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Weight of empty kegs...

BeerSmith

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My latest science experiment...

I'm trying to determine the amount of beer left in the keg by weight.  Unfortunately I don't have any empty ones...and I need the empty keg weight.

I understand there is some variation, but can anyone tell me the empty weight of a 5 gal corny keg?

The numbers for a 10 gal, 2.5 gal and 3.5 gal (other sizes?) would be nice to have as well...

Brad
 
Here's another way to tell... though it can be kind of messy. Basically, it's the same way you tell the level of propane in a cylinder. With the keg/beer cold, dump a little hot water down the side... make sure it's pretty hot, but it doesn't have to be boiling. Condensation will form where the beer is in the keg. Voila!
 
I have two 10-gallon kegs, but they are so different and the weight is different too. Unfortunately, I don't have a scale that will weigh a keg with any amount of accuracy, so I can't give you any numbers. Maybe I'll haul one to the local brewpub tomorrow (I'm going there anyway to pick up some grain and order some yeast) and see what I can find out for you.
 
Hi
Just stuck my 5 gallon corny on the scales 3.5 kilo empty weight
Regards
Andrew
 
Andrew -
 Thanks - I think I can now accurately predict volume from the weight.  I'll run a few trials to try it out.

 Anyone have the larger/smaller keg empty weights?

Brad
 
I have a couple of 2.5's that will be empty for a couple of days :'(.  I'll get the weight and post tomorrow.
 
I weighed the 2.5 gallon empty kegs on my digital scale (accurate to .5 lb) and came up with 7.0 lbs.  

This is probably the only time I've ever been "lucky" to have empty kegs...we lost power for 25 hours Wednesday night and I was just at the point of kegging my new stout.  Much better off in the secondary than in the keg cold/warm/cold.  ;)
 
Thanks!

 Hmmm...perhaps a new feature - tells you how much you have in your keg based on weight?

Brad
 
Just reviewing some old post.  Did you ever reconsider the volume/weight issue with the kegs?
 
There is a calculator in BeerSmith 1.3 that does this now (Weight to Volume tool).  You need to know the weight of your empty vessel (keg, fermenter, etc), and it is more accurate if you know the specific gravity (though not entirely necessary).  For example I can calculate within a pint or so how much beer I have left in a keg by just popping it on the scale.

Cheers!
Brad
 
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