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There's just something about fresh draught (aka draft) beer. It's not that the chore of bottling is such a big deal. After all, bottles are convenient to give to friends or send to competitions. But whilst it's great to be able to come home and grab a bottle of your own brew, but there's something special about pulling a beer from your own keg system.You've probably admired those shiny cylinders many homebrewers use to "keg" their beers, but you may also have wondered how complicated it is to learn the techniques.

STEPS FOR KEGGING
COLLECTING THE GEAR. KEGS: The kegs used in this system are postmix kegs,made of stainless steel with a hatch cover for ease of cleaning. A gas in connection and a beer out connection. They also have a safety release valve. They can vary in size from as small as 9lts up to 50lts.The most common being 18lts and 22lts being ideal for the homebrewer ie. they hold a standard brew.
DISCONNECTS: There are a couple of different types.Pin lock and Ball lock. The ones contained in this system are ball lock,they are available in stainless steel and plastic and work on the same principle as your standard garden hose fittings ie. they click on and click off for easy disconnection of the beer and gas lines from the keg.
CO2 GAS BOTTLE: The gas bottles come in various sizes, the most common and easiest to handle are the "D" size bottle being a bit taller than knee height and weighing under 20kg.Other sizes are available but can be quite heavy and difficult to move. Bottles are available from BOC Gases or Liquid Air.
REGULATOR: A full CO2 bottle holds approximately 800 psi,that's a bit more than the 10 psi that's needed to run this system, so a regulator is a must. The regulator screws onto the gas bottle and reduces the pressure to safe levels. A set screw lets you adjust the regulators output pressure with an ordinary screw driver. There are two gauges on the regulator, one for gas bottle pressure the other for keg working pressure. The CO2 in the bottle starts out as a liquid and the pressure of the gas in the head space of the bottle will be between 700 and 800 psi depending only on the temperature of the bottle. The high pressure gauge on the regulator will only begin to fall when all the liquid is gone. The best way to estimate how much CO2 is left in the bottle is by weight not pressure. Make a habit of weighing your bottle when you first get it. The bottle will be weighed and stamped when empty. The empty bottle weight is on a tag around the neck of the bottle.
PREPARING THE FRIDGE: Like bottled beer your kegs will need to be kept cold.With a standard keg holding a full batch of beer and being somewhat bigger than a bottle your fridge is going to need to be changed to suit your kegs ie. removal of all shelves and depending on whether the fridge is level at the base. Some older fridges are not level at the bottom and will need to be levelled, use what ever suits you best. You are going to need to drill a small hole to bring the gas line from the regulator into the fridge.Whether you choose the side or back of fridge is up to you. NB: Make sure all power is disconnected prior to drilling. Try and use a drill bit just large enough to allow gas line to fit snugly through hole. Before sealing gas line make sure there is sufficient line so as to reach out of the fridge . NB: The wiring systems and cooling systems will vary from fridge to fridge so take care when drilling any holes in your fridge. If your keg system is going to have a beer gun it's just a matter of cutting the beer line to a length to suit you and attaching the gun to one end of the line and the beer disconnect to the other.The length of line should be between 1.5 and 2 metres long. If you choose to have a tap there are more holes to be drilled .As stated before take care when drilling. The position of the tap is your choice again.If putting tap on the door of fridge make sure there is enough beer line so that the door can still be fully opened. If deciding to put the tap on the door, when you tighten the back nut it may collapse the interior of the door.We have found a small length of PVC pipe pushed over the shank of the tap allows the tap to be tightened so that it is secure and does move, without damaging the interior.

FILLING THE KEG: Ferment your beer in the normal way.Once fermentation is completed it is time to clean and sterilise the keg.You can use SO2 or Neo Pink in the same way that you would sterilise your bottles. The transferring of the beer to the keg is as simple as racking directly into the keg via a piece of clear tubing,cut to length so that it reaches from the tap of the fermenter to the bottom of the keg. You will notice that there is a tube running from the top of the keg to the centre of the bottom .This is called the Drip Tube,this is how the beer is drawn from the keg. There is also another tube which is quite short in length.This is where the CO2 is injected into the beer. Fill your keg to approximately 1/2 inch to 1 inch from this tube. Now the keg is full replace the hatch cover and move keg to fridge.Assuming your gas line was cut to length it should be long enough to reach outside the fridge. Turn on gas bottle and set pressure on regulator to between 10 and 15 psi.Now connect gas line to keg. What we have to do now is purge the air from the head space of the keg and replace it with CO2.This is done to protect the beer from oxidisation. By lifting the pressure release valve the CO2 will flow into the keg and the air will flow out through this valve.This is called burping the keg and is best done in three short bursts. Depending on the clarity of the beer you can either go straight to carbonating the keg or if beer is cloudy you can let it stand and settle for about a week and then carbonate.

CARBONATING: The absorption of the CO2 into your beer can depend on many things ie. the temperature of the beer, the pressure at which it is applied and the length of time pressure is applied. The CO2 will be absorbed at a faster rate when the beer is cold so if you apply 40 psi continually for two days your beer should be ready to try. We have found that two days at this pressure gives the correct carbonation.Depending on personal taste you may like more or less so there is some trial and error to find what is best for you ie. for an English type Bitter you may prefer a lower rate of carbonation but on the other hand you may be making a German Weizens which would be more effervescent so again the rate of carbonation is up to you.

DISPENSING: Now for the good part pulling that first beer. First reduce your keg from carbonating pressure to dispensing pressure.Do this by turning down the set screw on the regulator,if the pressure doesn't come down as you turn the screw you may have to vent the keg to release the excess pressure. A suggested dispensing pressure is 10 psi. Even though the beer that you kegged may have been clear you will still get some settlement at the bottom of the keg so the first glass may be not what you expected. We suggest pulling a couple of glasses through until it clears. Whether using a gun or a tap always dispense with it fully open,if it's used part way opened you will end up with all froth and no beer. Again dispensing like carbonating can be trial and error to get it right. Having installed a keg system in your own home you have come a long way from the teaspoon of sugar in a long neck and it should give you many years of enjoyment. There's a lot of information here and you will probably discover your own tricks and techniques about kegging.Home brewers who begin kegging their beer rarely look back, there's just something about fresh draught beer.