First Time, Its Special

Alright, friends, I have 5 gallons of pale ale in a corny. I have it chilled. I have a 5lb CO2 canister, also chilled. I have lines and a dual gauge regulator. . .

Hook it up, put it at 15 and let it carb for a few days? Hook it up and put it at 40 and shake it for 10 minutes, put it at 5 and dispense to drink?

So much confusion. . .so much beer. . .so many questions.

any particular trick to attaching the dual gauge reg? I am screwing it on but it is still leaking from the connection. Just put it on harder? Hmmm

Ah, found it in previous posts. I see the white plastic washer that was attached to it. I will use that and see what happens.

OK, now on there. Hooked it up to keg. Noticed that the dual gauge is already at 600 so I lost a lot of it while being an idiot. I put it at 20 psi and put them back in the frig. Whatcha think?

I say shake it for a little while. I just devirginized myself in this manner and it worked great.

Gottcha. How long did you shake it at what psi? Then have fun and drink after that? I have it sitting 20 right now. Very sexy.

If you keep the CO2 in the fridge with the keg, Your volume will register lower on the guage. If you set at 15 psi and let sit, it will be carbed in about a week. You could set at 30 psi, shake for about 15 min or so and let settle for a day. Come back, bleed pressure off of the keg and dispense at about 10 psi.

Also, Love your avatar!

why are you chilling your co2?

Did you use any teflon tape on the threads?

Thanks for the "love your avatar" statement. Yep, trying different things out.

Put it at 30 psi and been shaking it a little bit every once in awhile. Been on there for about 5 hours now and guess I will leave it there overnight. Shake it more tomorrow and see what I have tomorrow night. I will keep playing with it, reading all of y'all's various techniques and see what might become mine.

Interesting about the volume reading seeming lower when chilled. I did not know that, thanks for that tip. I was a bit surprised when I finally got the regulator on there that I had lost so much. Now it appears that I did not lose as much.

No, did not use teflon tape. Heard mixed results about that and since all of these connections are brand new, i.e., new tank, new regulator, the plastic washer seemed to do the trick like it should.

I am chilling the CO2 because I have read that chilled tank going into a chilled keg carbonates faster and with more ease. I actually have read that in several places so if that is not necessarily true, let me know. This is only a 5lb tank and I have a spare frig so this is not a hardship. When I get a 20 lb or so that might be more problematic.

Thanks all for the comments.:fro:

i keep my co2 chilled simply because i like having it all at the same temp. probably makes no difference in the long run but i figure my psi reading is accurate when everything is equal.

Alright, checked on the keg, been at 30 psi overnight. Shook it a bit, heard a little more CO go in. Waited. Shook it a bit more vigorously and no sound. Shook it for about a minute pretty good and no sound. Turned off and Disconnected the gas and then slowly let out the pressure from the keg using the pull ring on the pressure release valve and got foam coming out. Used a rag to make sure it didn't spray everywhere but did get it on me so now I smell like a brewery at 9:30 am. Not a bad way to start the day, however.

Hooked up the gas again and put it at 10 psi. Disconnected the gas and letting it set for the day in the frig.

My question. . .pressured it too long at too high a pressure? Letting it sit in the frig for the day will the foam go down on its own and be drinkable this eve?

Whatchall think?

Even if it was flat, shaking your beer would create foam. I think that's why you got foam out of your pressure realease valve (pull ring). I carbonate my Hefes at 25-30 psi, and even with shaking they take a while to actually reach the right carbonation level for the style. Biggest problem is creating foam during pouring - if you're dispensing line isn't small enough (3/16" id) and/or isn't long enough, it's tough to dispense without foam. I think the beer's drinkable today, just need right dispensing hose length...

LouT said:

Even if it was flat, shaking your beer would create foam. I think that's why you got foam out of your pressure realease valve (pull ring). I carbonate my Hefes at 25-30 psi, and even with shaking they take a while to actually reach the right carbonation level for the style. Biggest problem is creating foam during pouring - if you're dispensing line isn't small enough (3/16" id) and/or isn't long enough, it's tough to dispense without foam. I think the beer's drinkable today, just need right dispensing hose length...

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Gottcha, thanks for the comment. I will leave it at 10 psi in the frig since I will be gone today anyway and check it around 6:30 PM or so and see what i have. Hose length is about 6.5 feet for dispensing and the diameter is undetermined, not huge, using a standard kit picnic tap that will be put on there. Appreciate the comments.