Kegging Your Homebrew

Once your beer has fermented for 2-3 weeks, you have a decision to make.  Bottle it or keg it?  I’ve done both, and I prefer kegging.  It’s a much easier and less time-consuming process.  I only bottle if I intend to give out most of them to friends or family.  Plus beer just tastes so much better from a keg!

The following steps will show you how to keg your beer and carbonate it using the slow-forced carbonation method.

What you need:  a 5-gallon Cornelius (“Corny”) keg, brew cleaner, sanitizer, siphon, keg lube

Sanitize Everything!

Step 1:  Fill up your keg with water.  Add brew cleaner to help dissolve any residue or buildup.

Step 2:  Dump out water and make sure there is nothing left on the inside.

Step 3:  Fill up your keg with water again.  Add sanitizer and put the lid on.  Let it sit for the recommended amount of time.

Step 4:  Flip it upside down and let it sit again for the recommended amount of time.

Step 5:  With your sanitizer and water still in the keg, hook up your gas and beer lines.  Turn your CO2 tank on to 25 PSI until the lid seals.

Step 6:  Open up the tap and pour yourself a big cup of sanitized water.  This allows the sanitizer to run through the beer line and clean it.

Step 7:  Turn the CO2 tank off, bleed your keg, unhook the lines, dump out the water.

You now have a squeaky-clean keg that is ready for beer!

Step 8:  Place your secondary fermentor on a table.  Be careful not to disturb the sediment on the bottom.

Step 9:  Siphon the beer into the keg.  Make sure your line is at the bottom of the keg so the beer doesn’t splash around inside.

Step 10:  Place the top back on the keg.  You might need some keg lube to help seal it properly.

Step 11:  Hook up your CO2 gas line to the keg.  Using a slow force carbonation chart, select the appropriate PSI for your type of homebrew based on the temperature of the kegerator and your desired carbonation level.  Blonde Ales should be on the middle-high range of carbonation, so according to the chart, I need my CO2 level to be at 16 PSI for my 42 degree kegerator.

Step 12:  Open up your CO2 and set it to the desired PSI.  You will hear the CO2 go into the keg and seal the lid.

Step 13:  Turn off the gas and bleed the CO2 from the tank.  Repeat steps 12 and 13 a few times.  After the last purge, turn the CO2 back on to your desired PSI and leave the CO2 in the keg.  This bleeding process will force all the air out of your keg and keep the beer fresh.

Over the next 5 days, the CO2 that is now in the keg will begin to absorb into the beer.  Check frequently to make sure that your PSI level remains at the desired level.  After 5 days your beer will be nice and bubbly and ready to drink.  Simply hook up the beer line, set the PSI to around 8, and pour your brew!