First Keg

I'm sure this has been addressed multiple times on this forum, but I have a time constraint having to post while at work.

I'm planning on transferring from the secondary to the keg tonight and hooking it right up to the CO2 for carbonation. A couple of questions.

1) What pressure should I use to carbonate?

2) What temp should I have the fridge set at while carbonating and serving? (The beer is a classic English Bitters.)

3) What things should I know before transferring the beer that those who have done this before learned along the way? Something that made you say, "I wish I knew that the first time I did this since it would have made life much easier."

Any and all help is appreciated and no point is too obvious as I tend to like too much info than not enough. Thanks.

MilwaukeeHomeBrewer said:

I'm sure this has been addressed multiple times on this forum, but I have a time constraint having to post while at work.

I'm planning on transferring from the secondary to the keg tonight and hooking it right up to the CO2 for carbonation. A couple of questions.

1) What pressure should I use to carbonate?

2) What temp should I have the fridge set at while carbonating and serving? (The beer is a classic English Bitters.)

3) What things should I know before transferring the beer that those who have done this before learned along the way? Something that made you say, "I wish I knew that the first time I did this since it would have made life much easier."

Click to expand...

1) English Bitters are normally 0.75 to 1.75 volumes. See this chart for preasure info.
2) The chart will show the temp to carbonate at. Serving temp for an English ale should be around 54-56°F.
3) Fill the keg with CO2 and bleed off O2 prior to kegging.

Good luck,
Wild

Start with around 10psi. and go from there.

Thanks for the replies, fellas. The chart is very helpful and great info. This site is a great resource. Thanks again.

wild said:

1) English Bitters are normally 0.75 to 1.75 volumes. See this chart for preasure info.

Click to expand...

I've never been one to shy away from asking a question for fear that it may make me sound stupid because that's usually a forgone conclusion, but what is the volumes of a beer and how do you determine it and what does it have to do with the actual beer itself?

Just because Ales are traditionally served with much less carbonation than Lagers.

My favorite calculator. Perfect for detail freaks.

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/carbonation.html

Seems the general consensus I've found regarding storage temps is somewhere between 45-50 degrees for most ales. Serving temps in the low to mid 50s work for most ales, although some prefer wheat beers around 40. I used to keep my fridge at 38. Then someone in the UK suggested bumping it up so that I could experience more of the true flavor and he was right. Now I have it around 46 and let the beer warm up in the glass for about 10 minutes. Way better than ice cold.

MilwaukeeHomeBrewer said:

I've never been one to shy away from asking a question for fear that it may make me sound stupid because that's usually a forgone conclusion, but what is the volumes of a beer and how do you determine it and what does it have to do with the actual beer itself?

Click to expand...

I think the best way to explain it would be to point you to this article. It does a better job than I possibly could.

Wild

wild said:

I think the best way to explain it would be to point you to this article. It does a better job than I possibly could.

Wild

Click to expand...

Both of the last 2 links were very helpful. Thanks everyone. I just racked the beer into the keg last night and have it set at 11 psi at approx 45 degrees. We'll see how it turns out in about a week. Thanks again for the help.