Bottling after being kept in Keg

[alexhj]

So I've had an attempt at making my first ever beer, using the wilko bitter kit. I gave it a week in the FV and now 2 in the Keg. I'd filled one of those grolsch snap top bottles with the beer at the point I filled the keg, drank that about a week ago and it was great, slightly cloudy but that didnt put me off one bit!

I am DESPERATE to try this beer this weekend, if I were to have a few pints out of the keg, without unscrewing the top, would the beer then keep for a few more days without going off?

I ask because I have a capper coming in the post, which leads me to my second question. Can you bottle a beer AFTER its had 2 weeks secondary fermentation in the keg and should I add more sugar at this point? I'd guess I can bottle but that extra sugar is unnecessary as the beer has already undergone secondary fermentation....

..thoughts?

Cheers
Alex

 

[supersteve]

I looked into this when I first kegged and basically what I found was No you can't.

It will lose carbonation and you will open a flat beer. I understand there are things you can buy to prevent this but I haven't looked into it.

 

[alexhj]

Thanks for the reply, I was slightly worried that would be the case.

If however I add another small dose of sugar into each bottle then add beer and cap, will it undergo another round of fermentation (secondary squared or third??) and be ok to drink?

 

[supersteve]

I'm only a beginner but wouldn't you need to make sure you poured a bit of yeast into it first? shake the keg about abit :lol:

 

[Dave1970]

Thanks for the reply, I was slightly worried that would be the case.

If however I add another small dose of sugar into each bottle then add beer and cap, will it undergo another round of fermentation (secondary squared or third??) and be ok to drink?

I think there would probably still be enough yeast to carbonate the bottles if you did this. The problem is that it would be very difficult to judge your level of carbonation. Your beer will already be carbonated from the keg, then it will lose some of this carbonation, then you'll add some more in the bottle with your priming - sounds like a recipe for under/over carbonated beer and possibly even bottle bombs.

 

[desmosteve]

The key question here appears to sit in your second paragraph, yes you can take glasses from the keg as long as there is enough gas pressure inside it to push the beer out and stop air glugging back in. When the C02 starts running low the beer will just dribble out and then you'll get a glug of air going back in, which is a bad thing as it starts the oxidation process and rapid fall off in quality.

Does the keg have a C02 valve on the cap? If so you can charge it up as the pressure decays. If not you'll need to rely on the gas generated in the keg, best to fit a valved cap then you can manage pressure by adding gas, which is usually needed after a gallon or so is drained off

Which leaves the question of why you want to bottle it? :hmm:

Make sense?

 

[daf]

I'm amazed you haven't tried a pint or two from the keg yet. The standard procedure is to keep 'testing' it every evening to 'check' it's all okay. You'll know after the 34th pint whether it is or not.

I always put the final six or seven pints from a keg into bottles. Maybe quarter tsp of sugar in each bottle, then put them away for a month or so.

Perfectly drinkable, and your keg is free for more beer. People worry too much.

 

[Titus A Duxass]

Thanks for the reply, I was slightly worried that would be the case.

If however I add another small dose of sugar into each bottle then add beer and cap, will it undergo another round of fermentation (secondary squared or third??) and be ok to drink?

That's what I did after leave an IPA to clear in the keg for 3 weeks.

I put an espresso spoonful of sugar in each bottle and the ale is quite lively.

Batch priming the keg would be easier though.