[narvin]

Shoot, my other post didn't post.  LOL.

OK, so here is what I am gathering on the subject of closed transfer.  I fill my keg with Starsan, hook up the CO2 to the IN side of the keg.  run a line from the OUT side of the keg into a bucket and drain the starsan into the bucket for later use.  I then take a hose, be it what I have already or what I will make, and run it from the CO2 tank to the bung of the bucket fermenter.  Take another hose and run it from the spigot of the fermenter to the IN port on the keg.  Open the pressure relief valve on the keg and open the CO2 and run a very small amount of pressure into the fermenter.  Open the spigot and let the beer flow.  Once it is done, close the CO2, close the spigot and disconnect all the lines.  I now have done a closed transfer.  Am I close?  Or did I oversimplify?

Seems right. Start with very low pressure and work up as needed. You don’t need much.

Push the beer into the keg through the “out” side which will fill the keg starting at the bottom and vent the gas on the “in” side or with the pressure relief valve (prv)

]

I have a floating tube on my out side, so I don't think it would matter much there.  But, I do appreciate your input.  Thank you   RR

You still don't want to push beer in to the new keg through the gas in, from the top.  Even if well purged to avoid oxidation, you'll get a ton of foaming spraying it down all the way from the top.

[BrewBama]

I have floating dips tubes and closed transfer thru the liquid out post no problem.

[MNWayne]

It took me a while to get everything to come together. Clean environment, ferment temp control, fresh ingredients, a good healthy pitch of yeast, non-oxygen transfers, all of these are very important.  For me the last variable was water.  I hammered out everything but my flavors did not improve until I figured out my water.

[Ron756]

Hey Ron, at home I do a lot of 5 liter batches. I use the "Little Mouth Bubbler" from NB with a spigot on the bottom (they call it a "siphon less valve") I either keg or bottle. When bottling I usually cold crash for at least a week, sometimes with some gelatin for fining, then I prime each bottle with about 1/2 tsp of sugar and bottle directly off the fermenter.

I go so far as to fill a small collapsible bag with Co2 and attach this to the bung instead of the air lock so that when the beer condenses it sucks in Co2 instead of air. Then I use the same trick when I bottle -- the Co2 replaces the air in the head space of the fermenter. I don't really have a way to purge the bottles (I could use a beer gun but that is just too much work).

The collapsible bag might be over kill for some people but I like to eliminate as much o2 during the packaging and racking process as possible. It's best to eliminate oxygen as much as possible and for most beer using a secondary is a useless step that just increases DO and does almost nothing for the beer. All the clarification can happen in the fermenter before autolysis happens.

For 5 gallon batches everything goes into a purged corny keg via closed transfer. The keg works like a secondary or bright tanks. I can fine in there and carbonate if I want.

Keith,
Thanks for the advice.  I have been following the initial directions using the secondary from my first kit for small (1gal ish) batches.  Today's Belgian will be syphoned into the bottles since that is the kit I have in hand.  Just ordered a little mouth bubbler from NB for the next batch. 

[Ron756]

A friend of mine just elected for admiral.  He likes Bavarian Helles beers, though to be honest he is far from a beer aficionado.  Thinking about brewing a small (1-1.5 gallon) batch for his unofficial fairwell with the rest of my fellow captains. 
Thoughts on a good, reliable, extract-based recipe I could get done between now and May?
thanks,

[redrocker652002]

Shoot, my other post didn't post.  LOL.

OK, so here is what I am gathering on the subject of closed transfer.  I fill my keg with Starsan, hook up the CO2 to the IN side of the keg.  run a line from the OUT side of the keg into a bucket and drain the starsan into the bucket for later use.  I then take a hose, be it what I have already or what I will make, and run it from the CO2 tank to the bung of the bucket fermenter.  Take another hose and run it from the spigot of the fermenter to the IN port on the keg.  Open the pressure relief valve on the keg and open the CO2 and run a very small amount of pressure into the fermenter.  Open the spigot and let the beer flow.  Once it is done, close the CO2, close the spigot and disconnect all the lines.  I now have done a closed transfer.  Am I close?  Or did I oversimplify?

Seems right. Start with very low pressure and work up as needed. You don’t need much.

Push the beer into the keg through the “out” side which will fill the keg starting at the bottom and vent the gas on the “in” side or with the pressure relief valve (prv)

]

I have a floating tube on my out side, so I don't think it would matter much there.  But, I do appreciate your input.  Thank you   RR

You still don't want to push beer in to the new keg through the gas in, from the top.  Even if well purged to avoid oxidation, you'll get a ton of foaming spraying it down all the way from the top.

You are right, good catch, bad on my part.  I meant to say run the line from the spigot to the out of the keg so that the floating tube will be sitting at the level of the beer and no splashing will occur.  Great catch on your part on a mistake I made.  Thank you so much for that.  So, long story short, CO2 from the tank to the bung of the bucket, then line from the spigot to the OUT of the tank, PRV open and apply a small amount of pressure to the tank to aid in moving the beer to the keg.  That should be about right?  I am really learning some good stuff here and more DIY projects to come.  LOL

[lupulus]

A friend of mine just elected for admiral.  He likes Bavarian Helles beers, though to be honest he is far from a beer aficionado.  Thinking about brewing a small (1-1.5 gallon) batch for his unofficial fairwell with the rest of my fellow captains. 
Thoughts on a good, reliable, extract-based recipe I could get done between now and May?
thanks,

Best you can do is to use your contacts to import really fresh Augustiner Helles from the Munich area when you are close to the event.
For the personnel touch you can learn to bake Bavarian pretzels or even less work, make Obatzda cheese.
My 0.02.

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using Tapatalk

[Richard]

Shoot, my other post didn't post.  LOL.

OK, so here is what I am gathering on the subject of closed transfer.  I fill my keg with Starsan, hook up the CO2 to the IN side of the keg.  run a line from the OUT side of the keg into a bucket and drain the starsan into the bucket for later use.  I then take a hose, be it what I have already or what I will make, and run it from the CO2 tank to the bung of the bucket fermenter.  Take another hose and run it from the spigot of the fermenter to the IN port on the keg.  Open the pressure relief valve on the keg and open the CO2 and run a very small amount of pressure into the fermenter.  Open the spigot and let the beer flow.  Once it is done, close the CO2, close the spigot and disconnect all the lines.  I now have done a closed transfer.  Am I close?  Or did I oversimplify?

Seems right. Start with very low pressure and work up as needed. You don’t need much.

Push the beer into the keg through the “out” side which will fill the keg starting at the bottom and vent the gas on the “in” side or with the pressure relief valve (prv)

]

I have a floating tube on my out side, so I don't think it would matter much there.  But, I do appreciate your input.  Thank you   RR

You still don't want to push beer in to the new keg through the gas in, from the top.  Even if well purged to avoid oxidation, you'll get a ton of foaming spraying it down all the way from the top.

You are right, good catch, bad on my part.  I meant to say run the line from the spigot to the out of the keg so that the floating tube will be sitting at the level of the beer and no splashing will occur.  Great catch on your part on a mistake I made.  Thank you so much for that.  So, long story short, CO2 from the tank to the bung of the bucket, then line from the spigot to the OUT of the tank, PRV open and apply a small amount of pressure to the tank to aid in moving the beer to the keg.  That should be about right?  I am really learning some good stuff here and more DIY projects to come.  LOL

You don't really need to apply CO2 pressure from a tank. You can just connect a hose from the gas post on your keg to the top of the fermenter. As the liquid drains into the keg it will push the CO2 from the keg into the fermenter. No pressure needed. If you do use the tank, you need to keep the pressure very low, with just enough flow to compensate for the liquid going out.

One more thing about closed transfers is that you can't see the liquid level in the keg to know when it is full. With experience you might know how much your fermenter holds and when to stop. Otherwise, putting the keg on a bathroom scale can tell you when to stop. You can measure it with water ahead of time to calibrate it. In fact, you can practice the whole transfer with water until you get it right.

[redrocker652002]

Shoot, my other post didn't post.  LOL.

OK, so here is what I am gathering on the subject of closed transfer.  I fill my keg with Starsan, hook up the CO2 to the IN side of the keg.  run a line from the OUT side of the keg into a bucket and drain the starsan into the bucket for later use.  I then take a hose, be it what I have already or what I will make, and run it from the CO2 tank to the bung of the bucket fermenter.  Take another hose and run it from the spigot of the fermenter to the IN port on the keg.  Open the pressure relief valve on the keg and open the CO2 and run a very small amount of pressure into the fermenter.  Open the spigot and let the beer flow.  Once it is done, close the CO2, close the spigot and disconnect all the lines.  I now have done a closed transfer.  Am I close?  Or did I oversimplify?

Seems right. Start with very low pressure and work up as needed. You don’t need much.

Push the beer into the keg through the “out” side which will fill the keg starting at the bottom and vent the gas on the “in” side or with the pressure relief valve (prv)

]

I have a floating tube on my out side, so I don't think it would matter much there.  But, I do appreciate your input.  Thank you   RR

You still don't want to push beer in to the new keg through the gas in, from the top.  Even if well purged to avoid oxidation, you'll get a ton of foaming spraying it down all the way from the top.

You are right, good catch, bad on my part.  I meant to say run the line from the spigot to the out of the keg so that the floating tube will be sitting at the level of the beer and no splashing will occur.  Great catch on your part on a mistake I made.  Thank you so much for that.  So, long story short, CO2 from the tank to the bung of the bucket, then line from the spigot to the OUT of the tank, PRV open and apply a small amount of pressure to the tank to aid in moving the beer to the keg.  That should be about right?  I am really learning some good stuff here and more DIY projects to come.  LOL

You don't really need to apply CO2 pressure from a tank. You can just connect a hose from the gas post on your keg to the top of the fermenter. As the liquid drains into the keg it will push the CO2 from the keg into the fermenter. No pressure needed. If you do use the tank, you need to keep the pressure very low, with just enough flow to compensate for the liquid going out.

One more thing about closed transfers is that you can't see the liquid level in the keg to know when it is full. With experience you might know how much your fermenter holds and when to stop. Otherwise, putting the keg on a bathroom scale can tell you when to stop. You can measure it with water ahead of time to calibrate it. In fact, you can practice the whole transfer with water until you get it right.

Good info, thanks.  I might do the water practice idea.  Thank you for the idea of just running the hose out and into the fermenter.  I was a bit confused on that, and concerned about putting too much pressure and blowing the lid and all the contents out.  LOL. 

[jeffy]

Shoot, my other post didn't post.  LOL.

OK, so here is what I am gathering on the subject of closed transfer.  I fill my keg with Starsan, hook up the CO2 to the IN side of the keg.  run a line from the OUT side of the keg into a bucket and drain the starsan into the bucket for later use.  I then take a hose, be it what I have already or what I will make, and run it from the CO2 tank to the bung of the bucket fermenter.  Take another hose and run it from the spigot of the fermenter to the IN port on the keg.  Open the pressure relief valve on the keg and open the CO2 and run a very small amount of pressure into the fermenter.  Open the spigot and let the beer flow.  Once it is done, close the CO2, close the spigot and disconnect all the lines.  I now have done a closed transfer.  Am I close?  Or did I oversimplify?

Seems right. Start with very low pressure and work up as needed. You don’t need much.

Push the beer into the keg through the “out” side which will fill the keg starting at the bottom and vent the gas on the “in” side or with the pressure relief valve (prv)

]

I have a floating tube on my out side, so I don't think it would matter much there.  But, I do appreciate your input.  Thank you   RR

You still don't want to push beer in to the new keg through the gas in, from the top.  Even if well purged to avoid oxidation, you'll get a ton of foaming spraying it down all the way from the top.

You are right, good catch, bad on my part.  I meant to say run the line from the spigot to the out of the keg so that the floating tube will be sitting at the level of the beer and no splashing will occur.  Great catch on your part on a mistake I made.  Thank you so much for that.  So, long story short, CO2 from the tank to the bung of the bucket, then line from the spigot to the OUT of the tank, PRV open and apply a small amount of pressure to the tank to aid in moving the beer to the keg.  That should be about right?  I am really learning some good stuff here and more DIY projects to come.  LOL

You don't really need to apply CO2 pressure from a tank. You can just connect a hose from the gas post on your keg to the top of the fermenter. As the liquid drains into the keg it will push the CO2 from the keg into the fermenter. No pressure needed. If you do use the tank, you need to keep the pressure very low, with just enough flow to compensate for the liquid going out.

One more thing about closed transfers is that you can't see the liquid level in the keg to know when it is full. With experience you might know how much your fermenter holds and when to stop. Otherwise, putting the keg on a bathroom scale can tell you when to stop. You can measure it with water ahead of time to calibrate it. In fact, you can practice the whole transfer with water until you get it right.

Good info, thanks.  I might do the water practice idea.  Thank you for the idea of just running the hose out and into the fermenter.  I was a bit confused on that, and concerned about putting too much pressure and blowing the lid and all the contents out.  LOL.

I usually don't use any CO2 at all to push the beer into the keg.  Gravity works for me once a syphon is started.  Just make sure to bleed all the gas out of the keg before you start.

[Richard]

Forgot to mention that the fermenter needs to be higher than the keg for the gravity transfer to work. Also be sure the hoses are purged of air before you start.

[redrocker652002]

Forgot to mention that the fermenter needs to be higher than the keg for the gravity transfer to work. Also be sure the hoses are purged of air before you start.

Got it.  Thanks. 

[BrewNerd]

+1 to the other comments, plus to get even closer you will need to mimic the adjusted brewing water of the brewery.  Instead of “cloning”, try an homage to the commercial brew.  Denny said that way back when and it got me to move away from attempts at strict duplication….which helped my mindset greatly.

I like this. I'd put this in the same category as playing guitar. Sure, I can buy the guitar and amp that Angus uses but I can't buy the fingers he uses to play. If I get close, it's still rock and roll. Working towards an exact copy of a beer is useful as a technical exercise but it's brutal to compare yourself to someone with a different equipment set up and (in my case) decades more experience in brewing. If I can get close, I'll call it good.

[redrocker652002]

+1 to the other comments, plus to get even closer you will need to mimic the adjusted brewing water of the brewery.  Instead of “cloning”, try an homage to the commercial brew.  Denny said that way back when and it got me to move away from attempts at strict duplication….which helped my mindset greatly.

I like this. I'd put this in the same category as playing guitar. Sure, I can buy the guitar and amp that Angus uses but I can't buy the fingers he uses to play. If I get close, it's still rock and roll. Working towards an exact copy of a beer is useful as a technical exercise but it's brutal to compare yourself to someone with a different equipment set up and (in my case) decades more experience in brewing. If I can get close, I'll call it good.

Agree completley.  Thanks.  And for me it would be Eddie van Halen, but that is an unattainable goal for about 90% of guitar players out there. LOL. 

[HighVoltageMan!]

+1 to the other comments, plus to get even closer you will need to mimic the adjusted brewing water of the brewery.  Instead of “cloning”, try an homage to the commercial brew.  Denny said that way back when and it got me to move away from attempts at strict duplication….which helped my mindset greatly.

I like this. I'd put this in the same category as playing guitar. Sure, I can buy the guitar and amp that Angus uses but I can't buy the fingers he uses to play. If I get close, it's still rock and roll. Working towards an exact copy of a beer is useful as a technical exercise but it's brutal to compare yourself to someone with a different equipment set up and (in my case) decades more experience in brewing. If I can get close, I'll call it good.

Agree completley.  Thanks.  And for me it would be Eddie van Halen, but that is an unattainable goal for about 90% of guitar players out there. LOL.

I use the Eddie  Van Halen analogy myself. I give my Stratocaster to Eddie and ask him to play Eruption. He plays it perfectly and hands the guitar back and says "Do it just like that". After that, I hang my head and walk away......fail. But I still try, eventually I'll get better. Right?