From Carboy to Keg with no air exposure

[yso191]

I am new to homebrewing, so I am writing this to see if what I worked out is common knowledge or not.  I was concerned about all the exposure to air that I saw in all the descriptions and Youtube videos about how to keg beer.  I wanted no contact with air after the boil so I figured a way to do it.  But I don't want to take the time to explain in detail / make a video about it if it is common knowledge (besides looking like a gomer).  So is it common knowledge or should I post it?

Steve

[tschmidlin]

Not knowing how you do it, I have no idea if it is common knowledge.  Also, you want lots of air after the boil, but none after fermentation - I assume that's what you meant, but it's not what you typed.

If I was trying to rack with absolutely no air exposure, I would fill a keg with sanitizer and push it out with CO2.  Then I would put a carboy cap on the carboy, with a racking cane and hose leading to a liquid corny fitting.  Hook the corny fitting up to the liquid post of the keg, hook CO2 up to the other hole on the carboy cap, vent the keg through the PRV, and turn on the gas just enough to push the beer from the carboy to the keg.  If you wanted to be extra anal you could split the gas and hook the CO2 up to the gas post on the keg too, but that's really overkill.

How did you do it?

[tschmidlin]

By the way, I think you should make the video.  Even if you are just demonstrating a technique that many people already know, there will be plenty of people who have no idea.  And having a video to show people how it's done is a good thing, especially if someone has no idea what some of the things are.

[hopfenundmalz]

I do this just like Tom says. One thing you can do is connect the gas out fitting to a small container of sanitizer, making an air lock.

Make sure you keep the pressure on the carboy low, 1 or 2 PSI. Do not put a clamp on the carboy cap, as that is the "fuse" that pops if the pressure is too high. You do not want to explode a carboy.

Edit - I do this for my light lagers that are quick to show oxidation.

[Mark G]

I do basically what Tom describes, except I'm pushing out of buckets. I push CO2 in through the small grommet hole, and drilled another hole to fit a size 7 bung through which I have the racking cane. If you do it so it's all airtight, you can push the beer without the benefit of gravity. I ferment in a chest freezer, so it's nice not to have to lift the bucket out of there when I keg the beer, especially since I started using a 15 gallon bucket for 10 gallon batches.

[yso191]

Thank you for the replies.  So it is common knowledge.  Well it was fun figuring it out anyway.  The main thing I didn't know that makes it possible is that the corny keg beverage valve is not a one-way valve.  Anyway, I am almost ready to start brewing.  I just need to leak-test my kettles and put the gallon marks on the sight glasses, and I am ready to go!

Steve

[a10t2]

I do this just like Tom says. One thing you can do is connect the gas out fitting to a small container of sanitizer, making an air lock.

You could also run it back to the carboy cap and close the circuit. Purge and seal the keg, put 1-2 psi on it, then switch over to the balance line to start a siphon.

FWIW, I don't worry about purging the fermenter headspace. It's the surface area from splashing into the bottom of the keg that bothers me. I just purge the keg, open the PRV, and siphon through the liquid post.

[tschmidlin]

Thank you for the replies.  So it is common knowledge.  Well it was fun figuring it out anyway.  The main thing I didn't know that makes it possible is that the corny keg beverage valve is not a one-way valve.  Anyway, I am almost ready to start brewing.  I just need to leak-test my kettles and put the gallon marks on the sight glasses, and I am ready to go!

Just because it is known by people here doesn't make it common knowledge - we are uncommon people

Good luck with brewing.

[Jimmy K]

Just because it is known by people here doesn't make it common knowledge - we are uncommon people

Good luck with brewing.

I'd agree. This is not common knowledge - or at least not many people are doing it.  Of all homebrewers I know, only one transfers this way.

[morticaixavier]

I am actually going to try the reverse of this in the next couple weeks. I have a barley wine that is in a bucket right now. I want to transfer to a carboy for some long ageing (4-5 months) and I get worried when I use the auto syphon as it seems to foam alot. I had not worried about it cause I never notice any oxidation when I transfer using the AS to a keg. of course that beer is then kept cold and is usually gone in a couple weeks. I transfered an old ale to a carboy for a couple months bulk ageing and there is for sure some oxidation going on in that one. I did NOT purge the carboy before I started and that is part of the issue I am sure but I also suspect the AS.

So I got a carboy cap, racking cane and new tubing and am going to put the carboy cap on the PURGED carboy with a tube going from one port on the cap to the bucket of beer and I will suck on the other port which , I hope will create a syphon with minimal air exposure. we will see.

[gmac]

Just to be clear, and follow up on Tom's first post, you are talking about fermenter to keg right?  Not kettle to keg.  You need oxygen for the beer to ferment properly.  If you are going to transfer aseptically and then add O2, that is fine but if people transferred the wort to the fermenter under CO2 and then fermented without supplemental O2, it could be a problem.

[jeffy]

I am actually going to try the reverse of this in the next couple weeks. I have a barley wine that is in a bucket right now. I want to transfer to a carboy for some long ageing (4-5 months) and I get worried when I use the auto syphon as it seems to foam alot. I had not worried about it cause I never notice any oxidation when I transfer using the AS to a keg. of course that beer is then kept cold and is usually gone in a couple weeks. I transfered an old ale to a carboy for a couple months bulk ageing and there is for sure some oxidation going on in that one. I did NOT purge the carboy before I started and that is part of the issue I am sure but I also suspect the AS.

So I got a carboy cap, racking cane and new tubing and am going to put the carboy cap on the PURGED carboy with a tube going from one port on the cap to the bucket of beer and I will suck on the other port which , I hope will create a syphon with minimal air exposure. we will see.

Does your auto syphon stop foaming if you lift the inner part a little off the bottom of the inside of the tube?  I put a little clip on mine to hold it up and it works lots better.

[morticaixavier]

don't know, I'll have to try that.

[yso191]

@ gmac, I am going to oxygenate the wort with pure O2.  Thanks for checking!

Steve

[euge]

I sidestep all of that and installed spigots in my fermenters about 1" from the bottom of the buckets and transfer by gravity. I'll purge the corny with a little CO2 and make sure I keep the outlet of the hose below the top of the beer as it rises in the keg.

Obviously not carboys but for those that it might help...