Keg / Conditioning

Hello,

I'm sure this has already been covered, and I am sorry, I could not find it though...

I am going to do my first kegging. I was wondering... With bottling, conditioning is used for carbonation and developing a better tasting beer. My brew has fermented in the primary for 1 week and 2 weeks in the secondary. Once kegged, should it be stored at fermentation temperature for a while before being chilled in my kegerator and force carbonated?

Thanks!

billism said:

Once kegged, should it be stored at fermentation temperature for a while before being chilled in my kegerator and force carbonated?

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There is no need to keep it at fermentation temp in the keg if you force carbonate. Some brewers don't even keep the secondary at fermentation temp.

Kai

Actually you can force carbonate the beer quicker if you chill down the beer before you keg it. I put the carboy in the fridge for a couple days. The colder the beer is the more it will absorb CO2. You can then rack it into the corny and pressurize to about 10 pounds. It will take 4 or 5 days to fully carbonate.

To answer the other part, wait as long to tap the keg as you would for a bottle. Let it sit for 2-3 weeks and then put it on pressure for 4 days.

RichBrewer said:

Actually you can force carbonate the beer quicker if you chill down the beer before you keg it. I put the carboy in the fridge for a couple days. The colder the beer is the more it will absorb CO2. You can then rack it into the corny and pressurize to about 10 pounds. It will take 4 or 5 days to fully carbonate.

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It's not that colder solution will absorb more CO2 - it will absorb the same amount as a warm solution - it's how FAST it will reach that equilibrium. CO2 will dissolve faster in a colder solution than a warmer one.

bikebryan said:

It's not that colder solution will absorb more CO2 - it will absorb the same amount as a warm solution - it's how FAST it will reach that equilibrium. CO2 will dissolve faster in a colder solution than a warmer one.

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It's actually a matter of pressure and beer temperature. And it is pretty easy to overcarbonate beer if it is to cold and the pressure is to high. At the same pressure CO2 will dissovle faster at lower temp since it is farther away from the equilibrium. But once that is reached there might be to much CO2 in the beer.

Kai

Kaiser said:

It's actually a matter of pressure and beer temperature. And it is pretty easy to overcarbonate beer if it is to cold and the pressure is to high. At the same pressure CO2 will dissovle faster at lower temp since it is farther away from the equilibrium. But once that is reached there might be to much CO2 in the beer.

Kai

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Yea, you're right. I was just trying to keep it simple.

Regardless, chilling beer won't allow it to absorb any more CO2 than if it was at a higher temperature, if the pressures were the same. It would just absorb the CO2 and reach equilibrium faster if it was colder.

Kaiser said:

It's actually a matter of pressure and beer temperature. And it is pretty easy to overcarbonate beer if it is to cold and the pressure is to high. At the same pressure CO2 will dissovle faster at lower temp since it is farther away from the equilibrium. But once that is reached there might be to much CO2 in the beer.

Kai

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You are correct but there are charts available that will tell you what pressure to set your regulator for the temperature of your keg. I keep mine at 38 degrees and I carbonate at 10 pounds. So far so good. I don't think my beer is over carbonated. If I can find one of the charts I will post it for you.

Here is a link to one of the charts I was talking about. Fairly easy to figure out.

http://www.ebrew.com/primarynews/ct_carbonation_chart.htm

bikebryan said:

Regardless, chilling beer won't allow it to absorb any more CO2 than if it was at a higher temperature, if the pressures were the same. It would just absorb the CO2 and reach equilibrium faster if it was colder.

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The cooler the beer, the more CO2 it can absorb at the same CO2 ambient pressure.

The over carbonation that I was referring to, comes from increasing the pressure above the pressure necessary for equilibrium at the desired CO2 content and temp of the beer. This is an effective way of getting CO2 into the beer fast because it's current CO2 content is so far away from the CO2 content that you can get at the set pressure. But it is difficult to measure when to stop and set the pressure back to the pressure needed for the desired CO2 level.

I did this once and had to bleed the keg for 2 days to get back to 5g/L CO2.

Kai

david_42 said:

To answer the other part, wait as long to tap the keg as you would for a bottle. Let it sit for 2-3 weeks and then put it on pressure for 4 days.

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Thanks for the that answer. While waiting the 2 to 3 weeks in the keg (untapped), should it be in the kegerator at fridge temp or at fermentation temp?

Basically, I am thjinking tht aging it will help improve the beer.

billism said:

Thanks for the that answer. While waiting the 2 to 3 weeks in the keg (untapped), should it be in the kegerator at fridge temp or at fermentation temp?

Basically, I am thjinking tht aging it will help improve the beer.

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it should be at fridge/kegerator temp since your pressure is set for that temp and the desired CO2 level. It will also help the beer itself.

Kai

Kaiser said:

it should be at fridge/kegerator temp since your pressure is set for that temp and the desired CO2 level. It will also help the beer itself.

Kai

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So, put it in the fridge/kegerator and hook up CO2 pressure the same day I rack it from the 2ndary fermenter?

Sorry to ask again, but the answers seemed a little vague. =)

Thanks much!

- Bill

You can either rack then refridgerate or stick the carboy in the fridge for a few days first. Sticking the carboy in the fridge before racking with help settle out any yeast, etc. that is still in suspension, thus not in your keg.

billism said:

So, put it in the fridge/kegerator and hook up CO2 pressure the same day I rack it from the 2ndary fermenter?

Sorry to ask again, but the answers seemed a little vague. =)

Thanks much!

- Bill

Click to expand...

Best bet is to put the keg into the fridge a day prior so it can chill down; the CO2 will aborb better from the start that way, saving maybe a day on your carbonation time.