First time kegging carbonation questions

I kegged my first batch on Saturday. I'm going to be carbing at room temp(66-70F) since the only fridge I have I use as my fermentation chamber. I'm going for 2.5 vols CO2 and after checking a carb chart I figured that my pressure should be around 29psi. How long should I leave it at this high pressure? I'm not in any real hurry to tap this keg so I've got time. I know that ideally I would carb in my serving fridge but my wife expressed her desire for a new couch over a new kegerator. I guess my question is does anyone carb at room temp and what is your procedure? Thanks y'all!!

Gasses are more readily soluble in liquids at cold temperatures, the opposite of solids in liquids. You will get a quicker carbonation if its cold but since you're in no rush...

This is a handly little calculator. You just select your beer type, and put in the temperature, and it will tell you what PSI you need to set it at to achieve Ideal carbonation.

TastyBrew.com | Homebrewing Calculators | Kegging Carbonation Calculator

and yeah 29psi is pretty close according to the calculator

let it sit at serving preasure for a week and it should be good or you can preasureize it and shake the hell out of it to get the co2 disolved. I usually let it sit however....never tried the other way

natelatte said:

This is a handly little calculator. You just select your beer type, and put in the temperature, and it will tell you what PSI you need to set it at to achieve Ideal carbonation.

TastyBrew.com | Homebrewing Calculators | Kegging Carbonation Calculator

and yeah 29psi is pretty close according to the calculator

Click to expand...

Iknow.

I just had to chime in here and say this is a great tool

As far as carbing at room temp I never have sorry

Ridge Runner said:

I kegged my first batch on Saturday. I'm going to be carbing at room temp(66-70F) since the only fridge I have I use as my fermentation chamber. I'm going for 2.5 vols CO2 and after checking a carb chart I figured that my pressure should be around 29psi. How long should I leave it at this high pressure?

Click to expand...

Since Room temp beer absorbs CO2 slower than cold beer. I'd give it a good 2 weeks at 29 PSI. If your keg has no leaks, you can disconnect for some time and at the same temp, you will still have 29PSI in your keg. But just to be safe, maybe, every week, set the regulator at 29psi and pop the gas diconnect back on, and listen to see if you have any gas going into the tank. If all is quiet, then you know it has kept it's pressure. At this time you can also just let a little CO2 out from the pressure relief valve and you should hear CO2 going back in to replace the CO2 you let out. Then you know that you are at exactly the right pressure.

Once you are ready to put it in your fridge, let it cool down for at least a day. So if you conditioned your beer at 70 Degs at 29PSI, once your beer has dropped down to around 38-40 degs, it should show a pressure of about 11 - 12 PSI. But to be safe, let some CO2 out b4 you connect your gas line, and all should be ready.

dp

If I am going to store a beer in the keg, should I go ahead and pressure it up then set it aside or let it sit un-carbonated and just carbonate it when i'm getting ready to drink it. (speaking of foce carbonating of course)

for example.. a holiday ale that is suggested to sit for 6 months prior to consumption.

my thinking here is i am building (almost done) a 6 keg fridge. but if i have some other stuff that is on standby that is just sitting does it need to be carbonated while it sits. if so i need to buy another regulator so that i can have my 6 on the inside, and then one on the outside.

Everybody has their own way of doing this, but here is mine:

I have a small 2 keg keggorator with 2 taps in my dinning room on main floor set to 39 degs. It contains a 5lb CO2 tank with dual regulator setup. One is at 17 PSI for a Weiss bier, other at 9 PSI for Smoked Ale. (At the moment)

In my basement, I have a cold room. Temp varies from 68 Degs in Summer to 36 - 40 Degs in winter. I have a 20lb CO2 tank with single Regulator and a 3 way manifold. I printed a Carb chart and stuck it on the wall above my CO2 Tank. Once I have kegged a beer (A double batch fills 2 and a half kegs), bring the 3 kegs in cold room and set the regulator to desired PSI. Lets say 30 for now. Hook up all 3 kegs and purge out O2 a few times and then leave it alone for 2 weeks. I can then disconnect and carb 3 more kegs. Every week or so, I set to wanted pressure level on regulator and connect each keg one at a time to see if any CO2 goes in, if not, I know they are holding good. When it is time to replace a keg in the kegorrator, I just bring it upstairs, put it in the keggorator but I don't connect it until the next day, and voila.

That's my way.

dp

Thank's for the tips everyone. I think I have a good idea of the process now.

I force carbonate at room temperature with 30-40PSI for a few days. I'm paranoid about leaving the gas on in case I have a leak somewhere so just re-pressurise a few times a day. Once it becomes apparent that the pressure is dropping much more slowly I leave it for a week or so before serving (maintaining a minimum of 20PSI).

After that I maintain at 10PSI for serving. I have to admit that I'm rather biased now though having just got a flash chiller, the difference in both the beer and the amount of foam I am used to dispensing has changed for the better dramatically.