First Hefeweizen, first keg.

Hello, this is my first time kegging, and force carbonating. I've read countless posts on what to do, and what pressures and volumes of Co2 are appropriate. But I'm still confused.

I want to use the "set and forget" method, because my Hefe will need time to age anyways, so I'm not in a rush to get into it.

My mini fridge is staying at ~40-42º, and what i understand is a Hefeweizen needs about 3 volumes of Co2.

I set my regulator to 20PSI and left it in the mini fridge, now my question is how long does it take to absorb all the Co2, and could leaving it in longer potentially over carbonate the beer?

I appreciate all help.

-Luca

A general rule of thumbs is "about one week". As for aging a hefe-weizen, "you're doing it all wrong, son". In my book, hefe's are made to be drunk as fresh as can be!

Set-it and forget it will require that you measure your out-line carefully when you're at such a high volume. There are formulas out there to help you with that.

M_C

My reg in my fridge is set to 20PSI. From my experience, a good two weeks will yield a nicely carbed and aged hefe.

I also concur with Luca... hefe should be drank young. However, I've found that mine benefit from 2-3 weeks in the fridge.

I would crank the PSI up to 55-60 for 24 hours, then dial it back to 11-13 PSI or so (what ever the chart says for your temp/volumes desired). Your carb will stabilize and should be close to perfect in 5 days.

Be sure to take off your taps or party taps when you crank up to 60 psi.

Hmm, some a little advice from both sides.

I have let my beer age in the primary for 2 weeks. I was aiming at about 3 weeks of aging before I tap into it. What benefit would cranking it up to 60psi give me? Does this method require shaking the keg at all? I would rather not shake my beer up, just seems wrong.

I only have a short length of hose connected to a picnic tap. I'm afraid I will just serve head with such a short tube. I think I'm going to leave it in the fridge for about a week at 20psi and test it to see if it needs more. I can always crank up the Co2 to carbonate it more for a few days right?

luski09 said:

Hmm, some a little advice from both sides.

I have let my beer age in the primary for 2 weeks. I was aiming at about 3 weeks of aging before I tap into it. What benefit would cranking it up to 60psi give me? Does this method require shaking the keg at all? I would rather not shake my beer up, just seems wrong.

I only have a short length of hose connected to a picnic tap. I'm afraid I will just serve head with such a short tube. I think I'm going to leave it in the fridge for about a week at 20psi and test it to see if it needs more. I can always crank up the Co2 to carbonate it more for a few days right?

Click to expand...

No shaking of the keg (I hate the shake methods too, but to each his own )

Think of the crank up method as a boost to your carbing. It takes about 5-7 days off the set and forget method. I learned the method from people on here and that is how I have done it ever since. You can sample the beer and drink it after day 1. Though the carb will be a little low.

I should clarify the following.
1. disconnect your beer line
2. I put in the keg warm (room temp), put on gas 24 hours.
3. Dial back to desired PSI and wait 1 day, then hook up beer line. If you want to taste the brew right after your 24 hour period, it is best to burp the keg, then hook up the line.
4. 4-5 days total will give you stabilized carb at your desired PSI.

I would get at least 5 feet of beer line on your picnic tap. At 20psi you will overcarb, or rather, create too much back pressure for serving your hefe. I would think you would need around 10 feet of beer line or so depending on the temp in the fridge (can't recall the resistance for 3/16 beer line off hand). The Beer line needs to roughly match the back pressure to provide the correct pour. Or, you will have to shut the gas off, burp the keg, and serve by lowering the regulator or using present CO2 to slowly pour your cup (to avoid a pint full of foam).

20 PSI seems high for set and forget method. If you leave it at 20 PSI, you will eventually overcarb it, unless you have a very warm ref.

With a hefe - better to hit the carb hard in the beginning, so you can drink it as young as possible. You can always wait out the carb until it conditions to how you like it.

When i dial the carbonation back, is that just releasing pressure out of the keg?

luski09 said:

When i dial the carbonation back, is that just releasing pressure out of the keg?

Click to expand...

1. turn gas off
2. burp the keg (release CO2)
3. turn your regulator down to desired PSI.
4. Gas on
5. confirm PSI reading on regulator

Then you are good to go. Sounds like a lot of steps, but takes about 5-10 seconds. This just sets the pressure down as if you were doing the set and forget, with the benefit of having the 5-7 days off the typical 2 week charging time for set and forget.

Alright. I'll set it and check back with you guys in a few days

luski09 said:

Alright. I'll set it and check back with you guys in a few days

Click to expand...

dont feel pressure to do it the way I described - do what you feel comfortable with

Just giving you my personal experience

this is my first time, so I'm not comfortable doing it ANY way!

I just did a test pour only to find the beer spraying out and all im getting is head. I burped the keg and currently have the regulator at 0. Should I just let the keg settle for a few days before trying to turn on the gas to be able to pour?

I need to buy a book or something on kegging because I clearly don't understand what the heck is happening!

luski09 said:

I just did a test pour only to find the beer spraying out and all im getting is head. I burped the keg and currently have the regulator at 0. Should I just let the keg settle for a few days before trying to turn on the gas to be able to pour?

I need to buy a book or something on kegging because I clearly don't understand what the heck is happening!

Click to expand...

What set-up are you using? Are you dispensing from a "picnic" tap? A regular kegerator tap? This makes a big difference.

M_C

luski09 said:

I just did a test pour only to find the beer spraying out and all im getting is head. I burped the keg and currently have the regulator at 0. Should I just let the keg settle for a few days before trying to turn on the gas to be able to pour?

I need to buy a book or something on kegging because I clearly don't understand what the heck is happening!

Click to expand...

Did you fully depress the party tap? If you partially open it it will spray and not pour (make sure you are fully opening the spout for a party tap or regular tap).

After doing the 60 psi charge, you should let it rest a day on your regular PSI (11-13) before trying. If you really want to try a sample, Fully burp, then hook your beer line up and fully depress your tap - don't turn on any gas. It will come out very slow but it will come, only using the pressure that is in the keg (you gas line should be off or disconnected.) Because the high pressure causes high back pressure you will need to dispense with no gas for the sample since the CO2 isn't stabilized in the liquid. Don't worry, a few days and it will stabilize out.

Also, I think you said that you had a short beer line. You will need at least 5+ feet of 3/16 beer line to dispense from a party tap.

Describe your set up as best you can and we will hash this out.

I have ~4 feet of bevlex 3/16 tubing going from my #5 Co2 tank into the keg. I had it set to ~50PSI for 24 hours. I burped the keg and turned the gas back up to 10PSI.

Then I have less than 4 feet of Bevlex 3/16 tubing going to a picnic tap.

When I burped the keg I poured with out any back pressure and the beer seemed kind of flat. I put the regulator back to 10PSI and its going to sit for a few days. I read posts on putting a restricting baffle in the dip tube. I think i need to just get more line. This Hefeweizen is going to need more Co2, so I'm sure I need more than 4 feet of line.

Frustrated and want a good kegged beer,

-Luca

luski09 said:

I have ~4 feet of bevlex 3/16 tubing going from my #5 Co2 tank into the keg. I had it set to ~50PSI for 24 hours. I burped the keg and turned the gas back up to 10PSI.

Then I have less than 4 feet of Bevlex 3/16 tubing going to a picnic tap.

When I burped the keg I poured with out any back pressure and the beer seemed kind of flat. I put the regulator back to 10PSI and its going to sit for a few days. I read posts on putting a restricting baffle in the dip tube. I think i need to just get more line. This Hefeweizen is going to need more Co2, so I'm sure I need more than 4 feet of line.

Frustrated and want a good kegged beer,

-Luca

Click to expand...

at 50 psi for 24 hours it will still be pretty flat. So no worries there.

the beer line is something you can change, if say you plan on having a certain hefe on tap all the time.

I would suggest:

1. 5-6 feet for your party tap, and accept that for a Hefe, you will have to have a separate ritual to pour it perfectly. For the rest of your ales and IPAs, etc=, 5 feet should be fine.

Separate ritual would be, burp your keg, and pour off of the residual back pressure (no PSI or like 5 psi), or gently ease on a bit of pressure, but only as much as you need.

You can get a separate party tap with more footage for hefes if you want.

You do have to learn your system and that jsut takes some time and tinkering. I run my perlick tap line up to the first floor for the basement, everyone told me it couldn't be done without glycol. Guess what,.. it can.

The main trick is that to balance your draft system you would need to balance the line resistance with the rackoff pressure (back pressure). To get there you would need to have your PSI regulator set for the hefe, and the line resistance set for the hefe back pressure. If you change to an ale with less carb, you need to adjust the line length and the PSI.

However since carbing doesn't happen over night, and for my taps, I can't willy nilly change the line resistance, I have to adjust for the hefes by carbing up, and lowering the dispensing pressure. However my regular ales, are perfectly balanced for the upstairs taps (serving pressure is 11-12psi and that provides a perfect carb).

as you work with your system you will see what works and get it balanced.

there are tons of these out there, different schools of thought etc., but there is a resistance adder for just about anything in a system. You can go the math route and give that a try:

http://***********/stories/techniqu...-balancing-your-draft-system-advanced-brewing

Honestly though - be patient, let it carb up for now. I would suggest 13PSI if your refridge is at 40F. If you want more carb after it sits at that for another week, turn up your pressure.

Just get 10' of line per tap and call it a day. $5 each.

I agree with tesilential, you are better off generally understanding the process, then adjusting with beer line.

You can do the math and add it all up and still be off, or forget to calculate something. I have a much more exact detail desiring engineering mind (this almost works to your own detriment here). This is one of those things where you probably are better off trying a few things and seeing what happens, then adjusting. There is an art to it as well as the science.

It wouldn't hurt to grab some longer beer line, let your brew fully carb based on the temp tables THEN try your pour and report back.

For my set up I planned on going with 12 feet of line, well the guy sold me 15 and told me to leave it on and try, then cut back (I calculated the need for 12 feet of line resistance). It worked out great at 15 feet. He said it is almost better to have a little too much line resistance than too little.

Anything to report back on your pour results?

Tried the Hefe yesterday! It's delicious! I burped the keg, then turned the regulator to 5psi. Good pour, but it could use more carbonation. I am going tomorrow to get more line so I can turn the pressure up a bit.

-Luca

cool - glad it is getting there for you.

Long lines are the key. I had a setup similar to yours with the 5' of beer line that came with the kegs. Even after 2-3 weeks on the gas, every time I'd pour it would taste flat. Burping and pouring at super low psi helped, but that gets to be a pain real quick. I put about 12' of line on each keg and have been able to set and forget at about 14 psi ever since.

abosolutely. Burping the keg is a work around, not a fix.

Longer lines will keep you sane, and give you a good poor. Buy them long, you can always cut them back.

I have 5ft party tap lines in the keezer for tasting etc. But they only work well for me if I am carbing to 11 psi or so.

check out this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/cure-your-short-hose-troubles-100151/

it might be easier than getting longer lines and it is easier to interchange those than your beer lines for different beers.

BWN said:

check out this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/cure-your-short-hose-troubles-100151/

it might be easier than getting longer lines and it is easier to interchange those than your beer lines for different beers.

Click to expand...

have you tried these? I always wondered if thye worked well, read that post a while back. Seems like it worked for some folks, and not so much for others.

I did see that post. that would be helpful because my minifridge is cramped full right now, and 10' of line would be interesting to stuff in there.

I have them in my kegs right now. I just filled up 2 kegs for the first time tonight. So I will report back in 2 weeks. I think that if they don't work they should be fairly easy to remove so why not.

I use them in all of my kegs, I have 4 foot of line for my taps to keep the spagetti to a minimum, and depending on the beer, I have between 2 and 4 of the mixers in each keg, I use 2 in my low carbed English milds and bitters, and currently have 4 in my high carbed saison.

I get a perfect pour every time, no crazy foaming, and that is with 1/4" line too.

I ordered the wrong line last time, so I have 100 foot of the big stuff to use up. instead of cleaning my lines I replace them to use up the line.

if you are going to order them from Mcmaster carr, get a bunch because the shipping will kill you on just one or two, I order a couple dozen at a time to keep in my kegging goodies.

azscoob said:

I use them in all of my kegs, I have 4 foot of line for my taps to keep the spagetti to a minimum, and depending on the beer, I have between 2 and 4 of the mixers in each keg, I use 2 in my low carbed English milds and bitters, and currently have 4 in my high carbed saison.

I get a perfect pour every time, no crazy foaming, and that is with 1/4" line too.

I ordered the wrong line last time, so I have 100 foot of the big stuff to use up. instead of cleaning my lines I replace them to use up the line.

if you are going to order them from Mcmaster carr, get a bunch because the shipping will kill you on just one or two, I order a couple dozen at a time to keep in my kegging goodies.

Click to expand...

cool - thanks for the tip. I have a master carr order in the works, was gonna get 12. Now I am thinking maybe 24.

Necro posting!

I'm glad I sprung for the three gauge two-product regulator when I built my kegerator, as I'll be kegging a Franziskaner clone this weekend and it looks like I'll want to set it to around 28 PSI. Just a quick question: if I'm using the set it and forget it method, I can use the PSI setting provided by a tool like this http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/carbonation.html for the two week carb period and then disconnect gas, burp the keg, set to serving pressure, reconnect and go for it, yes?

Thanks!