03/13/2017 – Overmountain Brewers Meeting
Members:
Steve Paulson
Donna Dingus
Brent Dingus
Crystal Davidson
Paul Davidson
Joe Wentz
Jim King
Ben Tolton
Caleb Jacobs
Guests:
Rick Carroll
Ron Hutton
Gene Christian
Charlie Holbrook
1. Financial Status – 483.60
2. Upcoming Events –
a. Survey needs to be completed - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DYG6BGX
b. March 25, 2017 – Club Outing in Asheville, NC
c. Thirsty Orange – April 8, 2017
d. Howling Festival – Possible Local Homebrew club competition
3. Meeting Highlights / Walk on Items
a. Joe Wentz – Several Brew your own magazine offered at ½ cost
b. Justin Dick – Wet hop comp possibility in the fall. Around the August timeframe – pick
your own hops
c. All 4 guests paid dues to become members of Overmountain Brewers!
4. Education Topic –
a. Introduction to Kegging – Details below
b. Triangle Test – Details below
Meeting Topics and Focus for 2017
Date
Presenter
Topic
April
Round Table
Equipment Recommendations (must-haves, highquality, good value, etc.) open discussion
May
All Members
Beer Style Focus: wheat beers/ varieties/ both all
grain and extract – Brew and Bring it.
June
TBD
Explanation of Commercial Brewhouse equipment –
Possible Brewer Tour
July
Paul Davidson
How are the CO2 tanks tested? And other high
pressure cylinder testing
August
Joe Wentz
Possible River House Meeting
September
Justin Dick
Hops/Hop farm visit
October
Ben Cowan
TBD
November
All Members
Officer Nominations
December
All Members
Elections and Specialty Bottle Share
Triangle Test Recap –
The base beer was Simply Beer Brown Ale from Midwest Supplies, with the addition of 4 oz English Dark
Crystal, 8 oz Briess Cherrywood, and 8 oz Briess Victory added to the steeping grains.
Variants:
Beer A - A half cup of ground coffee was added to the steeping grains, the water used was tap water
from Dayton, TN, and it was fermented with Safale S04.
Beer B - The water was Bristol, TN tap water, and it was fermented with Safale S05.
Thirteen OMB members, with no prior knowledge of the beer, were served two samples of Beer A and
one sample of Beer B. These were all served in white, non-transparent cups
Eleven of the Thirteen were able to correctly identify Beer B, as the odd beer out. Of those eleven, nine
preferred Beer B over Beer A.
Intro to Kegging Recap –
Process:
There are several ways to carbonate beer in a keg. I will give a quick overview of the process I use. The
main reason I like this process is once I connect the keg, I don't have to do anything else. No venting,
shaking, adjusting the pressure, or dis/reconnecting parts. This does take a few days longer than other
processes. I have had no issues with excess foaming, and get very consistent carbonation throughout
the entire keg.
Process:
Flush a clean, sanitized, keg with CO2.
Transfer beer from the fermenter to the keg
Place keg in a temperature controlled refrigerator or freezer (mine is set to 40*f)
Connect the gas line to keg, set the regulator to 12psi (this pressure depends on the temp of your
kegerator, and the desired level of carbonation. See this chart for more info) Most beer styles are fine at
2.4-2.5
Wait for 7 days, give or take...
Connect liquid side hose with faucet, and serve
There are other faster methods to carbonate, but I haven't had much luck with them. Your mileage may
vary. Some folks apply high pressure and shake the keg for a few minutes, other use methods such as
this.
Hardware:
To keep things simple, I am going to reference Keg Connection for the parts needed. There tons of shops
online and homebrew stores that offer everything you need to get started.
Here's a basic setup:
Keg(s)
CO2 Tank
Regulator
Manifold (if you have more than one keg)
Gas-Side Hose
Liquid-Side Hose
Disconnects
Faucet
Clamps and fittings to tie it all together. This will vary based on the hardware.
There are also pre-made kits with everything you need to get started
4 Faucet Kit
Shop around, these components can vary in price. I found this new 5 gallon keg for $75
For more detailed information on kegging systems download the Draught Quality Manual, published by
the Brewers Association
Feel free to share you kegging techniques! Several members shared their methods at the meeting. I'd
love to hear from the folks who couldn't make it out.
Questions / Discussions:
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php
So if my keg is at 40 degrees and being carbonated at 14.5 PSI, that's about 2.7 volumes of CO2 in the
finished beer and I would need a serving line approximately 7.25 feet long in order to have a balanced serve at
that temp & pressure?
Yep. That would be a great place to start. Is you can find out the actual resistance of your liquid-side line, that
would help dual it in. Sometimes that's hard to know unless you buy in bulk or the seller lists it. Also, if the tap
is above or below the keg, you may need to adjust a bit for that +\- rise. I like to cut about 6 inches longer than I
think I need then trim back if needed.
For what it is worth, the elevation head for pressure changes due to elevation is 2.3 foot= 1psi.
So if your pour is too foamy because your line short for the pressure, raising the tap or lowering the line from
the tap to the keg might be enough to bring it into balance?
Here's a little more specific info.
https://www.kegworks.com/blog/determine-right-pressure-for-your-draft-beer-system/
I've found it easier to get close to the length, add 6 inches or so, then if needed trim off a little until it
pours the way you like.