Kegging questions

I am unsure about several points related to kegging. Searches for the answers are either unsatisfying (KEG is too short to be used in a search) or the information provided simply doesn't answer my question. I figured a post might get me some insight.

1) When force carbonating, the pressure used to carbonate the beer is determined by the temperature of the beer when it is being carbonated, not the temperature it will be kept at in a kegerator/fridge. Carbonating a beer at 72F then popping it into the fridge won't affect the carbonation, correct?

2) Is it more advantagous to keep the CO2 cylinder inside or outside the fridge/kegerator?

3) When force carbonating, the keg should still sit for several weeks (or longer) to condition? I would assume that placing a freshly kegged beer into the cold would cause any yeast to go dormant and you would lose out on the flavor they may impart during conditioning.

4) Should I overcarbonate a beer, it there an easy way to reduce the carbonation? I would assume that you could release the pressure, shake, release the pressure, shake...lather, rinse, repeat...until at or below your desired pressure. Probably would take a good deal of time.

Hey Unclesamskid -- good questions. I can try to answer with what I know.

1. If the keg is full (little headspace) it won't matter. However, I am not sure about partially filled kegs. The change in temp will change the equilibrium carbonation level, but I am not sure to what degree this will affect the beer itself. Sorry.

2. Makes no difference, except that obviously keeping it inside the fridge means you don't need a hole through the fridge wall.

3. Carbonation should happen within a week. I have noticed it can be as quick as 4 days if the keg starts cold. The yeast issue is a separate one related to cold conditioning, and has little to do with carbonation levels. [Not sure what you were asking here, sorry]

4. If you overcarbonate, you are going to have to vent the pressure from the keg, let it re-equilibrate, then start again. You can 'cheat' by venting some of the pressure, to save a bit of time.

With regards to #3:

What I meant was does freshly kegged beer need to condition, like bottled beer, for the flavors to mature. My assumption is that when fresh beer is kegged "green" and then put into a cold environment (fridge/kegerator), then the beer will not mature (or not mature as quickly as beer stored at room temp).

So, even though it may only take 1 week to carbonate, the beer should probably sit for longer to allow the flavors to develop.

OK, now I understand -- that makes sense now that I read your post again.

It depends on the style, but generally yes. A bit of conditioning will help round out the flavours and make a better beer. Low alcohol beers might be the exception to this, and for high gravity beers it is the rule.

The cold will prolong this, so you may wish to condition at cellar temp before refrigerating, especially for higher gravity beers.

Yeah, it will still need time to condition. No way to accelerate that

That be what me was figurin'.

Thanks.

Keggin is not as hard as it seems. You will notice a change in maturity over time with kegs as you would with aged bottles. The longer the better. Green beer will turn great within a week or weeks. You can Force Carb and in two days have a beer ready to drink carbonated. However, the more time it sits with the forced carb the better it gets.

Once you do it once you will not go back to bottles. For me all I ever did was keg. I am now trying to learn to bottle. Go figure.

- WW

Oh yeah depending on the style I will apply b/t 20 and 30 psi at first. Then when I dispense it I will use b/t 2.5-5 psi. Then when I restore it I bump it up to b/t 15-23 psi. Head space is always taken into affect. Obviously the more head space you have the more CO2 you need. Fill it until you can't hear the sound of filling any longer. Shut the valve off to the keg. Shake the keg and fill it again until you cannot hear the sound. Repeat until no sound is audible. (3-5 times).

Easy. Now can someone help me bottle.... (lol).

Tonight it is!!


- WW

So, if you are going to condition in the keg at cellar temp do you force carb it first then let it sit?

Wilson, I hope you can take constructive criticism, but messing around with different carbing, serving and storing pressures is a huge PIA. I definitely would not recommend this to a new kegger (or any for that matter). Headspace has nothing to do with how much pressure to use.

Find out the temperature of your kegging environment and compare that to the chart that shows the volumes of CO2 you're interested in and just set the pressure to what it says. Obviously the warmer it is, the higher the pressure will need to be. Sure, you can increase the pressure initially if you're really in a big hurry (doesn't make sense unless you've already aged it in secondary for a long time). In either case, you want to end up at the equilibrium pressure for the volumes of CO2 you're looking for based on the current beer temp.

Now, on the serving side. Disconnect the gas, chill your keg down, adjust the regulator so you get the same CO2 volume for the new colder temp, connect the gas, pour a pint. If it shoots out all foamy, troubleshoot your beerline. You should start with about 10 feet of 3/16" ID tubing and cut a foot off at a time to get the ideal pour. Bleeding pressure off just to get a decent pour is a good reason to go back to bottling.. it would be easier.

No offense taken. I have been kegging for years and have never had an issue. KIM that even sometimes when you set to brew to a specific style it comes out differently so the charts are not always correct. I am just going by what I beleive to be the best feel and you do that by adjustments. But to each his own.

I still say adjusting pressure is still much easier than fussing with boiling a mini wort, placing this wort in a bucket and gently siphoning your brew onto it, then siphoning out the beer into bottles and capping 52 or so bottles.

Again no foul no harm. Good advice.

- WW

Bobby,

You belong to any clubs? You are realitively close to me. I sometime work off Easton Ave.

It would be nice to meet up with another homebrewer and have a brewing session.

- WW

I live about a mile from Easton ave just on the other side of the river. I belong to the WHALES based out of Woodbridge.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thewhales or www.whalesclub.org