first time kegging help

just kegged for the first time! we did it today and want to have it ready for Saturday. any help on carbing it and psi would be awesome. not to sure what to do next. do i leave it in the kegerator with the co2 tank on for the whole week? or just a few times a week?
thanks for all your help

A week in the fridge at serving pressure you should be good, did you seal and purge the keg with co2?

To add to what chef said, you can try it on Friday and if you think it is still a little flat you can bump the pressure up to maybe 15 to 20 psi over the night. I doubt you will have to though.

what exactly do you mean by seal and purge?

jaw005 said:

what exactly do you mean by seal and purge?

Click to expand...

Seal and purge means you put the lid on the keg, pressurize it with co2, vent it back out with the vent on the lid or by depressing the co2 Poppit, and pressurizing the keg again. You should repeat the process a couple times to flush the o2 out of the keg.

If your keg doesn't have a vent in the lid you can vent through the co2 poppit, it's the little button on the gas in post. Just press it down with your thumb or whatever works. Make sure you don't do this to the beer in post because, as the name suggests, beer will come out.

i got ball lock kegs. so i should pressurize it, then vent it all out a few times. then leave it in the kegerator for a week with the co2 set at around 7-10psi? sound about right? how long will the 5# tank last?

2 days at 20 psi then release some pressure and then 1 day at 7-10 psi and you are good to go

at about 34 degrees

As long as you have no leaks 5 lbs will last quite a while. When you seal the keg hold the lid in place then apply co2 to the tank and let the pressure seal the keg, a little keg lube helps too, then throw the bale over then burp it a few times.
I usually do about 10 to 12 psi.
Enjoy

brew_ny said:

2 days at 20 psi then release some pressure and then 1 day at 7-10 psi and you are good to go

at about 34 degrees

Click to expand...

There are quite a few ways to do it, experiment and see what works for you but a week is plenty of time.

ChefRex said:

There are quite a few ways to do it, experiment and see what works for you but a week is plenty of time.

Click to expand...

that is about it finding out what works for you and your setup

all the best and enjoy the day

S_M

You can use this carbonation chart to see what temp and pressure you want to keep things at. 7-10 psi would be too little carbonation for my system, as I keep the kegerator at about 41 degrees. For set and forget method you just hook it up to this pressure and temp and it will be carbonated in about 2 wks. To have it ready sooner you need to crank up the pressure for a day or two as others mentioned. This may take some practice as you risk over shooting and getting over carbed beer.

I have my co2 tank in the fridge with the kegs. is it normal for the gauge to be in the red saying almost empty after less than 24 hours? or is there a leak someone? iv read that the gauge really isn't that reliable and it reads less when cold and that a 5# tank should last a few kegs. just a little worried since its my first time

jaw005 said:

I have my co2 tank in the fridge with the kegs. is it normal for the gauge to be in the red saying almost empty after less than 24 hours? or is there a leak someone? iv read that the gauge really isn't that reliable and it reads less when cold and that a 5# tank should last a few kegs. just a little worried since its my first time

Click to expand...

That's nothing to worry about, that gauge is only accurate at room temperature (tank outside the fridge). If you set your tank outside the keezer that gauge will be a little more accurate. You have nothing to worry about if you can purge co2 from a keg and it refills right away.

mpop said:

that gauge is only accurate at room temperature (tank outside the fridge). If you set your tank outside the keezer that gauge will be a little more accurate.

Click to expand...

The gauge is accurate in both cases. The pressure in the tank does drop with temperature, but the capacity is the same. Regardless of temperature, the only way to know how much CO2 is left is to weigh the tank.

the only way to know how much CO2 is left is to weigh the tank.
There should be a tare weight stamped in the tank.

i cant seem to find the tare weight anywhere on my co2 tank. anyone know what the average weight of one is? a steel 5# tank

12 pounds for steel, 7.5 pounds for aluminum...

Cheers!