultures I had captured from the wild or essentially had smuggled into the country they're basically irreplaceable
Click to expand...
It felt wrong to click on the like button for this. So commiserations.

Just about to start committing a few wild captures to the freezer. I think I may do a few more of each and give one to a friend. And I wouldn't have even have thought of that if it weren't for this post.
 
To no fault of your own Mark:(
 
Nosybear said:
It's been a while since anyone posted here so I thought I'd report my latest misadventure. Having taken up kegging, I wanted to test for difference between kegged and bottle conditioned beer. So I split a batch of my Kentucky Common, bottled half and kegged half. Have to admit, I drank a bit of the beer from the keg but finally I wanted to package the beer. So I started bottling by stuffing a bottling wand into a picnic tap, using the bottom valve and the tap. I got several bottles of foam before finally figuring out that I was driving the beer out at 12 psi. I adjusted it down to about 4 psi, burped the keg and got three good bottles before the 2.5 gallon keg kicked. It's enough for my test but I'm likely committed to enter the bottle-conditioned variant in the NHC. And I have a bottle for the test and I learned to bottle from the keg so all's well.
Click to expand...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAGegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw0-kQ00UhA6GvnmPNIvZl3V
This works pretty well if you get the hang of turning the right valves and right pressure.
 
Mark D Pirate said:
My keg fridge recently died during a string of 40°C + days, on the surface it's not such a big deal right?
The freezer compartment also held every single yeast slant I own along with kilograms of hops and the crisper drawer held all current liquid vials and bottles .
My only failing was to not touch my own taps for a few days to realise that the beer was now hot enough to make tea with.
Hats off and raise a pint to remember the trillions of yeasties I accidentally went all Old Testament on and burned to death....

I will start my collection again of course but since several of those cultures I had captured from the wild or essentially had smuggled into the country they're basically irreplaceable
Click to expand...

I know this advice is like closing the barn door after all the horses have escaped...but what about using a temp controller with a temperature threshold alarm? Even if you don't use it to control the fridge temp, it would be cheap insurance to avoid the disaster you encountered. The Inkbird-308 controller I have was only $35 (US).
 
...you go to install the new thermometer in your mash tun then, after you've already redrilled the holes, realize the insulation is thicker than the threads on the thermometer shaft are long. Yep, trashed my mash tun.
 
Nosybear said:
...you go to install the new thermometer in your mash tun then, after you've already redrilled the holes, realize the insulation is thicker than the threads on the thermometer shaft are long. Yep, trashed my mash tun.
Click to expand...
Nooooooooooooooook
 
Replacement cooler is on the way, be here Sunday. Means no brewing this weekend, though.
 
Nosybear said:
...you go to install the new thermometer in your mash tun then, after you've already redrilled the holes, realize the insulation is thicker than the threads on the thermometer shaft are long. Yep, trashed my mash tun.
Click to expand...
You could use a hole saw to cut the diameter of the dial in the outer wall and through some of the insulation and set the thermometer in far enough to put the seal and nut on.
 
Though of that. It didn't work. I'd have had to mill out too much and the thermometer would be resting on insulation. $44 and I have a new cooler.
 
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