1st Time Corny Keg User

Hello - this is my first post here. My friend Scott got me into homebrewing a couple months ago. I helped him make a couple batches of IPA. I made a Porter for my first beer and he helped me keg it yesterday. I searched online and found that it should be put around 13-14 PSI for the temperature here, so I put it on CO2. How do you know when the beer is carbonated / finished? I don't like fizzy beer and I'm more of a cask conditioned beer fan.

My beer is setting at 58 degrees in the garage. I don't have room in the fridge. The temperature stays pretty even out there since I live in Alaska.

13-14 PSI? Are you kidding me? Average carbonation is around 2.5 volumes of CO2, but you aren't getting anywhere near that at 58 degrees. You are getting maybe 2 volumes with that low a PSI at that high a temperature.

I'm not the "fizzy beer" type of guy, but I run about 11.5 PSI at 38 degrees. I can almost always pour a good glass from my keg with maybe a 1/2 inch head on it, just like bottles.

If you like your beer on the flat side, then I guess you'll be happy.

Oh, and to answer your question: once the CO2 is hooked up and turned on, you need to wait about five to seven days for equilibrium is achieved and the beer is ready to be served. You could used the shake-like-mad method for much quicker results, but I wouldn't recommend it.

So what PSI should I be using?

I got the 13-14PSI from http://sdcollins.home.mindspring.com/Carbonation Chart.xls

I also checked here and it gave similar results depending on the desired volumes of CO2 (between 1.7 and 2.5 for brown porters):

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

daveIT said:

So what PSI should I be using?

I got the 13-14PSI from http://sdcollins.home.mindspring.com/Carbonation Chart.xls

I also checked here and it gave similar results depending on the desired volumes of CO2 (between 1.7 and 2.5 for brown porters):

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

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If you like your porter on the flat side, I guess you are fine. I don't like any beer that flat. Even my stouts are carbonated with 2.5 volumes at 38 degrees. Wait five to seven days and try it. If, after a week, it is still too flat for your liking, crank up the carbonation and wait another several days, then try it again.

I had it at 14 for a couple days and tasted it and it was still a bit green. I bumped it up to 16 PSI and tried it again today and I could tell it matured a little. It poured a decent head on it that stayed for quite awhile. I get a slight nose and taste of smokiness. I think it's going to kick major butt in a week or so. Yum!

daveIT said:

I had it at 14 for a couple days and tasted it and it was still a bit green. I bumped it up to 16 PSI and tried it again today and I could tell it matured a little. It poured a decent head on it that stayed for quite awhile. I get a slight nose and taste of smokiness. I think it's going to kick major butt in a week or so. Yum!

Click to expand...

Great, Sounds killer I love a fine Porter dose my nick give it away! We all learn by trial and error,expearmenting I think your on the right track..