Leave the Gas On?

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Vismich

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I kegged for the first time tonight. I have the gas set to 10PSI, and I guess it's carbonating.

My question is, do I leave the gas turned on while it's carbonation?

How long does that process take?
 
Depending on temperature, at least a week.

And yes, keep the gas on as over the next week it will equalize at 10 psi.
 
And yes, keep the gas on as over the next week it will equalize at 10 psi.

As long as the OP doesn't have a leak. I found out the hard way (had to replace 15# of CO2 that I had just gotten filled up a couple weeks before!)

Now I have a keg pressure checker that I use on kegs to validate they are keeping their pressure and not slowly leaking somewhere.
 
As long as the OP doesn't have a leak. I found out the hard way (had to replace 15# of CO2 that I had just gotten filled up a couple weeks before!)

Now I have a keg pressure checker that I use on kegs to validate they are keeping their pressure and not slowly leaking somewhere.

You can also use a spray bottle with Starsan to check for leaks.
 
24 - 36 hours at 30 psi will speed the process, be forwarned that over carbonation can and will occur if you are excessive. Cold beer will carb faster as well.
 
24 - 36 hours at 30 psi will speed the process, be forwarned that over carbonation can and will occur if you are excessive. Cold beer will carb faster as well.

That's right.

There are ways to make it carb up faster- rolling and shaking the keg for example. But few people can do this well, without either having foamy overcarbed beer, or a "carbonic acid bite" to the beer with the fresh carbonation.

But if you want a fool-proof way to faster carbonation, you can do what wilserbrewer says. Turn the gas on the keg (while it's in the kegerator) up to 30 psi for 36 hours. Then, purge, and reset to 12 psi. Pull out a couple of ounces (it'll be sludgy and yucky) and dump that. Then you could have a sample of slightly undercarbed beer (but it will be pretty good). In two more days, it should be just about perfect but will continue to improve for up to a week.

My preference is to "set it and forget it" and have perfectly carbed, clear beer in a week to 10 days. But you can drink it about 5 days faster with the quicker carbing method if you remember to turn it down after 36 hours.
 
There are ways to make it carb up faster- rolling and shaking the keg for example. But few people can do this well, without either having foamy overcarbed beer, or a "carbonic acid bite" to the beer with the fresh carbonation.

And that's why I always just do the set it and forget it method. The few times I've shaken to carb, my beers have had a very distinct bite to them. It's always settled out over time, but the whole point to shaking is to be able to drink them sooner. I've got enough beers in my pipeline I don't run into that anymore.
 
It will settle some, but fully clear, doubtful. At least my cloudy/muddy beer in my keg right now has maintained most of the haze, even after 3 weeks in the keg. I rushed mine too fast though. Should have left it in the primary for another 2 weeks or so before kegging.
 
I shook the keg to carb. My beer looks like mud...will that settle out?

Tastes great, looks like ****

Try to get the keg as close to 32 degrees as possible. You obivously don't want to freeze the beer, but the colder temperature should help it settle better. After cold crashing for a couple/few/maybe a week days, draw a couple of pints to remove the sediment. (The longer you let it sit, the clearer it should get. Also, it won't freeze at 32 degrees due to the alcohol. That's why I can keep my Grey Goose in the Freezer :ban: )

Alternatively, you can try gelatin...which I've never done.
 
Usually even the warmest setting on a freezer using the standard thermostat is still below freezing.
 
I don't know what would happen to a keg if the beer in it froze, but I don't want to find out. Ever. Not ever.
 
I don't know what would happen to a keg if the beer in it froze, but I don't want to find out. Ever. Not ever.

I would think nothing would happen. Just let it thaw out. The head pressure in the keg would go up since all the CO2 would come out but the kegs are rated to around 100psi so I would think they could take it. Plus they have the pressure relief valve.

As for the beer, it would kill all the remaining yeast but at that point who cares. It should not harm the beer in any other way.
 
I would think nothing would happen. Just let it thaw out. The head pressure in the keg would go up since all the CO2 would come out but the kegs are rated to around 100psi so I would think they could take it. Plus they have the pressure relief valve.

As for the beer, it would kill all the remaining yeast but at that point who cares. It should not harm the beer in any other way.

Depending on how full the keg is, you also have to account for the expansion of water as it freezes, which could put quite a bit of force on the walls of the keg. I could imagine a full keg getting quite deformed if it froze solid.
 
Weizenwerks said:
That's the key is to have one carbonating while you are drinking off another keg.

Does that mean you have to have a split line from your co2 cylinder to be drinking from one keg and carbing another?
 
I don't know why but no one ever mentions a carbonation stone. You can carb a beer in less than 24 hours with one.
 
I don't know why but no one ever mentions a carbonation stone. You can carb a beer in less than 24 hours with one.

Probably because the only way a stone could speed up the process would be to bubble through a non-pressurized vessel for the duration, wasting a sh!tload of gas in the offing. Otherwise, if the vessel is sealed, in short order it would reach equilibrium with the regulator and no more gas would enter it, and you'd be barely better off than without a stone.

You can carbonate a keg in an hour without a stone if you put it on gas and rock the keg for the duration. There's nothing magical about using a stone in that case...

Cheers!
 
turkeyjerky214 said:
Yup. You need a manifold that splits the CO2 off to the individual kegs.

This is what they looks like
3 way co2 manifold

Thanks, and with that manifold can you vary the pressure to each respective keg or would you have to keep them both at 10-12 psi?
 
That manifold will allow you to direct gas to 3 separate kegs. The pressure will set by the regulator which is most likely going to be placed between that manifold and the CO2 tank, soo.... No, your pressure would be the same on all 3 lines. I also HIGHLY doubt that manifold is good for the full cylinder pressure without having a regulator between the manifold and cylinder.

All, for what its worth, I maintain my beer in my keezer set to 28 degrees F. It modulates between 28 and 32 degrees F, and in the past I have noticed slight icing after i thought I had floated the keg and opened it up to find out I have a nice layer of ice remaining in the bottom, but never noticed any issues with freezing solid. Not everyone prefers to keep their beer that cold, but just my $0.02 that a temperature like that has not ever caused any adverse affects. On a side note, the icing issue only happened on one keg and i believe i had my keezer colder than it currently sits. My last keg (floated 2 days ago) had zero icing.
 
Depending on how full the keg is, you also have to account for the expansion of water as it freezes, which could put quite a bit of force on the walls of the keg. I could imagine a full keg getting quite deformed if it froze solid.

I've frozen my kegs twice now due to a faulty Ranco controller. No damage to the kegs and the beer was the same once it thawed. I guess I had enough head space to not destroy my kegs with bulging ice hopsicles.
 
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