Kegging for the first time questions

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Donutz

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I am getting ready to keg my brew for the first time. I have ALWAYS bottled before. So, once I put it in the keg, do I just put the top on it, hook it up to the kegerator and apply the CO2 to it and hold the tap handle until the beer starts to come out and then let it sit that way for a couple of days? I read somewhere that you should start it out at 10 PSI then drop it off and then bring it back up to approx 2 PSI for serving... does this sound correct? Any and all help in regards to kegging and carbonating would be great!
 
You're going to need to carbonate your beer, which will take anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on how you do it. Search "quick carbonation" or look at this link - https://byo.com/stories/item/2147-quick-carbonation-mr-wizard.

Just hooking it up and applying CO2 will result in a glass of flat beer pushed through your tap handle. It would be like bottling at 10, sticking it in the freezer and opening the beer at 10:30 - cold and flat.

I serve at my carbonation pressure. You should search for info on beer line sizing, too. That will help you determine how to set up your tap(s).

Best of Luck!
 
Excellent!!! Thank you for those posts!!! I think I'll be setting my regulator at approx 13-14 psi and letting it chill for a couple of weeks. My only question is, how do you know what the carbonation level is after a week, two weeks, and three weeks? Is there some way to test it?
 
Excellent!!! Thank you for those posts!!! I think I'll be setting my regulator at approx 13-14 psi and letting it chill for a couple of weeks. My only question is, how do you know what the carbonation level is after a week, two weeks, and three weeks? Is there some way to test it?

There are spunding valves to test the pressure, but if you have a regulator you will know the pressure anyway!

It takes about 10 days to fully carb up, generally. It will be the same at day 14 as day 25 as day 60, if you keep the pressure the same and don't jack it up and down.

For my kegerator, it's at 40 degrees and 12 psi is perfect for me. Here is a carbonation chart, so you know where you want to be: http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

One thing that seems to be a common trouble for new keggers is that they buy very short serving lines instead of a preferable longer line. That's why you may have read to turn it down to 2 psi to serve- to help prevent foaming when pouring. However, if you put on 12' lines, instead of short 5' lines, you won't have any issues and you won't have to mess around with the pressures all of the time or deal with undercarbed or overcarbed beer.
 
One thing that seems to be a common trouble for new keggers is that they buy very short serving lines instead of a preferable longer line. That's why you may have read to turn it down to 2 psi to serve- to help prevent foaming when pouring. However, if you put on 12' lines, instead of short 5' lines, you won't have any issues and you won't have to mess around with the pressures all of the time or deal with undercarbed or overcarbed beer.

Follow this ^^^^^ advice. It's unfortunate that many pre-built setups (like mine) come with 5ft beer lines. I was going to upgrade to 10ft to have a more balanced system. Yooper suggested 12ft of 3/16" line. I'm glad that I listened to her. ;)
 
+1 to all above ^^^

I also started with short lines, had lots of foam, and thanks to advice from the folks above switched to 12' lines. Enjoying a perfectly drawn glass of IPA as I write this. :)

You can carb in the keg with priming sugar, you can just add co2 and it will be ready to serve at about 10 days, or you can force carb and it will be ready much sooner. The most predictable method, from my understanding, is to set the keg to serving pressure (10-14 psi) and forget it. In a week or so it will be ready to serve. The last method has worked well for me.

Cheers! :mug:
 
You have 12 foot lines??? Good lord that is a lot of line... but if you state that it works, then it must work!!!
 
I was on a mission today to buy 12' of line... but both shops that I went to today were closed. Kinda weird. The last and third shop, I knew they didn't open until 5pm and I had to be at work by 2pm... so it will have to wait for the weeekend :(
 
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