Kegging three gallons of beer

[lyle]

I am new to kegging and have a question about loading a corny keg with less than five gallons of beer. Currently I have three gallons of weizen fermenting which I would like keg. (When I brewed the beer, I wanted a small batch and didn't plan to keg it.)

If I put this three gallons in my five gallon keg, I am concerned that I won't be able to effectively purge the large headspace and will create oxidation problems. Am I being paranoid?

I know weizen is best when fresh, so I don't plan to have it sit around for a long time and I want to believe that I won't notice any off flavors before it is gone. However, I would like to enter this beer in a competition (about one month away), and don't want to do anything dumb.

Basically, I want to play with my new equipment (counter-pressure filler, etc.) but I don't want to ruin a batch of beer in the process.

Thanks in advance, any advice is appreciated...

[andy77]

You're being paranoid. Rack as normal, and fill then purge three times. If it makes you feel better, do it 4 or 5 times. You'll be fine.

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[lyle]

Thanks, guys. Unfortunately, I can't do a completely closed transfer because I'm still fermenting in buckets, but regardless, I get the concept and I'm ready to go.

[andy77]

Thanks, guys. Unfortunately, I can't do a completely closed transfer because I'm still fermenting in buckets, but regardless, I get the concept and I'm ready to go.

You can still purge the keg of CO2 prior to racking, though. The biggest pickup of O2 is when the beer leaves the racking tubing and is exposed to the air. If you purge the keg prior, any exposure the naked wort has to gas is the CO2 you put in the keg.





I said naked wort.

[mordantly]

if there's one thing i hate, it is my nekkid beer being oxidized. i purge all my kegs, carboys prior to transfers.

[lyle]

You can still purge the keg of CO2 prior to racking, though. The biggest pickup of O2 is when the beer leaves the racking tubing and is exposed to the air. If you purge the keg prior, any exposure the naked wort has to gas is the CO2 you put in the keg.

Thanks again for the help. That's what I did, and everything seemed to go pretty smoothly.

Everybody says, and it's true: man, I am not going to miss bottling one bit.