First time kegging - slightly overwhelmed by info

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bigirishape

bigirishape

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I'm suffering from a bit of info overload from all of the myriad posts on how to get started kegging, especially from the ones that branch out into more advanced methods of kegging and pressure levels and temp calculations and factoring in alcohol content etc... Hoping I could just give a quick rundown of what I believe I need to do and get feedback on whether I'm on the right track or not.


1. Set temp control at about 40 degrees on the chest freezer.
2. Siphon beer from Primary into the cleaned, sanitized, lubed corny keg.
3. Seal keg and apply gas line.
4. Set PSI to ~12 and let it sit in the freezer for ~3 weeks to condition and carb.

I'm assuming the following and would love to be corrected if wrong...

1. I do not need to add priming sugar to the keg.
2. I do not need to let the beer sit in a secondary to clarify, the yeast will settle out in the keg and will probably spew out in the first beer or two if the dip tube is too long.
3. I do not need to set a high PSI initially to 'seal' the keg.




[other info]
I just bought a 2 keg system w/ dual regulator & 10lb CO2 tank from Kegconnection. I will be attempting to keg a Lemon Wheat Extract Kit purchased from Austin Homebrew Supply. Not advertising for those sites, just giving info on what I'm working with...tho they were both really good to work with.

I will be getting my CO2 tank filled from my LHBS this evening assuming I have time. My wort seems to have stopped fermenting, and I will be checking the FG when I get home tonight to ensure it is done. Temps has been consistently 68-70 degrees per the yeast type for optimal fermentation (White Labs California Ale V - WLP051) and I used the Yeast Fuel offered with the kit. It has been fermenting in primary for ~1.5 weeks. I'm also in the process of getting a Johnson Controls Temp Controller (digital) and hooking that up to my chest freezer to use as a Kegerator.

At this point I'd usually be scrubbing and sanitizing a large number of acquired bottles, and while tedious, that process is pretty straightforward. Kegging is a whole new beast. More "parts" to the process makes me more nervous about attempting without any sort of guidance.


Thanks in advance for any suggestions or clarifications anybody can provide.
 
bigirishape said:
I'm suffering from a bit of info overload from all of the myriad posts on how to get started kegging, especially from the ones that branch out into more advanced methods of kegging and pressure levels and temp calculations and factoring in alcohol content etc... Hoping I could just give a quick rundown of what I believe I need to do and get feedback on whether I'm on the right track or not.


1. Set temp control at about 40 degrees on the chest freezer.
2. Siphon beer from Primary into the cleaned, sanitized, lubed corny keg.
3. Seal keg and apply gas line.
4. Set PSI to ~12 and let it sit in the freezer for ~3 weeks to condition and carb.

I'm assuming the following and would love to be corrected if wrong...

1. I do not need to add priming sugar to the keg.
2. I do not need to let the beer sit in a secondary to clarify, the yeast will settle out in the keg and will probably spew out in the first beer or two if the dip tube is too long.
3. I do not need to set a high PSI initially to 'seal' the keg.




[other info]
I just bought a 2 keg system w/ dual regulator & 10lb CO2 tank from Kegconnection. I will be attempting to keg a Lemon Wheat Extract Kit purchased from Austin Homebrew Supply. Not advertising for those sites, just giving info on what I'm working with...tho they were both really good to work with.

I will be getting my CO2 tank filled from my LHBS this evening assuming I have time. My wort seems to have stopped fermenting, and I will be checking the FG when I get home tonight to ensure it is done. Temps has been consistently 68-70 degrees per the yeast type for optimal fermentation (White Labs California Ale V - WLP051) and I used the Yeast Fuel offered with the kit. It has been fermenting in primary for ~1.5 weeks. I'm also in the process of getting a Johnson Controls Temp Controller (digital) and hooking that up to my chest freezer to use as a Kegerator.

At this point I'd usually be scrubbing and sanitizing a large number of acquired bottles, and while tedious, that process is pretty straightforward. Kegging is a whole new beast. More "parts" to the process makes me more nervous about attempting without any sort of guidance.


Thanks in advance for any suggestions or clarifications anybody can provide.
Click to expand...

I will give you a run down of what I do from start of beer to drinking (brief description):
  • Ferment beer for 3 weeks...2 for fermentation, 1 for conditioning
  • rack to keg
  • set co2 to 30psi to seat rings and gaskets, you can leave it at this for an hour to 24 hours...it just depends on how worried you are about a leak
  • purge keg and adjust psi to recommended setting...since your refrigerator is at 40 degrees, that would be between 9 and 13 psi...I would go with 11 and adjust if you want more or less carbonation...this is your serving psi.
  • leave beer sit at serving psi for 1 week...pour, drink, enjoy!

Here is a link to a psi chart...basically you take your refirgerator temp and go straight across until you find green (for most beers), yellow for wheat beers and lambics and gray for porters and stouts: http://www.kegerators.com/articles/carbonation-table-pressure-chart.php
 
You need to make sure you do not have any leaks in your keg before setting it up an leaving it, or you will end up with flat beer and an empty CO2 canister. Spray some starsan on all of your connections and make sure there are no bubbles.
 
I am not a huge fan of the 30 psi for 24hrs anymore. Used to do it this way but ran into trouble.

Now I use a calculator to carb my beer. I have decided that patience for a better carbed, better beer is worth it. Too many overcarbed beers bothered me.

Calculators work great. Look up what the CO2 volume you need per style and what temp your conditioning at and itll give you the PSI needed to achieve. I am carbing at 64 degrees right now, basement, so I am at 24 psi for a week. When I put it in the kegerator, I will drop the PSI 11 per the calculator for 38 degrees. However if you wanna carb it in your freezer at 34 just plug the numbers accordingly. Still will take about a week.

My $.02, just have gotten better results with this method versus the quick 30psi method. No wrong way to do it, just giving you options.
 
My refrigerator is set at about 36°; I find that 1 week at 9 psi gives me perfectly carbed beer. I have only kegged 4 batches...the smartest thing I have ever done. :mug:
 
lostboysbrew said:
I am not a huge fan of the 30 psi for 24hrs anymore. Used to do it this way but ran into trouble.

Now I use a calculator to carb my beer. I have decided that patience for a better carbed, better beer is worth it. Too many overcarbed beers bothered me.

Calculators work great. Look up what the CO2 volume you need per style and what temp your conditioning at and itll give you the PSI needed to achieve. I am carbing at 64 degrees right now, basement, so I am at 24 psi for a week. When I put it in the kegerator, I will drop the PSI 11 per the calculator for 38 degrees. However if you wanna carb it in your freezer at 34 just plug the numbers accordingly. Still will take about a week.

My $.02, just have gotten better results with this method versus the quick 30psi method. No wrong way to do it, just giving you options.
Click to expand...

Lostboysbrew...I dont carb at 30 psi, I just use 30 psi to set my rings and gaskets...if you ever get a leak, you would have wished you did this! I do 30 psi for an hour, or I leave it overnight if I have other things going...and while this does start the carbonation process, its predominantly meant to seat rings, gaskets and find leaks...then I adjust to co2 to the carbonation chart I attached.
I wanted to clear this up so that the OP doesn't get confused on my message.
 
So do an hour-ish of 30psi to seat the seals, and then drop to the carbing/serving PSI and let it sit for a while to condition and carb. Since I have a Lemon Wheat, it'll be between 2.6-4.0 volumes of CO2 desired based on the kegerator.com chart, both the chart and the calculator recommend an 18 PSI setting @ 40F aiming for 3.0 vol of CO2.

@bergquistb: Good call on the sanitizer to check seals, thanks.

@lostboysbrew & @SD-SLIM: Thanks for the calculator links, I hadn't seen those two specific ones before.

Is the duration of the carb period determined by anything, or once I put it in keg and set it to 18 PSI to carb/server, it is just determined by how long I want the beer to condition prior to serving? Is there a standard duration to let the beer carb until it would be at an acceptable serving carb level?

*edit* I just re-read the posts and noted ya'll said about 1 week of carbing at a constant PSI should be sufficient. It can go longer to condition the beer though, right?

Is it recommended to rack to secondary for a week after it hits the right FG to clarify and let some yeast drop out of suspension? I'm not using a clarifier, so maybe I could just put it in the freezer for a week to cold crash (around 50-60F?) and let it settle, then rack from secondary to keg to avoid sediment issues?

*edit* Just to clarify, I've never tried to cold crash a batch, so I'm making assumptions here.

Is there any benefit to adding priming sugar to the keg before carbing? There's another thread about Secondary and Conditioning where they're talking about adding 1/3c priming sugar to a 5gal batch prior to kegging. Is that necessary? advised? beneficial? harmful? (also going to ask in that thread)

Thanks for the feedback guys, it is really helping me wrap my head around the process tremendously!
 
bigirishape said:
Is the duration of the carb period determined by anything, or once I put it in keg and set it to 18 PSI to carb/server, it is just determined by how long I want the beer to condition prior to serving? Is there a standard duration to let the beer carb until it would be at an acceptable serving carb level?

*edit* I just re-read the posts and noted ya'll said about 1 week of carbing at a constant PSI should be sufficient. It can go longer to condition the beer though, right?
Click to expand...

It can go as long as you want. That PSI setting you get from a calculator will be the CO2 volumes for that style. That is the MOST CO2 that can make it into that beer. It once it reaches those volumes it won't exceed unless you turn up the pressure.

bigirishape said:
Is there any benefit to adding priming sugar to the keg before carbing? There's another thread about Secondary and Conditioning where they're talking about adding 1/3c priming sugar to a 5gal batch prior to kegging. Is that necessary? advised? beneficial? harmful? (also going to ask in that thread)
Click to expand...

No benefit at all. The CO2 will carb it. Unless you want to manually carb in the keg with priming sugar, which you would have to search other threads about that. I won't experiment with that.

bigirishape said:
Is it recommended to rack to secondary for a week after it hits the right FG to clarify and let some yeast drop out of suspension? I'm not using a clarifier, so maybe I could just put it in the freezer for a week to cold crash (around 50-60F?) and let it settle, then rack from secondary to keg to avoid sediment issues?

*edit* Just to clarify, I've never tried to cold crash a batch, so I'm making assumptions here.
Click to expand...

I never secondary unless I am adding fruit or cocoa nibs (choco stout) and even then I don't sometimes. However, cold crash just about everything. 40-50 gets everything to drop out and produces a clear beer. There will still be yeast.

Also you can just let it sit for an extra week (secondary) in the same FV, it will settle out. This is recommended for bottle conditioning as it will keep active yeast present. Then when the bottles go in the fridge after carbing, the yeast will drop out and the beer will clear before serving :mug:
 
SD-SLIM said:
Lostboysbrew...I dont carb at 30 psi, I just use 30 psi to set my rings and gaskets...if you ever get a leak, you would have wished you did this! I do 30 psi for an hour, or I leave it overnight if I have other things going...and while this does start the carbonation process, its predominantly meant to seat rings, gaskets and find leaks...then I adjust to co2 to the carbonation chart I attached.
I wanted to clear this up so that the OP doesn't get confused on my message.
Click to expand...

Ok, understand what you are saying and I'm not saying you are wrong (I am just now kegging my first batch) but if you set the seals with 30psi and then turn it down to 12 there's only going to be 12psi of force on the gaskets on e the extra co2 is absorbed. So what is the logic here? Honest question, not meant to imply you are wrong, just that I don't understand,
 
SD-SLIM said:
Lostboysbrew...I dont carb at 30 psi, I just use 30 psi to set my rings and gaskets...if you ever get a leak, you would have wished you did this! I do 30 psi for an hour, or I leave it overnight if I have other things going...and while this does start the carbonation process, its predominantly meant to seat rings, gaskets and find leaks...then I adjust to co2 to the carbonation chart I attached.
I wanted to clear this up so that the OP doesn't get confused on my message.
Click to expand...

Perfect, makes sense.....did get a little confused, thanks for clearing that up.

LHBS taught to PSI 30-35, shake 100 times and sit for 24 hours then turn down and it was ready to serve, except it was never consistent or accurate. Thats what I thought you were talking about. :drunk:
 
I don't think you even need to do an hour @ 30 psi. Maybe I'm wrong, but I turn it up to 30, connect the gas while the lid is slight off and let the pressure of the gas naturally set the lid. I hold it at 30 psi until I spray everything to make sure there isn't a leak. Once I determine there isn't a leak, I purge (which also is good to push all the oxygen out) and reset to serving pressure which is around 10-12 for me. Then it may be a week or two until it's carbonated.

I don't think you'd want to add priming sugar if you are force carbing.

Granted I'm a newbie but this process has worked now for my first 3 kegs.
 
mrgreen4242 said:
Ok, understand what you are saying and I'm not saying you are wrong (I am just now kegging my first batch) but if you set the seals with 30psi and then turn it down to 12 there's only going to be 12psi of force on the gaskets on e the extra co2 is absorbed. So what is the logic here? Honest question, not meant to imply you are wrong, just that I don't understand,
Click to expand...

I have one corny with a slightly misshapen lid or opening and it will NOT seal with just an initial 12 psi. It will seal with 30psi and hold it's seal at 12.

And no you don't have to seal at 30 psi, that's just a number someone picked and it stuck. If you have good seals and are carbing right away, you can set it and purge it a to whatever psi you want.

_
 
bigirishape said:
So do an hour-ish of 30psi to seat the seals, and then drop to the carbing/serving PSI and let it sit for a while to condition and carb. Since I have a Lemon Wheat, it'll be between 2.6-4.0 volumes of CO2 desired based on the kegerator.com chart, both the chart and the calculator recommend an 18 PSI setting @ 40F aiming for 3.0 vol of CO2.

@bergquistb: Good call on the sanitizer to check seals, thanks.

@lostboysbrew & @SD-SLIM: Thanks for the calculator links, I hadn't seen those two specific ones before.

Is the duration of the carb period determined by anything, or once I put it in keg and set it to 18 PSI to carb/server, it is just determined by how long I want the beer to condition prior to serving? Is there a standard duration to let the beer carb until it would be at an acceptable serving carb level?

*edit* I just re-read the posts and noted ya'll said about 1 week of carbing at a constant PSI should be sufficient. It can go longer to condition the beer though, right?

Is it recommended to rack to secondary for a week after it hits the right FG to clarify and let some yeast drop out of suspension? I'm not using a clarifier, so maybe I could just put it in the freezer for a week to cold crash (around 50-60F?) and let it settle, then rack from secondary to keg to avoid sediment issues?

*edit* Just to clarify, I've never tried to cold crash a batch, so I'm making assumptions here.

Is there any benefit to adding priming sugar to the keg before carbing? There's another thread about Secondary and Conditioning where they're talking about adding 1/3c priming sugar to a 5gal batch prior to kegging. Is that necessary? advised? beneficial? harmful? (also going to ask in that thread)

Thanks for the feedback guys, it is really helping me wrap my head around the process tremendously!
Click to expand...

Your psi is correct..18 psi for a wheat beer refrigerated at 40 degrees

As for secondary use...I would really stay away from it, after yeast conduct primary fermentation (14 days), they slow down but are still working..they begin to eat heavy sugars and byproducts...here is a great read for this: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-2-3.html i would read the whole thing, but this page on fermentation, as well as the chapter on off flavors while really benefit you. As you gain experience and start working with some fruit beers or beers that require an extended period of conditioning such as porters and stouts sometimes do, then you will need to use a secondary...but for most beer's I will argue to my last breath that it's counterproductive...I only say this because I used to be a 2 weeks primary, 1 week secondary guy until I experimented with two worts of the same kind, 1 was just primary for 3 weeks and the other was 2 weeks primary, 1 week secondary...3 weeks primary was by far a better beer!!!

As for cold crashing versus using a clarifyer, leaving your beer in a primary for three weeks will clear it up...but after that immediately transfer to a keg and chill. Cold beer will absorb co2 faster.

As mentioned priming sugars are not needed.

mrgreen4242 said:
Ok, understand what you are saying and I'm not saying you are wrong (I am just now kegging my first batch) but if you set the seals with 30psi and then turn it down to 12 there's only going to be 12psi of force on the gaskets on e the extra co2 is absorbed. So what is the logic here? Honest question, not meant to imply you are wrong, just that I don't understand,
Click to expand...

The logic is this...30 pounds versus 12 pounds...three times the pressure to look and hear for leaks...at 12 psi it will barely leak out, but over a week that will drain your keg, so 30 psi will make a slight leak very noticeable! Then after your sure there is no leak, turn down to serving pressure.
 
cincybrewer said:
I don't think you even need to do an hour @ 30 psi. Maybe I'm wrong, but I turn it up to 30, connect the gas while the lid is slight off and let the pressure of the gas naturally set the lid. I hold it at 30 psi until I spray everything to make sure there isn't a leak. Once I determine there isn't a leak, I purge (which also is good to push all the oxygen out) and reset to serving pressure which is around 10-12 for me. Then it may be a week or two until it's carbonated.

I don't think you'd want to add priming sugar if you are force carbing.

Granted I'm a newbie but this process has worked now for my first 3 kegs.
Click to expand...

You dont need it for an hour...if you are sure that everything is fine, a few minutes after the co2 stops filling the keg, then you should be fine.
I go for an hour because I walk away and come back...when I come back if co2 is still running somethings wrong!
 
SD-SLIM said:
The logic is this...30 pounds versus 12 pounds...three times the pressure to look and hear for leaks...at 12 psi it will barely leak out, but over a week that will drain your keg, so 30 psi will make a slight leak very noticeable! Then after your sure there is no leak, turn down to serving pressure.
Click to expand...

That makes sense, thanks.
 
The one thing that also really helped me in my kegging journey was to use 3/16 inside diameter serving tube - and use .5 feet of it for every 2 psi you are serving at. So, if you just leave it at 12psi (to carb it and to then serve it), you would use 6 feet of 3/16 ID hose. As soon as I started doing that, my pours were perfect. Good luck!
 
I am also new to kegging. Just bought 2 corney kegs and all the connections. Also got a temp controller and 10 lb CO2 tank. Next up is the chest freezer. Does it matter what setting the chest freezer itself is set at?? They usually come with the typical cold-colder-coldest settings. Just curious if it makes a difference.

Also. I have a batch of beer that is way overcarbonated in bottles. Had a little problem with a stuck fermentation deciding to become unstuck after bottling. Bottle bombs are not cool. They are in the fridge and seem safe at the moment, but I was wondering if it is possible to transfer these over to a keg without spoiling the beer. What would be the best way to go about doing this?? Any help would be appreciated
 
bigirishape are you overwhelmed by the responses? All of the responses are very good advice but if it were me I'd keep it simple. Rack it, set it to 18psi at 40 degrees and let it go for a week. Odds are in your favor that it will be fine. Whenever I've had a leak it was very apparent and if you do... adjust the lid and try again.
 
flabyboy said:
I am also new to kegging. Just bought 2 corney kegs and all the connections. Also got a temp controller and 10 lb CO2 tank. Next up is the chest freezer. Does it matter what setting the chest freezer itself is set at?? They usually come with the typical cold-colder-coldest settings. Just curious if it makes a difference.

Also. I have a batch of beer that is way overcarbonated in bottles. Had a little problem with a stuck fermentation deciding to become unstuck after bottling. Bottle bombs are not cool. They are in the fridge and seem safe at the moment, but I was wondering if it is possible to transfer these over to a keg without spoiling the beer. What would be the best way to go about doing this?? Any help would be appreciated
Click to expand...

The cold setting is usually lower than the lowest temp you would serve beer so don't worry about it.

As for the bottled beer, get it very very cold, open them and transfer them to the keg by running it down the side of the open keg to avoid oxidation. Make sure the keg is also cold. Ultimately as long as the beer is not oxidized, you will not get any flavor change. As for the carbonation, once the beer is transfered, you have complete control. Set the regulator to the psi based on the CO2 level you want and the temp and call it a day. If it's too carbonated, remove the gas ball lock and release the pressure every so often until you get it to the level you like.
 
scoundrel said:
The cold setting is usually lower than the lowest temp you would serve beer so don't worry about it.

As for the bottled beer, get it very very cold, open them and transfer them to the keg by running it down the side of the open keg to avoid oxidation. Make sure the keg is also cold. Ultimately as long as the beer is not oxidized, you will not get any flavor change. As for the carbonation, once the beer is transfered, you have complete control. Set the regulator to the psi based on the CO2 level you want and the temp and call it a day. If it's too carbonated, remove the gas ball lock and release the pressure every so often until you get it to the level you like.
Click to expand...

If you were to fill a keg with CO2 then released the pressure and opened it nice and careful, then you carefully cracked open the bottles and poured them in with the mouth of the bottle inside the keg the beer would never touch oxygen, since the denser co2 in the keg and the neck of the bottle would keep air out... Right?
 
mrgreen4242 said:
If you were to fill a keg with CO2 then released the pressure and opened it nice and careful, then you carefully cracked open the bottles and poured them in with the mouth of the bottle inside the keg the beer would never touch oxygen, since the denser co2 in the keg and the neck of the bottle would keep air out... Right?
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct and I should have mentioned that. Once you close the keg and re-pressurize it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to purge it a bit to release any oxygen that may have lingered in.
 
since my beer is way overcarbonated at this point, do you think I will have to do some purging at some point or will setting it at 10PSI bring it down to the appropriate carbonation level?
 
You may need to purge some, but it will be apparent when you pour a beer. I'd get it in there at 10psi and see how it pours. If its under carbonated, give it a few days, if not, disconnect the gas and purge a couple times a day.
 
Trying to figure out my connections here. Austin Homebrew only has 1/4 inch tailpiece for the faucet shank. I was planning on using 3/16 inch tubing on the liquid side. Will this fit onto the 1/4 barb?

Also, is there a difference between air and liquid tubing? I was planning on using 1/4 " clear tubing for the CO2 side and 3/16" clear tubing for the liquid side.

Are most of you guys/gals using MFL/FFL connections or did you just go with the barbs and clamps?
 
I use barb. I think 3/16" on 1/4" will be fine, you will just have to use some force to get it on or warm the tubing up so it becomes for flexible.

Not sure about the tubing but assuming it is food grade then you should be fine. Don't think it matters for the gas tubing.
 
When using a a manifold or distributor for a three keg system will the three kegs all receive the pressure set on the regulator? If I want a serving pressure of 10 on each of the three kegs will I have to set the regulator at 10 psi or 30 psi?
 

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