Newest Threads

**the_bird** · 07-22-2008, 07:26 PM

If you're just hitting it with gas for fifteen seconds, yeah, you're not carbing the beer by any appreciable amount. The gas has got to stay hooked up for the gas to get absorbed. Any carbonation that you DID have when you first tapped it was probably mostly left over from fermentation.

If you're going to put the kegs in storage for a while after kegging but before serving, why not prime in the keg? Use a little corn sugar and save on a little CO2.

brown_dog_us · 07-22-2008, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chriso

Can you clarify a little on this point? Currently my procedure is to keg my beer after a 3-week primary. I seal the lid, then I consult Beersmith to see what PSI I should apply to carbonate at room temp, usually 65-70F. I set my reg to that pressure, apply the CO2 for about 15 seconds (until I can't hear the regulator groaning any more), remove the QD, and put into storage.

Am I essentially just sealing the lid, and not accomplishing carb? The last one I tapped after doing it this way was pretty nearly flat, and had to carb-over-time in the kegerator. After about 3 days it was acceptable, and very nicely carbed after a week.

Chriso,

I often keg my beer and then set it a side waiting for a spot in my beer fridge. I like to use 30 psi and a little shaking then I let it sit. When I'm ready to serve it, I put it in the fridge and hook up the lines with my normal pressure. In the time it takes for the keg to cool (24hrs) the beer is generally carbonated corrrectly or real close. I'm basically using the force carbonation method to get it close, but still low and then finishing the carbonation in the fridge.

I hope this helps,

Doug

**Chriso** · 07-22-2008, 08:11 PM

I did for my first handful of kegs, and just ran out of dextrose for a couple weeks. Got more now.

Isn't 30 PSI still 30 PSI though, as far as the burst carbing method is concerned? Or are you implying to attach it to a constant 30PSI while warm, e.g. dedicate the tank to that keg until carbed? I guess the Correct Burst Carb line in the graph confused me, or gave me the wrong idea. Sorry to show my noobness, I'm still learning the kegging ropes.

brown_dog_us · 07-22-2008, 09:26 PM

If you put your keg under 10 psi it will slowly draw more co2 from your tank into the keg. Eventually (a week or two) the beer will absorb all of the co2 it can at 10 psi. If you keep it at 30 psi and it absorbs all the co2 it can absorb you will have a way over carbed beer. You can force carbonate by "forcing" more co2 into the beer. This can be done by 30 psi for a couple days and hoping you back off to your normal pressure before you over carbonate or by using 30 psi and shaking the keg until the you don't hear the regulator making any noise. Bobby was talking about the first method. I like to do an abreviated version of the shake method when I don't have room in the beer fridge.

Doug

**BierMuncher** · 07-22-2008, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chriso

...Or are you implying to attach it to a constant 30PSI while warm, e.g. dedicate the tank to that keg until carbed?...

I haven't read many success stories for carbing kegs with CO2 at room temperature. Liquid absorbs CO2 much more readily at colder (basically serving) temps.

All my kegs age now for at least 2 weeks at room temp...following a three week stay in the fermenter/secondary. Then it's into the chiller and onto the gas at 30PSI for 48 hours. Kill gas. Bleed. Drop PSI to 10 and serve. (I'll drop that to 36 hours if the keg is already cold when I hook it up.

The warmer conditioning time is also important for another reason (spoken from experience):
Rushing from the fermenter to the cold keg will suspend yeast activity...not kill it...just suspend it. The beer may taste perfect while it's on tap and this isn't an issue if you're going to kill the keg. But if you decide to BMBF some of your beer into bottles to save for a later date...storing those bottles at room temp will re-awaken the yeast and they will convert the small amounts of residual sugars into CO2.

I'm still pulling bottles off the shelf that were perfect in the keg...that are now over carbonated. If you have any inclination to bottle off some beers from your keg...either age that beer warmer...longer, or plan to refrigerate those bottles immediately.

**Bobby_M** · 07-23-2008, 12:08 AM

I'm not sure if there's some magic math that can be done to figure out exactly how much of an initial pressure shot it would take at room temp to have a beer fully carbed without any additional constant gas. I've tried playing with the numbers but it made my head hurt so I gave up. If I understand it properly, you have to compare the headspace volume to the entire keg volume to know how the pressure will drop.

10psi? Heck no. That's 10psi in a headspace 1/10th the size of the whole keg. Once it absorbs into the beer, you get like 1 psi equilibrium which is .75 volumes. Let's try 40psi. 1/10th is 4 psi so room temp would be .9 volumes.... Hey, if it's a bitter, you might be close now.

If you're shooting for 2 volumes, it would take 20 psi equilibrium at room temp, which is about 200 psi in a 1/10th headspace.

Athough it doesn't get me all the way there, I still hit my kegs with 40psi before I tuck them into the basement for a short warm aging period (If I have enough supply flowing already of course). I'd rather start with .9 volumes when it hits the kegerator than 0 volumes.

**Chriso** · 07-23-2008, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby_M

Athough it doesn't get me all the way there, I still hit my kegs with 40psi before I tuck them into the basement for a short warm aging period (If I have enough supply flowing already of course). I'd rather start with .9 volumes when it hits the kegerator than 0 volumes.

There! It makes sense now. Thanks so much for clarifying! I'm with it now... Seal and minimally carb, then chill and carb over a couple days before serving. That 3rd CO2 fitting in the kegerator is gonna own it's worth now

.

Thanks!!!!

korndog · 07-23-2008, 03:04 PM

kegging and carbing is a dance for sure. I came in .2 lower than planned on a couple of contest entries recently because i hadn't planned enough time using sit and forget method. I have had better luck blasting. Great chart and information. My dream setup now is to have separate regulators for all of my taps. I got one of these recently, which is a fairly useful item for some folks.

**Chriso** · 10-21-2008, 09:50 PM

Shameless bump, just because I had to dig and dig to find this thread, since I couldn't remember the name. Cheers!

(Should it be a sticky?)

**Bobby_M** · 10-22-2008, 02:27 AM

I'm not convinced this thread specifically should be a sticky but maybe linked to in a general kegging info sticky.