Kegging help please

Every brew i pour is just head!!, i carbonate at 4 degrees c @30psi,
after a day or so, turn it down to 2 or 3 psi, and its all head...

Also how long should i let finning sit, they come out as little clear floaties :cross:

First, force carbonation is determined by pressure and temperature. Putting 30 pounds on a keg at 4 degrees is going to give you 4.2 volumes of CO2.

That's way, way too much.

Do you have at temp / pressure carbonation chart? Or a beer style carbonation guideline?

You need both.

They can be found online just do a google search.

Here's a handy calculator to help you determine how much pressure to put on a keg at a specific temperature to achieve a specified carbonation level.

http://www.indata.com/collectionsoft/mybrewcollection/fc0.html

Great link, thanks.

Sorry to go off topic but can some one explain the "real" in this context?

http://www.indata.com/collectionsoft/mybrewcollection/ac0.html

Sorry Ofry, but I'm at a loss too.

Scroll down to where this page talks about attenuation:


http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache...library/yeast-faq.html+Real+attenuation&hl=en




There is a difference between real and apparent because alcohol has a specific gravity less than 1 (about 0.8). Real is real and apparent is apparent. That explains the attenuation part of it. I suppose it is the same type of thing when comparing OG to FG.

I once had a the same problem even when following the guidlines of the charts. My problem was the the diameter of the line from the kep to the tap was to big. Talking with the guy at my LHBS, he stated that I should use smaller diameter hosing and increase the length. I cannot remember what diamter I went to or length but my foam problems were solved.

Cool! Plugged in my last batch of cider 1.059 & 0.995 109%! Very good yeasties.

I suspect all of that CO2 is stirring up the finings. I use 27 psi for my soda water, but only 5 psi for the ale. I'd recommend venting the keg a couple times. If you go too low, you can recarbonate with less pressure.

anthrobe said:

I once had a the same problem even when following the guidlines of the charts. My problem was the the diameter of the line from the kep to the tap was to big. Talking with the guy at my LHBS, he stated that I should use smaller diameter hosing and increase the length. I cannot remember what diamter I went to or length but my foam problems were solved.

Click to expand...

Well, you can use larger diameter tubing, you just need to match the correct length of run based on the PSI resistance rating on the tubing. All beverage tubing has a rating for this - my tubing provides about 1.5 to 2 psi resistance per linear foot. If I'm running my keg as 12psi, then I need about 5.5 to 6 feet of tubing to balance the pressure and not get glasses of foam.

At a specific tempurature, of course.

mr vitamin beer said:

Every brew i pour is just head!!, i carbonate at 4 degrees c @30psi,
after a day or so, turn it down to 2 or 3 psi, and its all head...

Also how long should i let finning sit, they come out as little clear floaties :cross:

Click to expand...

This is a common beginners error. The only reason to 'supercharge' the pressure in your keg is to get the beer to carbonate faster (not better). The error is leaving the pressure at a high setting for too long, giving you nothing but foamy beer. You then have to bleed off all the excess carbonation, hoping that you don't overshoot and have flat beer. If you constantly bleed to 3 or 4 psi to serve, then bump back up to 30, you'll always have fizzy beer, and will soon run out of gas to boot.

I do things the simple way- I fill my keg with beer to the bottom of the gas 'in' line, close the keg and pressurise to 40 psi to ensure the lid is sealed and leak free. I then immediately bleed off the excess pressure (to vent the oxygen) and leave my keg at final serving pressure which on my system is between 7 to 12 psi depending on which tap and what style.

It takes a about a week to carbonate at these pressures, but it also takes a week for the beer to clear properly anyway. What's the big rush? :cross:

Are you guys carbonating solely with CO2 or are you priming as well?

If so whats the advantage over priming?

I have yet to prime a keg, but I am thinking about it

orfy said:

Are you guys carbonating solely with CO2 or are you priming as well?

If so whats the advantage over priming?

Click to expand...

This is another kegging practice that I just don't understand. Carbonating with priming sugar or with CO2 gives the same end result, except that it costs more to do it with sugar.

Why bother?

Mikey said:

This is another kegging practice that I just don't understand. Carbonating with priming sugar or with CO2 gives the same end result, except that it costs more to do it with sugar.

Why bother?

Click to expand...

It also produces additional sediment. What's the point of that? I got into kegging to avoid that extra sediment.

I've only primed in the keg once and that was to provide a comparison to an identical batch of ale (other than the yeast) that was being bottled. 1/2 cup of corn sugar & Foam City!

Good though.

I primed my ordinary bitter in the keg. I added DME for 1.6 volumes of CO2 and pressureized my keg at 10 lbs and disconnected the gas. I let it sit at room temp for 10 days with a pressure guage attached. Each day for the first 5 days, I had to repressureize to 10 lbs as the co2 was being absorbed. After 5 days, the pressure didn't drop any more and continued to climb slowly.

When it rose to 16 lbs at 68 degrees F, I put it in the fridge. I'm dispensing with only 3 lbs of pressure at 42 degrees from the fridge.

There's a nice 2" creamy head but it pours a very nice pint if I do say so myself even if it is too cold. My brothers and cousins were rather impressed at Thanksgiving. I would draw 2 pint at a time for each and show them the difference in flavor between the first and second pint after the second had been allowed to warm.