Free Freight

Step 1 - CLEARING THE BEER

Clearing the beer will keep sediment out of the beer lines and keg. It also gives a better tasting beer.

After fermentation is completed, dissolve one packet of finings and three teaspoons of white sugar in 250-300ml of boiling water. Add this to the top of the brew and stir gently over the surface. Leave for a minimum of 3 days to clear. For better results, rack the beer into a secondary fermenter prior to adding the finings mix. This leaves most of the sediment in the original fermenter.

Step 2 - CLEANING AND STERTLIZING

Wash out the keg with a steriliser solution. Then seal, pressurise and use the pluto gun to clean and rinse the beer stem tube and plug. Rinse with boiling water. Empty the keg, then leave upside down to drain and dry. Then rinse again with fresh water.

Step 3 - PRESSURE TESTING

Siphon the beer from the fermenter into the keg, taking care to splash as little as possible. Fill the keg to 12-25mm below the base of the gas intake tube. Seal the keg and connect the CO2 bottle.

Purge the oxygen out of the headspace of the keg by pressurising to 100kpa and opening the pressure relief valve in three short bursts. This is called burping the keg and protects the beer from oxidisation.

Next, test for leaks by pressurising to 300kpa and spray all joins and fittings, including the pressure relief valve with soapy water – if there is a leak it will bubble. This eliminates the risk of losing a bottle of gas in several hours.

Step 4 – CARBONATING

Set the pressure to 300kpa and refrigerate the keg. As a rule of thumb, allow 48 hours to carbonate a warm keg and about 30 hours for a coldie. Some trial and error is involved here.

Note: The beer will not absorb CO2 at room temperature. The absorption of CO2 into the beer depends on the temperature of the beer, the pressure at which it is applied and the length of time the pressure is applied.

Step 5 – DISPENSING

Turn the gas off and open the pressure relief value to release all the gas in the keg. Connect the beer fittings and open the tap or gun. Slowly adjust the gas pressure until the beer is pouring correctly. All being right, this should be about 20kpa and the beer should be carbonated.

If it is not fully carbonated apply the gas at 300kpa and leave for another 6 hours.

The first couple of beers may be a little cloudy and may contain some sediment. This is normal, as it is being drawn from the bottom of the keg and will improve after the first couple.

Enjoy!