Oxygen Free Kegging

As noted in my “About” page and in the title of this blog, I am a brewer. I really enjoy brewing and I love periodically upgrading the capabilities of my brewing system. In 2019, my wife bought me an SS Brewtech 14 gallon conical fermenter brew master’s edition. Suffice it to say that I love it and I’m especially thank-you to have eliminated glass carboys from my life. Glass is dangerous, life threatening even and long before the conical, I had begun the switch to plastic (PET) carboys for safety.

Getting to know you is to love you.

After the initial purchase of the fermenter, I have added a few gizmos to improve my brewing process including the bits I needed for the oxygen free transfer of finished beer to kegs.

Here is an outline of the process.

1. Completely fill (eliminate all airspace) a clean corny keg with sanitizer solution.
2. Push the sanitizer solution out to a second clean corny keg using CO2.
3. Repeat the process on the second keg, this time pushing the sanitizer to a clean bucket.
4. Push the finished beer out of the fermenter using CO2, in to the O2 free kegs.
5. Don’t forget to open the vent tab to allow the CO2 to escape as the keg fills.
6. When beer begins to spray all over your brewery, the first keg is full.
7. Repeat with keg two.

That is the essence of it. One simply needs enough proper fittings to make it all happen.

Specialty Items

• “Jumper” transfer tube. Beer out (Black) to Beer out (Black) quick disconnects.
• Triclover fittings (one large, one small) to transfer CO2 gas to the top of the fermenter.
• Small triclover with barb connector for beer out.
• Sight glass for beer out (optional)
• I happen to have a dual port regulator which allowed me to have one with corny and one with a triclover fitting.

Moving StarSan from the first oxygen free keg to fill the second. Repeat pushing the sanitizer to a clean buck. Notice the beer out to beer out transfer hose.

CO2 let in to the top of the fermenter pushes the beer oxygen free beer to your kegs. Notice the small and large triclover fittings to make this connection. This is just how I figured out to do it, there are other possibilities no doubt.

Transferring the finished beer to keg, oxygen free.