keg carbonation question

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harihari

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OK. Made and kegged my first batch of dry stout. MMM! However I need some advice regarding carbonating the keg.

First, supposing I have a 20 litre keg (with 20 litres in it), how high should the pressure be? And how long does it take to permeate the beer?

Second, as you drink it, obviously the pressure will go down. Should one top up the pressure...and, if so, does one top it up to whatever PSI it was on first, or does the PSI change as the amount of beer in the tank goes down?

I would be very grateful for any answers.


chris
 
Find out what temp your fridge is at. Then take a look at this chart and it will tell you what your psi needs to be set at. http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

The CO2 should be connected to your keg at all times, so there's no need to adjust it once you initially dial it in.

It will take about 5-7 days to fully carbonate, but the beer is still green at this point, so it won't taste it's best for another few weeks. This has been my experience.

A lot of people will tell you to force carb at 30psi for a day or so and it will be perfectly carbonated. I don't believe this and I find that you usually just end up with a beer that's still green and overcarbonated.

The set it an forget it method that I mentioned above it fool proof and works every time.
 
I noticed that my CO2 tank started to drop pressure after 3 days in the fridge. Brand new tank is just below 800PSI then 3 days later is was below 600 PSI. I was a little worried that I had a leak so I took it out of the fridge. 3 hours at room temp the PSI level went back to just below 800 PSI. Is this normal?


Find out what temp your fridge is at. Then take a look at this chart and it will tell you what your psi needs to be set at. http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

The CO2 should be connected to your keg at all times, so there's no need to adjust it once you initially dial it in.


It will take about 5-7 days to fully carbonate, but the beer is still green at this point, so it won't taste it's best for another few weeks. This has been my experience.

A lot of people will tell you to force carb at 30psi for a day or so and it will be perfectly carbonated. I don't believe this and I find that you usually just end up with a beer that's still green and overcarbonated.

The set it an forget it method that I mentioned above it fool proof and works every time.
 
Yup. Pressure is dependent upon temperature. You can put it in or out of the fridge, it doesn't matter. But it will read a lower pressure in the fridge.
 
Yup. Pressure is dependent upon temperature. You can put it in or out of the fridge, it doesn't matter. But it will read a lower pressure in the fridge.

+1. Also, those temp gauges that show how much co2 is in the tank are worthless. Mine always reads around 500-600, then just drops as soon as I'm out of CO2.
 
I got my kegging kit from keg connection . com it was a good price with new CO2 tank. I just kegged my first one last night. its a Rye P. A. Will probably try a glass this weekend...

As far as price my set was $225 or so and it has two corny kegs, CO2 tank, two valves to install through the door of your fridge and all the tubing needed...
 
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