An empty keg is a question. The answer to the question is either sanitize it or clean it.
You sanitize an empty keg when you want to fill it with beer to carbonate and drink.
You clean an empty keg when the carbonated beer is already drunk.
To do either sanitizing or cleaning, we need to disassemble it, soak the small parts, and fill the shell.
The steps for both processes are the same. I'll show you how.
First, vent the pressure in the keg by opening the lid relief valve, then remove the lid.
If the lid is sticking, cover it with a rag to protect your hand and put your weight on it.
Second, remove the liquid and gas posts from the keg.
Check the top of the keg. 'Out' is the liquid side. 'In' is the gas side.
The liquid post has a smooth base. The gas post has notches in its base.
Use a socket wrench and a deep driver socket preferably, or a crescent wrench in a pinch, to remove the posts.
There's a short dip tube under the gas post.
Put the lid posts and the short gas dip tube in a dish of sanitizer or cleanser.
Be careful not to lose the poppet valves inside the post.
The long liquid side dip tube goes inside the keg shell.
At this point, the shell with the liquid dip tube inside it are ready to be filled with a solution of Easy Clean or your sanitizer or cleanser of choice.
For this keg, which is empty, we're sanitizing it with Easy Clean Solution to receive our fully fermented Caribou Slobber Kit.
We're giving the small parts a two-minute soak to sanitize. We'll give the shell and the dip tube also a two-minute soak to sanitize.
If this keg had been previously holding beer and was now dirty, we would give it a longer soak to let the Easy Clean work on those organic deposits and lift them off before we dry the keg for storage.
For cleaning, soak maybe 30 minutes to an hour, then air dry the parts.
Either way, sanitizing or cleaning, follow these steps in reverse to reassemble your keg.
You are now cleared for keg takeoff.
While the siphoning equipment and keg sanitize, assemble and leak-test the gas side of the keg system.
First, attach the CO2 regulator to the gas cylinder and tighten.
Next, tighten the gas line and disconnect to the regulator body.
Make sure all valves are closed.
To leak-test, sponge soapy water on all connections, the regulator and cylinder, the gas line and regulator, and the gas line and the gray disconnect.
Then open all valves.
A gas leak will show up as bubbles. This connection needs to be tightened.
Siphon the beer from the secondary fermentor into the sanitized keg, then seal the keg with the lid.
Connect the CO2 supply to the keg by attaching the gray disconnect to the gas-in post on the keg. You will hear a hiss as the keg is pressurized.
We will force carbonate the beer by pressurizing the keg with CO2 gas.
Adjust the carbonating pressure using the setscrew on the regulator.
The gauge opposite the gas line shows the pressure being supplied to the keg.
We will force carbonate our Caribou Slobber at 20 PSI.
After two to three days, the beer will have absorbed some of the CO2 gas steadily supplied by the regulator.
We'll pour a small sample to see if it's ready or if it needs more time.
First, we need to shut off the CO2 at the regulator. Then we need to vent the CO2 from the headspace in the keg by opening the lid relief valve,
and use the setscrew to lower the PSI from force carbonating to dispensing levels.
For a dispensing pressure, try 10 to 12 PSI.
Reopen the red shut-off valve on the regulator.
You will probably need to use the setscrew to adjust the pressure back to 10 to 12 PSI.
Attach the liquid line to the liquid-out post on the keg. Make sure that faucet is shut.
{♪♪Music♪♪}
And now we pour.
This batch of Caribou Slobber is ready to drink.
If your beer is still a bit flat at this point, remove the liquid line and return the keg to forced carbonating pressure for another day or two.
{Music}
Cheers.
{Music}