Am I going to over carb?

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Mario_B

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So this is my first time kegging. I used this chart. I'm just finishing up my kegerator so I'm carbing this up at room temp ~65F. So I hopes of not over carbing, I set my regulator to 21psi. It's been 3 days now. How long would you guys recommend leaving it to carb up? And once I'm ready to chill it, should I just put it and serving pressure? Also, the keg is now significantly heavier than before. I was expecting this a little bit with the co2 dissolving, but it's way heavier. Should I be worried? Can someone put my mind at ease?
 
Give me a sec, I'm still laughing about the keg getting heavier :D

Whew....Ok, let's see...The end game is to have the carbonation pressure match up with the temperature you'll be serving the beer and the desired carbonation level - AND have the serving pressure match that carbonation pressure.

You can certainly carb the beer at 65°F, and there's no harm in setting your regulator so the carbonation level matches the style and/or personal preference. For a typical ~2.5 volumes, you'd want to bump the pressure up to the ~28 psi shown in the chart.

Then, once you drop the temperature down to - say - 40°F, you'd also drop the CO2 pressure down to ~12 psi, which will maintain that 2.5 volumes of CO2 throughout the life of the keg. The key here is your serving system has to be able to handle a 2.5 volume brew without excessive gas breakout which would lead to foamy pours.

It's usually that last part that bites new keggers, as they almost always start with beer lines that are too short. A good start at avoiding such issues is to use 10' of 3/16" ID beer line between keg and faucet...

Cheers!

ps: If you can actually detect the weight of a few cubic feet of CO2, you are one amazing person ;)
 
Thanks for the help. That actually helps quite a bit. So would 4 or 5 days of carbing be enough? Then chill, adjust pressure and serve?

About the heavier keg, I dunno man, maybe it's just me, but I swear its way heavier!!! Haha maybe I'll weigh before and after next time to see how crazy I am :)
 
If you bump your pressure up to the 28 PSI that he suggested, you probably need to leave it for 1-2 weeks to get it properly carbed up. 4-5 days at 21 psi will most likely be undercarbed.
 
^ What zachattack said. Also, you want to drop the pressure to 12psi on your regulator right before chilling
 
Sounds good. I'll bump up the pressure tonight. I expect to start chilling tomorrow night so I'll readjust then. Thanks for the help. Also, I have a 5' serving line already cut and hooked up. I do have a 10' line as well. Will I see a big difference between the two lengths? Should I hook up the 10'?
 
I would hook up the 10. The only disadvantage of a longer line is a slightly slower pour, I'll take that over a fast foamy pour any day. Good luck, let us know how it comes out!
 
So I ended up using the 5' lines. Put it at 10psi serving pressure. Worked perfect. Totally carbed up and perfect pours. Thanks guys!
 
By the way, turns out the keg is NOT noticeably heavier after kegging. Just me being lame, or one too many home brews :)
 
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