"cask" kegging at cellar temps

I'm struggling to get this figured out...I think it's more complicated than I originally thought.

I want to serve kegged beer in my 55 degree garage. I have a picnic tap and about 7 ft of beer line.

I've kegged and carbed at room temp before, but I always chilled. I figured this would be the same, just different pressure. What I didn't take into consideration was the decreased level of co2 the beer can hold in solution at warmer temps.

So, why am I always getting flat beer? It either comes out flat with no head or flat with a lot of head...I'm stumped.

Technique-- carbed two weeks at 25 psi (55 degrees). When ready to serve, dropped pressure to 8 psi, vented keg. Flat beer!! Booo.

Can someone school me on "cask" kegging?

"cask" conditioning doesn't come from forced carbonation. it just the opposite. You want to condition the beer with a secondary fermentation just like when you bottle condition. it won't be a true cask beer but you can carbonate it low and dispense at a low pressure at 55 degrees to imitate the effect.

jester5120 said:

"cask" conditioning doesn't come from forced carbonation. it just the opposite. You want to condition the beer with a secondary fermentation just like when you bottle condition. it won't be a true cask beer but you can carbonate it low and dispense at a low pressure at 55 degrees to imitate the effect.

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I guess I should clarify...I understand it wont really be cask, hence the ""s.

Ok, soooo, how do I imitate cask beer with my setup in my 55 degree garage?

HItransplant said:

I guess I should clarify...I understand it wont really be cask, hence the ""s.

Ok, soooo, how do I imitate cask beer with my setup in my 55 degree garage?

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55 is perfect. Use around 3oz sugar primings at racking. Close the keg, leave it a couple days at fermentation temp., move it to your garage. Leave it there another week, and you'll be in business. Just use enough co2 to push the beer out of the keg.

Alternatively, go here, and start doing the real thing which is the best option

jimswms said:

55 is perfect. Use around 3oz sugar primings at racking. Close the keg, leave it a couple days at fermentation temp., move it to your garage. Leave it there another week, and you'll be in business. Just use enough co2 to push the beer out of the keg.

Alternatively, go here, and start doing the real thing which is the best option

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you can push it with about 2 or 3 psi. you can also gravity feed it if you have the ability. to do that you just need to have the keg higher than where the pints are being poured and have the gas post opened somehow. it'll go flat sooner that way tho

jester5120 said:

you can push it with about 2 or 3 psi. you can also gravity feed it if you have the ability. to do that you just need to have the keg higher than where the pints are being poured and have the gas post opened somehow. it'll go flat sooner that way tho

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I tried really low psi, but it wouldn't push the beer.

jimswms said:

55 is perfect. Use around 3oz sugar primings at racking. Close the keg, leave it a couple days at fermentation temp., move it to your garage. Leave it there another week, and you'll be in business. Just use enough co2 to push the beer out of the keg.

Alternatively, go here, and start doing the real thing which is the best option

Click to expand...

Is there a way to do this by force carbing first?
What psi to push if I prime first?

Try starting at a low psi setting (maybe 2 psi) and increase the pressure slowly until the beer starts to flow out of your open faucet. Then use that pressure setting and maybe disconnect when your done dispensing beer for the night.

DeNomad said:

Try starting at a low psi setting (maybe 2 psi) and increase the pressure slowly until the beer starts to flow out of your open faucet. Then use that pressure setting and maybe disconnect when your done dispensing beer for the night.

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Thanks for the suggestion. Anyone know why the beer is flat?

HItransplant said:

Thanks for the suggestion. Anyone know why the beer is flat?

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Possibly because the co2 is getting "knocked" out of suspension by the short lines. To serve at 25 psi (or a beer carbed there), you'd need like 20' lines. For soda, I have it at 30 psi and serve with 25' lines.

Yooper said:

Possibly because the co2 is getting "knocked" out of suspension by the short lines. To serve at 25 psi (or a beer carbed there), you'd need like 20' lines. For soda, I have it at 30 psi and serve with 25' lines.

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I was thinking about that, but the LHBS guy said I could get away with just dropping the pressure before serving.

I can't seem to wrap my brain around the physics of this...and I like physics. BAH!

Thanks yoop...maybe I'll just suck it up and buy 20 ft of line to try.

HItransplant said:

I was thinking about that, but the LHBS guy said I could get away with just dropping the pressure before serving.

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Well, in the words of Dr. Phil, "How's that workin' for you?"

If you're going to buy line (and it's relatively cheap), I'd go ahead and buy 25' instead of 20. The worst that can happen is that it pours slower. Big deal. But the best that can happen is no foaming and flat beer even if you need to turn the psi up a bit to get it more carbonating. At 55 degrees and 25 psi, you're right at 2.83 volumes, which is actually a bit high. It should be carbonated in two weeks at that setting. You should be able to use it at 16 psi at 55 degrees. In any case, venting the pressure to pour isn't working well and so getting longer lines would be the obvious choice.

Yooper said:

Well, in the words of Dr. Phil, "How's that workin' for you?"

If you're going to buy line (and it's relatively cheap), I'd go ahead and buy 25' instead of 20. The worst that can happen is that it pours slower. Big deal. But the best that can happen is no foaming and flat beer even if you need to turn the psi up a bit to get it more carbonating. At 55 degrees and 25 psi, you're right at 2.83 volumes, which is actually a bit high. It should be carbonated in two weeks at that setting. You should be able to use it at 16 psi at 55 degrees. In any case, venting the pressure to pour isn't working well and so getting longer lines would be the obvious choice.

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Agreed, not working at all... I'll give it a shot.

I have one more question:
How much co2 can I reasonably expect 55 deg beer to keep in solution? My LHBS guy said "you aren't going to have an effervescent beer at 55 degrees. Now, I don't want soda, but could this have something to do with my problem?

HItransplant said:

I have one more question:
How much co2 can I reasonably expect 55 deg beer to keep in solution? My LHBS guy said "you aren't going to have an effervescent beer at 55 degrees. Now, I don't want soda, but could this have something to do with my problem?

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Nope. Simple physics would dictate that if you have the proper pressure, the beer WILL be carbed at that temperature. It's not variable, it's precise.

Yooper said:

Nope. Simple physics would dictate that if you have the proper pressure, the beer WILL be carbed at that temperature. It's not variable, it's precise.

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Kinda what I was thinking. Thanks yooper!