First Time Kegging

About to keg a batch for the first time and I've been doing some reading and have settled on carbing using the set and forget method. Just wanted to run my method by everyone and see if there is anything I am forgetting or needing to change.
1) Sanitize keg/parts
2) Rack beer from primary or secondary to keg
3) Apply some CO2 (not sure if PSI really matters here?) to the keg and then open the relief valve to purge the keg of oxygen (CO2 will be disconnected after this)
4) Chill keg/beer to desired temp
5) Connect gas line to keg, set regulator to appropriate PSI for volumes of CO2 desired (using one of those charts that shows PSI and temperature combinations)
6) Wait 7-14 days for carbonation (I understand that at 7 it is usually drinkable, but typically takes 10-14 to fully carb)
7) Pour beer at same PSI level?

Number 7 is where I have my uncertainties as I couldn't really find any threads/sources that cleared this up. Do I leave the pressure at the same level when the beer is ready to serve that the beer was carbed at? For example, if I left the beer at 12psi for 2 weeks to carbonate, do I now leave it at 12psi to serve or should I drop the pressure lower to serve? I plan on running 10ft of 3/16" ID beer line. Pretty standard kegerator with the tap around 15-18" above the top of the keg. All help is appreciated, thanks.

Your talking about the set and forget method. You'll eat your psi at the same psi your serving. This way you reach s nice equilibrium and don't have to worry about it.

You'll love kegging. I did a few batches with bottles did my first keg and haven't looked back.

All your others steps look good.

Yeah, what Rockn said. If carbing at 12 PSI, serve at 12 PSI.

Now, 12 PSI is not a problem at all. However, once you start kegging a Hefeweizen and have to crank up the PSI into the 30s....foam issues abound!

SmokeAndBeer1 said:

Yeah, what Rockn said. If carbing at 12 PSI, serve at 12 PSI.

Now, 12 PSI is not a problem at all. However, once you start kegging a Hefeweizen and have to crank up the PSI into the 30s....foam issues abound!

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Sounds good. Quick question, is the high pressure needed for a hefeweizen (and some other styles) just because having a high level of carbonation is usual for this style or is there some other reason such as hefeweizens typically do not absorb CO2 as readily as some other styles? In other words, if I made a hefeweizen and a cream ale and carbonated them both at 12psi, I am assuming they would both have the same level of carbonation, but according to style guidelines, the hefeweizen should have a higher level of carbonation, correct?

Correct, higher PSI is needed for the style.

Here is a carb chart that will tell you what PSI to set at what temperature to get the volume of CO2 desired

Thanks for the help guys

When putting the lid on you will need to hit it with about 30 psi for a few seconds. If you don't do this, it may not seal properly. Also, get a water bottle and fill with soapy water. Once you seal the keg, spray the lid and posts. Look for any leaks as these will empty your CO2 bottle quickly.

I would have to dissagree on the serving at the same psi as carbing. Once the beer is fully carbed, you can adjust your serving psi to whatever pours best. I usually serve my beer between 8 and 10 psi. Your not gonna carb a saison at 18psi and serve it at 18 psi. Right?

Carb pressure and dispensing pressure are the same on a properly tuned dispensing system. Even with an effervescent heffe...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

Carb pressure and dispensing pressure are the same on a properly tuned dispensing system. Even with an effervescent heffe...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Agreed. And it makes sense that if you lower the PSI below what the keg contains, then the keg will try to reach equilibrium at the new PSI with each pour you make.

That begs the question: Like in the Saison scenario above, would you use different lengths of beer line to match the carb levels the style dictates?

angrylu said:

I would have to dissagree on the serving at the same psi as carbing. Once the beer is fully carbed, you can adjust your serving psi to whatever pours best. I usually serve my beer between 8 and 10 psi. Your not gonna carb a saison at 18psi and serve it at 18 psi. Right?

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I would, yes.

The problem with what you describe is that if I carb a beer at 18 psi, then lower the pressure down to 8 psi for serving, CO2 will effervesce out of the beer until the system finds equilibrium, at, say, 13 psi. If you then bleed off pressure to get it back down to 8 psi again for serving, more gas will come out of solution until it finds equilibrium again. Eventually, your beer will be carbed to 8 psi, or whatever you have it set at.

If the pressure in the head space is only 8 psi, why would 18 psi worth of CO2 stay in solution in the beer? It won't - it'll come out.

The two changes I would make to the OP's procedure would be that before racking the beer to the keg, I always give it a 5-10 second burst of CO2 to "blanket" the inside of the keg with CO2 and try and purge at least some of the oxygen out. Then while the beer is racking, I cover the opening of the keg with sanitized aluminum foil roughly formed to the shape of the opening and every now and then, give it another short burst of CO2 to minimize oxidation. The other change is that after I seal up the keg, I don't just purge once, but 4-5 times.

I just kegged my first beer, so I might as well reply like the authority that I am

I pretty much did all the steps above, except at number 4, it seems like you are first waiting for your beer to cool before applying the correct pressure. I just attached the CO2 right after racking over (the beer was at ~68F) and set it for the 11 psi I needed and then put it in the fridge. I figured that the CO2 isn't going to absorb as quickly since it's warmer, but will when it cools down.

I just took a sample after 5 days in the keg and the carbonation seemed good. Beer was a little green, so hopefully that improves.

I might as well ask my question here. When I kegged my beer, I went ahead and rinsed the lines (brand new) with Oxyclean solution, water and then star san solution. Stupidly, after kegging the beer, I didn't hook up the beer line to the keg and just left it hanging in there. So when I went to attach it yesterday, I had to run star san through again.

So I assume for the next keg, if I clean it and run star san through and just hook it up to the keg, I can leave it attached and then assume it's clean and sanitized when I do want to pour a pint, correct?


Also, while I'm asking, do you need caps for the end of the taps? I might go days or up to a week between pouring beer sometimes.

WIBrewer83 said:

Also, get a water bottle and fill with soapy water. Once you seal the keg, spray the lid and posts. Look for any leaks as these will empty your CO2 bottle quickly.

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StarSan works good too. You don't have to rinse it off and it doesn't taste like soap

angrylu said:

I would have to dissagree on the serving at the same psi as carbing. Once the beer is fully carbed, you can adjust your serving psi to whatever pours best. I usually serve my beer between 8 and 10 psi. Your not gonna carb a saison at 18psi and serve it at 18 psi. Right?

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I am doing exactly that. 18 psi saison through 12 ft of 3/16 line. Pours perfect

day_trippr said:

Carb pressure and dispensing pressure are the same on a properly tuned dispensing system. Even with an effervescent heffe...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

^^^this^^^
3 regulators, 4 taps, 2 10ft lines, 1 12ft and 1 20 ft.

Knowing what I know now, it boggles my mind to see how many bars struggle with balancing their lines.

KevinP said:

I am doing exactly that. 18 psi saison through 12 ft of 3/16 line. Pours perfect




^^^this^^^
3 regulators, 4 taps, 2 10ft lines, 1 12ft and 1 20 ft.

Knowing what I know now, it boggles my mind to see how many bars struggle with balancing their lines.

Click to expand...

That answers my question :fro:

KevinP said:

Knowing what I know now, it boggles my mind to see how many bars struggle with balancing their lines.

Click to expand...

Ha, saw that first hand the other night. They kept pouring pitcher after pitcher of foam, and pouring down the drain. Sad really.

acidrain said:

Ha, saw that first hand the other night. They kept pouring pitcher after pitcher of foam, and pouring down the drain. Sad really.

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And if you sitting at the bar watching and drinking... Your paying for that beer they are pouring out.

mtnagel said:

I might as well ask my question here. When I kegged my beer, I went ahead and rinsed the lines (brand new) with Oxyclean solution, water and then star san solution. Stupidly, after kegging the beer, I didn't hook up the beer line to the keg and just left it hanging in there. So when I went to attach it yesterday, I had to run star san through again.

So I assume for the next keg, if I clean it and run star san through and just hook it up to the keg, I can leave it attached and then assume it's clean and sanitized when I do want to pour a pint, correct?


Also, while I'm asking, do you need caps for the end of the taps? I might go days or up to a week between pouring beer sometimes.

Click to expand...

I went ahead and soaked my lines,taps, and shanks in PBW first, then rinsed them with water. When my keg was full of star san solution, I hooked it up to my beer and gas lines and ran the star san solution through the beer lines and out the taps. I figure that's about as sanitized as the lines/taps/shanks are going to get. As far as putting caps on your taps, I would just spray some star san solution on the inside of the faucet after you've poured your last pint. Not sure if you have perlick faucets or standard faucets but you may want to look into getting perlicks if you find your faucet getting stuck each time you go to pour since that often seems to be the case when standard faucets are not put to use often whereas the perlicks won't get stuck.

Thanks I do have the perlicks and so far so good. Only poured off a few pours so far though.

I like the idea of spraying the end of the tap with sanitizer.