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briggssteel · 08-09-2012, 12:04 PM

I have a fridge with a temp controller that I use to ferment beer in. When I control the fermentation temperature I just stick the probe to the side of the bucket and cover it with bubble wrap and this gives me the exact temperature of fermentation. Now I have my keg in there and I want it at a specific PSI so I have it set to 35 at 7 PSI to get 2.2 volumes. Do I need to stick my probe to the side of the keg for the beer to accurately be 35 inside or is it different with a keg?

briggssteel · 08-09-2012, 12:06 PM

Want a specific volume*

tnlandsailor · 08-09-2012, 12:11 PM

It's pretty safe to say that post fermented beer in the keg is whatever the air temperature is inside the fridge after everything comes to equilibrium. In other words, there isn't anything going on inside the keg to drive up the temperature such as an exothermic reaction like fermentation.

briggssteel · 08-09-2012, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnlandsailor

It's pretty safe to say that post fermented beer in the keg is whatever the air temperature is inside the fridge after everything comes to equilibrium. In other words, there isn't anything going on inside the keg to drive up the temperature such as an exothermic reaction like fermentation.

That makes a lot of sense. Now here's me being me and thinking of the worst card scenario for everything. I did have it stuck to the side covered from ambient air over night and the outside of the keg was reading 40. Do you think the liquid inside is any cooler than the outside shell cold enough to freeze the beer? I wouldn't think but just making sure. New to this kegging thing

tnlandsailor · 08-09-2012, 01:30 PM

Remove the probe from the side of the keg and let it sit in the air for a while and read the air temp. I'll bet it will still read very close to 40 F. Whatever the air temp is inside the fridge, that will be (or very close to) to the temperature of your keg and the beer inside it. Also realize that temperature probes can be inaccurate. The thermocouple on my HERMS consistently reads 3 degrees low (as checked with a calibration mercury thermometer).

Unless your refrigerator has a problem or is very old, it is very unlikely that it will get cold enough to freeze your beer. I had a fridge do that once, but it was from the early 60's and the thermostat went bad and it ran constantly which froze everything inside. I've also seen older fridges have a cold spot in them toward the back where the coils are that would freeze things that were set near them. If your fridge is newer than 10 years old, I'd say you are pretty safe.

If you are new to kegging, I would recommend reading through this kegging article:

http://handsonbrewing.com/brewers-reference/process/kegging/