first time kegging

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syblue

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I kegged for the first time. It is a dry hopped Pale. I don't have a fridge to put it in but I have a small cellar that stays at 50 F. I need this beer carbed in three weeks. I have looked at this chart and it says 15 psi at 50 F. will get me to 2.30.
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

I am wondering what time frame does this chart use? If there is another chart or thread that explains time under pressure I would love to get redirected. :)

My main concern is after three weeks it will be over carbed.
 
It would not be overcarbed by leaving it pressurized. The beer will absorb the CO2 until it reaches an equilibrium with the pressure in the head space. So when setting it to 15 psi, the headspace will have all the CO2 and the beer will have none. Slowly the beer will start to absorb the CO2, and it will keep doing so until the amount of CO2 pressure is equal to the CO2 pressure in the beer. The temperature of the beer will affect how long it will take. I find that my beers will generally get fully carbed in around 1 week at 45 degrees.
 
Thank you for explaining that. So after a week or so I could take a sample, if it has enough carbonation I can then disconnect the CO2 and it should stay at that carbonation level?
 
Thank you for explaining that. So after a week or so I could take a sample, if it has enough carbonation I can then disconnect the CO2 and it should stay at that carbonation level?

This is true, but take into account that at a colder temperature, the beer will be able to absorb more C02. So if you are happy with the carb level at 50 degrees, it may be a bit overcarbed when (if) you cool it down to 35.
 
Thank you for explaining that. So after a week or so I could take a sample, if it has enough carbonation I can then disconnect the CO2 and it should stay at that carbonation level?

In theory yes. It would be the same if you left it connected too.
 
This is true, but take into account that at a colder temperature, the beer will be able to absorb more C02. So if you are happy with the carb level at 50 degrees, it may be a bit overcarbed when (if) you cool it down to 35.

If left on 15 psi gas.
 
I hadn't thought about how chilling it when served will effect the carb level. Yes I will put the keg on ice for serving so I will have to find a middle ground.
 
yes and no, if you disconnect it at 1 week at 15 psi, and the beer has only absorbed the about for, let say, 10 psi, then there will still be 15 psi of pressure in the headspace that will be absorbed. So if its not at its full carbonation level, it may increase a bit more, but not much. You shouldn't have to disconnect the gas though, because when you pour a beer, the pressure will drop. So the regulator will keep it pressurized at 15 psi throughout the life of the beer in the keg.

Under-carbonation is easy to fix, over-carbonation is a pain. So what I would probably do is set the pressure lower to start with, like 10 psi. Once it has reached its full carbonation, see how you like it. If the level of carbonation is good, leave the gas connected and keep it at 10 psi. If you want more carbonation, then bump it up a bit to maybe 13 psi. Let it sit for a couple days to absorb more CO2 from the higher pressure, and check again. Keep doing so until you reach the carbonation level you like.
If you set it to 15 psi and find that the carbonation level is too high, then you would need to vent the pressure off several times over the span of several days, to basically "flatten" the beer back out. It's a pain.
 
So BendBrewer are you saying if I take it off the CO2 at proper carb level then chill it before serving the carb level should stay pretty close?
 
Ok, here it goes:

In theory if you take the keg at 15 psi sitting at 50 degrees and chill it without the gas connected, the psi within the keg should drop with the temp drop.

Temp drops, psi drops, carbonation level drops. Probably right to the desired 12 psi since there is a chart for that.

I think.
 
Ok, here it goes:

In theory if you take the keg at 15 psi sitting at 50 degrees and chill it without the gas connected, the psi within the keg should drop with the temp drop.

Temp drops, psi drops, carbonation level drops. Probably right to the desired 12 psi since there is a chart for that.

I think.

Yeah I did a double take after rereading our successive posts. I think this is the correct way to think about it. So if you leave the gas on, it may be over carbed.

Man, its been a long time since physical science and thermodynamics classes.
 
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