Corny Keg and the Dedicated Fridge

...would be an awesome band name. But now...you asked for it...you waited...you dreamed...you read our stupid blog...and now we have finally delivered. BSB is proud to announce kegged beer! The upgrade was made after an approximate 100 hours of bottling had taken its toll on the workers. Our keg system cuts my bottling time in half. We have also acquired a dorm-style mini refrigerator from a used appliance store on Lake St for a whopping $30 bringing total costs to about $200. All equipment was purchased in St. Louis Park at Midwest Homebrewing. Turned out to be about $30 bucks cheaper than our usual, the NB. Before we get ahead of ourselves, here are the specs:

--used 5 gallon "cornelius" soda keg (manufactured in Anoka, MN)
--5 lb CO2 tank
--dual gauge regulator (indicates keg pressure and remaining CO2)
--hand held picnic tap
--hoses and m/f connects

The dedicated fridge is an older Sanyo model with fake wood paneling. In order to make the fridge work we had to modify it somewhat. By that I mean, we had to rip the upper freezer section off (being careful not to bust any of the connections because the freezer is also the main refrigeration plate). After removing it from the top of the fridge we bent it back against the back wall of the inside of the fridge. This way, the plate on the freezer still works but directly refrigerates the whole inside. There is a temp control that we keep constant and measured by checking a plastic thermometer taped to the keg. We also had to saw off some of the shelving attached to the inside of the door. It looks like shit but, hey, who the fuck cares about the inside looks of dedicated keg fridge? Anyway, everything fits nice and cozy and cold.

Some notes on the process of kegging...
The first thing is to sterilize the keg and all equipment. Sanitize by soaking inside of keg for 15 minutes with sterilizing solution (B-Bright worked fine). Meanwhile soak other parts in a bucket of sterilizing solution. Connect C02 while keg is full and force water out to clean the tap and the hose. Alternately, take the tap apart and soak it with the rest of the equipment. Rinse once transfer beer.

Transfer the beer from the carboy using syphoning equipment--making sure not to suck up any of the yeast deposit. After transferring, close everything tightly and pressurize the keg to between 20 and 30 lbs. Quickly release the pressure valve to force out oxygen and repressurize. The Prickly Pear Ale was good after about 4 days of waiting. When ready to drink, lower pressure on the keg to between 3-10 lbs pressure depending on the level of carbonation appropriate for the style and to taste.

Some detailed description of the kegging process here.

The next beer we keg will be our Phat Tyre from the NB. Can you hardly wait?