I am hoping that someone can help me out. I just got into kegging (kegged my last brew and it did not turn out that well) and trying to figure this whole thing out. To begin with, one person told me that the reason my last brew did not turn out that well was because I did not purge my keg prior to kegging. Is that a possibility?
On another note, I have heard two schools of thought to kegging. One person at a homebrew store instructed me to purge the keg (which I did not do with my first batch) and then turn the pressure up to about 15psi and put the keg in the fridge. I was told to leave the pressure on the keg and it should be ready to drink in about 3 to 4 days. When I did this with my first batch, I put the CO2 tank in the fridge and the pressure dropped. Does this mean that I should turn the pressure up to keep it at 15 or just leave it where it is at. Secondly, should I drill a hole in the fridge so the CO2 can be outside the fridge?
The second school of thought that I have heard is to purge the keg, then insert beer. Then they informed me to blast the keg with as much CO2 as it will hold. Then shake the keg and roll it around to get the CO2 into all of the beer. Then they said to blast the keg with CO2 again until it can no longer take any more. Then place in the fridge and the beer will be ready in as soon as 8 hours.
Now I realize I have placed alot of information on here, but if someone can answer the questions below, I would greatly appreciate it so I dont waste another batch of beer.
1. Does it damage the beer to shake it up after in the keg and pressurized with CO2? (one person told me that it is not good for the beer to do so)
2. Is it better to just put it under about 15psi and leave it charging the keg until ready to drink? If this is the way to go, should the tank be in the fridge or out of the fridge? If in the fridge, do I need to keep the pressure up to 15 like I started with or just let the pressure drop as the temp of the CO2 drops?
3. Did I screw up the last batch by not purging the keg prior to putting in the beer?
4. How long will the beer last once in the keg? Do I need to drink the beer in a certain amount of time before it goes bad because in bottles, it will just get better with time.
On another note, I have heard two schools of thought to kegging. One person at a homebrew store instructed me to purge the keg (which I did not do with my first batch) and then turn the pressure up to about 15psi and put the keg in the fridge. I was told to leave the pressure on the keg and it should be ready to drink in about 3 to 4 days. When I did this with my first batch, I put the CO2 tank in the fridge and the pressure dropped. Does this mean that I should turn the pressure up to keep it at 15 or just leave it where it is at. Secondly, should I drill a hole in the fridge so the CO2 can be outside the fridge?
The second school of thought that I have heard is to purge the keg, then insert beer. Then they informed me to blast the keg with as much CO2 as it will hold. Then shake the keg and roll it around to get the CO2 into all of the beer. Then they said to blast the keg with CO2 again until it can no longer take any more. Then place in the fridge and the beer will be ready in as soon as 8 hours.
Now I realize I have placed alot of information on here, but if someone can answer the questions below, I would greatly appreciate it so I dont waste another batch of beer.
1. Does it damage the beer to shake it up after in the keg and pressurized with CO2? (one person told me that it is not good for the beer to do so)
2. Is it better to just put it under about 15psi and leave it charging the keg until ready to drink? If this is the way to go, should the tank be in the fridge or out of the fridge? If in the fridge, do I need to keep the pressure up to 15 like I started with or just let the pressure drop as the temp of the CO2 drops?
3. Did I screw up the last batch by not purging the keg prior to putting in the beer?
4. How long will the beer last once in the keg? Do I need to drink the beer in a certain amount of time before it goes bad because in bottles, it will just get better with time.