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Bottle to Keg

Northern Brewer General
#1

Assume for a moment that I have 2 cases of beer that took ~1.5 years to make and it is not carbonating (see my signature line inventory). Assume further that I don’t feel like futzing with the bottles further or trying to diagnose why in the name of good God they didn’t carbonate.

If I purged a keg really well, could I gently dump said bottles into the keg and force carbonate, potentially bottling off the keg later without a certainty of oxidized beer? I am a staunch believer in O2-absorbing crowns.

I plan on giving these some more time to carbonate in the bottle, but want to have a fail-safe in my head to preserve my own sanity and good cheer.

#2

I don’t see why it couldn’t work. Just be very gentle when pouring them into the keg.

#3

Yeah, I mean, it’d have to be a last resort, because the potential for oxidation is incredibly high, I’d think.

#4

I guess thats what I’m wondering. If the keg is full of heavier CO2 and there is an albeit small blanket of CO2 in the neck of the bottles, where could oxygen get into the beer?

I’m picturing tilting the keg, bottle neck-first into the opening, pouring down the side. Maybe even get the bottles cold first so any CO2 will be driven out of the beer and purging the keg a few times over 24 hours.

Not a perfect solution I know, but this beer is frigging awesome and I want some bubbles.

#5

This would be an excellent excuse to build a new toy:

http://www.orionhomebrewing.com/2013/01 ... p.html?m=1

I’ve been wanting to try it for just such problems.

#6

[quote=“sampothepancake”]This would be an excellent excuse to build a new toy:

http://www.orionhomebrewing.com/2013/01 ... p.html?m=1

I’ve been wanting to try it for just such problems.[/quote]
So much work for just a one time use! But interesting idea…

#7

I guess thats what I’m wondering. If the keg is full of heavier CO2 and there is an albeit small blanket of CO2 in the neck of the bottles, where could oxygen get into the beer?

I’m picturing tilting the keg, bottle neck-first into the opening, pouring down the side. Maybe even get the bottles cold first so any CO2 will be driven out of the beer and purging the keg a few times over 24 hours.

Not a perfect solution I know, but this beer is frigging awesome and I want some bubbles.[/quote]

The problem with your theory here is that blanket of CO2 won’t remain. Gases mix. I agree that there’s a very high risk of oxidation, especially if you want to rebottle from the keg later. I don’t understand why getting the bottles cold would help, though.

#8

[quote=“Beersk”][quote=“sampothepancake”]This would be an excellent excuse to build a new toy:

http://www.orionhomebrewing.com/2013/01 ... p.html?m=1

I’ve been wanting to try it for just such problems.[/quote]
So much work for just a one time use! But interesting idea…[/quote]One of the comments on that link was that using one of the aluminum bottles would make the twist cap reusable. I have made a couple of PET soda bottle carbonator caps but I don’t think i would go through the work for a one time bottle cap.[quote=“Denny”][quote=“Pietro”][quote=“Beersk”]Yeah, I mean, it’d have to be a last resort, because the potential for oxidation is incredibly high, I’d think.[/quote]

I guess thats what I’m wondering. If the keg is full of heavier CO2 and there is an albeit small blanket of CO2 in the neck of the bottles, where could oxygen get into the beer?

I’m picturing tilting the keg, bottle neck-first into the opening, pouring down the side. Maybe even get the bottles cold first so any CO2 will be driven out of the beer and purging the keg a few times over 24 hours.

Not a perfect solution I know, but this beer is frigging awesome and I want some bubbles.[/quote]

The problem with your theory here is that blanket of CO2 won’t remain. Gases mix. I agree that there’s a very high risk of oxidation, especially if you want to rebottle from the keg later. I don’t understand why getting the bottles cold would help, though.[/quote] I guess the getting the bottle cold idea would be the same as when using a CP bottle filler to reduce foaming. The keg would have to be cold also though. If the beer carbonated any it might help.

#9

Not sure if you just typed this wrong, but this is backwards. Getting the beer cold will help keep the CO2 in solution. It will also make the beer more soluble to oxygen, though I don’t know if that would have a significant effect when you consider the short time it would take before you purged the keg to drive off any O2 that mixed with the CO2 blanket.

#10

Not sure if you just typed this wrong, but this is backwards. Getting the beer cold will help keep the CO2 in solution. It will also make the beer more soluble to oxygen, though I don’t know if that would have a significant effect when you consider the short time it would take before you purged the keg to drive off any O2 that mixed with the CO2 blanket.[/quote]

Yeah, that’s what confused me, too.

#11

I have never tried this, and I am choosing not to think trhough the intricate details, but if you were somehow able to maintain a siphon (like with a clamp on sip[hon hose) you might be able to siphon the beer from each bottle into the keg. Maybe less splashing. Also may be entirely impractical. Just a thought.

#12

You could attach a liquid disconnect to your gas line and bubble a bit of CO2 through the beer as you pour the bottles into the keg. Your CO2 blanket would be countinually refreshed . Keep the CO2 pressure very low so you don’t get a keg full of foam before you get all the bottles emptied.

Sounds like a lot of trouble, but if you really love this beer that might reduce the potential for oxidation.

#13

Not sure if you just typed this wrong, but this is backwards. Getting the beer cold will help keep the CO2 in solution. It will also make the beer more soluble to oxygen, though I don’t know if that would have a significant effect when you consider the short time it would take before you purged the keg to drive off any O2 that mixed with the CO2 blanket.[/quote]

Right, but my thought was if the beer was cold in the bottles, then any CO2 in the headspace of the bottles will be absorbed into the beer. Then when I drump into the keg, that CO2 will likely come out of solution, enhancing my ‘blanket’ in the keg.

I’m going to agitate the bottles and keep them at 74* for a few weeks, and hopefully I won’t have to mess with this scenario.

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