First time kegging, couple questions

Galactik · 09-20-2011, 09:21 PM

I just received my kegs and eqipment in the mail and I am going to be attempting to set it up tonight, as my Pumpkin ale is ready to come out of the secondary. I am going to be installing 1 corney keg with co2 tank in a mini bar fridge, with a tower on top. I am going to try force carbing the kegs.

I have a couple questions:

Do I need to chill the beer and kegs before I force carb, or can I do this after I have carbed the beer?

How do I determine what the pressure I need to set to to force carb?

After force carbing, what pressure do I leave my system at to pour beer?

And once this pressure is set, can I leave it at that pressure daily or do i need to close the co2 bottle nightly?

Thank you for any advice/answers you guys can provide.

trevor_b · 09-20-2011, 09:38 PM

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/keg-force-carbing-methods-illustrated-73328/

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

Force carbing is simply carbing your beer with C02, are you referring to burst carbing?

Edit- and the warmer the beer is the more CO2 it will take to carbonate to right amount of volumes.

Galactik · 09-21-2011, 04:29 AM

So I installed my tower, and transfered the beer to the keg, purged it 4 times and then pressurised to 10psi to let chill overnight.

Tomorrow I will check the temperature and determine the correct psi to pressurize to to force carbonate.

Ok, so once I set the psi and shake it for x number of min, do I need to leave it set to that psi all the time in the fridge? Do I disconnect it? Do I just turn the psi down to 10 for serving and leave it at that until I run out of beer?

day_trippr · 09-21-2011, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galactik

[...]Ok, so once I set the psi and shake it for x number of min, do I need to leave it set to that psi all the time in the fridge? Do I disconnect it? Do I just turn the psi down to 10 for serving and leave it at that until I run out of beer?

Once you've calculated the appropriate CO2 pressure for your chosen serving temperature and level of carbonation, set the regulator, hook up the keg, and leave it connected until the last drop has been enjoyed...

Cheers!

ozzy1038 · 09-21-2011, 11:38 AM

CO2 goes in easier and faster when chilled. That being said, most beers other than hefes, and stouts are carbed at 10-12psi and served at 10-12psi. I would just throw it in the kegerator, put it on the gas at 10-12 and let it sit until carbed. Serve at the same pressure. For me the hardest part was balancing the system. I think I have that pretty well figured out now. Welcome to the wonderful world of kegging!

I am an impatient person, but brewing and winemaking have taught me patience. We all know that beer needs to condition/age before it is at it's best. That has led me to steer away from "quick" methods like burst carbing. Sure, it'll be carbed quicker, but it will still need to condition some. Although, I will say it is nice to taste along the way to see the improvements. I have a kolsch that at kegging tasted like boiled veggies from some DMS I am assuming. A month later it is tasting quite good!

Galactik · 09-21-2011, 04:27 PM

I am not in a rush at all, I still have many bottles that need to be consumed before they expire (had to sacrifice my bar fridge to become a kegerator). So I put the keg in the fridge last night to chill as was not hooked up to anything.

I was going to try to force carb it tonight to drink tonight, but I think I will take your approach and set it to 10-12 psi and leave it for a week or 2.

Since I only have room for 1 keg at a time, and I have 2 kegs, I may just try to prime my next batch in the keg and then it will be ready to put in the fridge and go.

Galactik · 09-21-2011, 06:14 PM

Since I am going to be waiting 1-2 weeks for it to carb slowly, would I be able to pull the keg out of the fridge, let it warm up and then prim it for 1-2 weeks?

day_trippr · 09-21-2011, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galactik

Since I am going to be waiting 1-2 weeks for it to carb slowly, would I be able to pull the keg out of the fridge, let it warm up and then prim it for 1-2 weeks?

Sure. You'd end up with "naturally" carbed beer in the keg, then after chilling to serving temperature and drawing off a couple of yeasty pints, end up with drinkable beer...

Cheers!