Chunky draft beer

[brewerTristan]

I recently moved to kegging and can't seem to get any of my beers to pour without at least some yeast chunks floating around in the glass. The cause seems obvious enough to me. I don't filter and crash cooling the beer before kegging, while separating a lot of the yeast, doesn't separate all of it, so the remaining yeast settles at the bottom of the keg where it is easily picked up by the keg spear (I know it's unusual that I don't use cornies but this seems to work for me), which draws from the bottom of the keg, giving me pours with chunky deposits. Is there anyway to avoid this without filtering? I seem to get less chunks as the beer is emptied, but it's still annoying.

[BDawg]

I don't filter and crash cooling the beer before kegging, while separating a lot of the yeast, doesn't separate all of it, so the remaining yeast settles at the bottom of the keg where it is easily picked up by the keg spear

Crash cooling in a brite tank (whether its another carboy, or another keg) will help the beer to clear. Also, you can hit it with some isinglass finings to remove yeast and other sediments.

How long are you allowing your beer to ferment in the primary anyway? Having patience to let the yeast run its course and clear by itself will produce very clear beers most of the time (some yeasts floc better than others).

[brewerTristan]

I don't filter and crash cooling the beer before kegging, while separating a lot of the yeast, doesn't separate all of it, so the remaining yeast settles at the bottom of the keg where it is easily picked up by the keg spear

Crash cooling in a brite tank (whether its another carboy, or another keg) will help the beer to clear. Also, you can hit it with some isinglass finings to remove yeast and other sediments.

How long are you allowing your beer to ferment in the primary anyway? Having patience to let the yeast run its course and clear by itself will produce very clear beers most of the time (some yeasts floc better than others).

Sorry, I think the portion you quoted from me was phrased misleadingly. I do crash cool in the carboy, but I don't filter. I did buy some gelatin, but haven't used it yet. Should I do a two stage transfer before kegging? Like instead of transferring to a "secondary", move the beer out of the primary to a "brite tank" before going into the serving keg? I do have more than one keg, so I could do that.

[BDawg]

Ok, I understand. Yes, I think a brite tank step will help a lot in this regard.

Some people use a 1-2-3 regimen in their brewing when bottling. For me, what I found is that a 2-1-3 works better (or 2-1-2 when kegging). Basically, I let the yeast run its course and then some in primary, which usually amounts to about 2 weeks (sometimes 3). Then rack to "secondary" or what is actually the brite tank for a week (or sometimes 2 if needed or I get lazy) where it is first held at normal temps then crash cooled and then finally rackted to the serving keg where it is carbonated the slow way - serving pressure for 2 weeks, no high pressure or shaking. This allows plenty of time for the yeast to floc out and the extra brite tank step helps get the yeast out of my serving keg. No shaking also helps any remaining yeast to fall out and stick better in the serving keg.

HTH-

[noremorse1]

I just brewed a Scottish that sat in the primary for 2 weeks, crashed at 40 degrees for 24 hours, and has been in the keg almost 2 weeks. I get zero yeast sediment. If I had, I would consider what Bdawg said... it is very good advice. Allowing the yeast to settle naturally, transferring... letting more yeast settle, and then crashing it out, then kegging should give you very little residual yeast. Especially since you are essentially crashing it twice in two separate vessels (your keg).

How long are you cold crashing and at what temperature? What temperature are you serving at? How long are you waiting before serving? How are you transferring to your keg? Spiggot in a plastic bucket, racking cane, auto-siphon?

[Steelers&Beer]

don't forget to cut about an inch of the diptube of your bright tank. or be lazy like me and just cut an inch off of all the dip tubes and then you don't have to transfer. just a thought