How to Keg Your Homebrewed Beer

After most home brewers bottle their eight thousandth bottle of beer, they start thinking about easier ways to finish their brew. Kegging your beer is a great alternative to bottling, especially if you are going to enjoy it with friends. There are several kegging systems available to the amateur brewer and several different methods of kegging. Here are the basics of kegging:

Which Keg System to Use?

There was a time when only commercial brewery and soft drink kegs were available to the home brewer, but now there are many home brew keg systems available. Some are stainless steel like brewery kegs but some are plastic to make it easier to haul around 50-100 pounds of beer at a time.

My favorite keg system, however, is still the old Cornelius kegs. These tall steel cylinders are used in the soft drink industry for restaurants providing on-tap soda. They are the perfect size for a batch of homebrew and come in a five gallon capacity. Cornelius kegs are easy to carry, even when full of beer.

Cornelius kegs only work on a CO2 system and can be operated with a small tap or can be hooked up to a bar-mounted keg tap. The best part of a Cornelius keg is that it fits into most small refrigerators to make setting up a complete keg system with permanent taps easy.

Kegging Your Homebrew

Regardless of the kegging system used, all keg equipment including the inside of the vessel must be sanitized thoroughly both before and after each use. The first step in the process is to add the priming sugar. Boil 1/3 to ½ cup of corn sugar (for priming) with a small amount of water until dissolved (for a five gallon batch). Note that this is less sugar used than when bottling. Too much sugar can clog up the lines with excess foam. Add directly to the keg and siphon the beer directly into the keg while minimizing aeration.

Seal up the keg and let it condition for 1-2 weeks.

Using CO2 to Carbonate Your Kegged Homebrew

Most homebrew keg setups use a CO2-driven system. CO2 helps propel the beer out and increases carbonation. It also replaces the leftover airspace in the keg with CO2 which preserves the beer and prevents aeration. CO2 canisters are often available from beer making supply stores or can be purchased from soft drink distributors.

Naturally Carbonating Your Kegged Homebrew

Some beers are better when they are naturally carbonated. English ales and stouts fall into this category. They have a low level of carbonation to begin with and naturally carbonating with only the priming sugar used ensures that they retain their original character. In order to naturally carbonate beer, you must use a kegging system that can be hooked up to a hand-pulled keg tap, like those found in English pubs.