Kegging
For those of you curious to what I have chilled in kegs at the moment, scroll down to the bottom of this post.
I only started kegging my beer last summer. My cousin has been home brewing for many years and he knows nothing about bottling. I started out bottle conditioning my beers and it’s a lot of work. After buying a few cases of new amber bottles online and realized how much it would cost to continue my efforts, I had to come up with a better plan. I realized that my friends and neighbors had been saving their empty bottles for the recycler and I stepped in. They could bring me a nice supply of empty bottles and I would trade them for an undisclosed quantity of full ones containing my own concoctions. I now have a big shed full of empties which I run batches through my washers and sanitize them as needed.
Learning the basics of kegging was a jolt to my little way of doing things. Nevertheless, I jumped in and bought some pin lock and ball lock cornelius kegs, a Co2 system and figured things out. Normally, I would brew a batch of beer, go from my primary fermenter to the secondary, wait my two weeks for things to settle down in a carboy and then prime and bottle my batch. When I made a brew people that liked? There is a limited amount available, a case or two stacked up against my fireplace and that was it. I couldn’t drink all the beer I have brewed, so I was happy to send my friends and family home with samples of my creations.
Kegerators vs Keezers.
It’s rare that I have company at my place but I soon needed a place to store my kegs. I did a bit of reading online on how others set up their keezers using chest freezers with a Inkbird temp controller. My first purchase was a little 3.5 cubic foot Erommy chest freezer which nice and light and has temperature controls that can raise the temps up to refrigerator levels or set it down to freezing temps. The only problem was that my 5 gallon Corny kegs full of beer would not fit as there was a step in the bottom for the compressor and the advertized measurements were a bit misleading. I had to some skinny dispenser sized 10 liter (2.6 gallon) torpedo kegs with ball lock tops and between the two of them, I had one batch handled. That was not going to work. Next to those two skinny kegs, I could fit only one more 3 gallon Ball Lock Corny keg next to it on the step and that Keezer was full. I was tormented for weeks for where in the world to store my kegs.
I spent countless hours online taking notes on what was available in regards to heights, width and depth and the sizes of my next purchase and finally opted for something bigger than I was anticipating. My fear was that I kegs would not fit. I tried to be careful before I bought this huge chest freezer. I finally opted for a Frigidare 14.8 cubic foot keezer and it’s a beast! it fits my 5 gallon ball lock corny kegs, my pin lock 5 gallon kegs, Sankey Sixtel 5.16 gallon (1/6 barrel sized) and Sankey Quarter Barrel 7.75 gallon kegs. 1/2 barrel 15.5 gallon kegs are the same height as my Sankey kegs but I have those tucked away in the shed until I have to produce that big of a batch of beer. Those would not be easy to lift out of my Keezer so I only store the smaller kegs.
What’s currently in the Keezer?
Let’s see: I have Christmas Cheer Beer. It’s a dark ale with a blend of English dark and pale chocolate malts and Viking cookie malt, light hops and very easy drinking (Sixtel / 5.16 gallons). My 2nd Christmas brew.
Arizona Memorial IPA. I was shooting for a red IPA and it was brewed on December 7th, in honor of our veterans on Pearl Harbor Day. I used a base of Canadian Gambrinus ESB Pale instead of my other base malts for an extra little touch. Flaked corn, red wheat malt, Viking red malt, red wheat malt, a blend of Crystal malts, CaraRed, Scottish Golden Promise and plenty of Chinook and Simcoe hops. I like how it turned out. (Sixtel / 5.16 G)
My 2nd Pliny The Elder Clone. I made two batches and still tinkering with the recipe. I studied several other folks posted recipes and gleaned what I could with where they went with recreating this popular beer. I have to dry hop my recipe more. Not bad. (Sixtel 5.16 G)
Mangrove Jack’s Pineapple Sunset Hard Seltzer. Stein Fillers in Long Beach started stocking these kits and I volunteered to try them out. I don’t brew with malt extracts or ingredient kits since I have a mountain of assorted malted barleys and adjunct stuff to brew but I got this going. I added one pound of corn sugar to the recipe for an extra little pop. This time to keg instead of bottling. First hard seltzer kit I made was MJ’s Raspberry Breeze and it turned out pretty good. I shared those with family and friends and no bottles survived. It’s all gone.
Little Queen of The North Blonde Ale. This is a blend of simply, Rahr 6 Row, English Maris Otter Pale and good old Great Western 2 Row malts with a bit of German Vienna for a little maltiness. I went with a bit of Perle hops at the beginning and Mt. Hood at the end for a easy drinking beer that has been approved by the ladies and dudes too who tried it. This is named after my little dog and an ongoing little joke with the ex from Game of Thrones. I live in Northern Orange County while she lives in the South. This was brewed first on my Chihuahua, Maggie’s Birthday on February 20 2021. Maggie is my Little Queen of the North and her birthday beer is named in her honor. (3 Gallon Corny keg)
Piccadilly Lilly Red Ale. My intentions was to brew a British style blonde ale with appropriate English ingredients. I wanted a little color to it so I added only a few ounces of intense Midnight Wheat malt and boom! I had a red ale. I named it after a beautiful World War II bomber familiar to us air show attending types, a B-17 Flying Fortress that rocked Germany during the war and wanted to keep the name honoring the English for the beer I was working on. That’s my story (1.6 gallon Cannonball Corny keg).
Wildflower Mead #3. This is my 3rd batch of Mead. Honey wine is a different animal. My first batch was a little tart. I had a few fans of it. Sweet honey get turned into alcohol when yeast is added. My yeast did it’s job. I was figuring things out. My last two batches are sweeter. I bottle these, when requested in 12 ounce Heineken bottles as that is plenty. It’s not beer. It’s much clearer than my first batch and I am pleased with how it turned out. (3 gallon Corny keg)
American Winter Lager. This is my 2nd lager that I have brewed. It’s aging in a 5 gallon corny keg and not ready yet. I’ll keep you posted. My first lager was a beer that I brewed on September 11th 2021. I called it Patriot Day American Lager. It was only a 3 gallon test batch and it was well received at my first Brewing39 beer tasting event. My lovely ex-girlfriend’s mom liked it best of my brews that night. I kept her glass full.
The Hessian Lager. This one is also aging in my keezer and is not ready yet. This is not named for the outlaw motorcycle club but for the mercenaries who aided the British against our effort in the American Revolution against the Crown, the British Empire, the greatest superpower of the day. This is a blend of German pilsner, Belgian pilsner, German Vienna, a touch of 2 row, German hops and Southern German Lager yeast. I am a history fanatic, don’t get me started, I love the fascinating story of how we all got here. I’ve named beers after battles of the American Civil War which is one of my passions and name them accordingly to the inspiration at the moment.
I have two little 10 liter skinny kegs mini fridge with what’s left of my Last Summer Day Blonde Ale, brewed naturally on the last day of summer. It’s just a blend of Great Western 2 Row, Maris Otter Pale, some Vienna and Superior American Pilsner with some Amarillo and Mt. Hood hops. It’s a decent, easy drinking blonde. Last but not least is my 2nd Oktoberfest / Marzen creation. This debuted for a few adult trick or treaters on halloween. Marzen will be brewed this year in accordance to the traditions of our freinds across the pond and stashed away until the fall when it will be unveiled.
I have to make some more room in the keeezer for the winter blondes and lagers I have almost ready so I’ll have to bottle a few kegs full of stuff I have chilled. Feel free to stop by and try my creations.
I am working on a BBQ Beer Tasting Event for my Brewing39 friends. It’s my hopes to gather some volunteers to go through my stuff and two teams will create their own brewed beers with help of a coach. We will mill the malts, mash, eat BBQ and sample beers, boil and chill the beer into the fermenter and see what we get. I will bottle the beers when they are ready and we will judge the beers at a future date.