First time kegging - need help!!!

Indyking · Dec 13, 2010

So, my beer is cold inside the corny keg and ready for carbonation. So, I'm going to apply 12 psi and leave it alone for a couple of days as I was told. I figured I can control how much pressure I want by releasing the the air in the valve located in the gauge, but I'm not sure how I apply the pressure. Should I open the gas into the keg until the hissing sound stop and then close the valve (stop the flow of gas into the keg) or should I leave the valve feeding gas to the keg open all the time? I know this is a stupid question but I just don't know!

Suthrncomfrt1884 · Dec 13, 2010

You should leave the valve open at all times. It will take 5-7 days to carbonated, but it'll still be green for another few weeks. I usually just let my beers sit with the gas hooked up for 2-3 weeks before I attempt to taste them.

Hammy71 · Dec 13, 2010

Dial back your regulator screw til it feels loose. Hook up keg. Turn on valve on CO2 tank. Turn regulator screw til it reaches 12 psi. Leave it hooked up for a couple of weeks.

Indyking · Dec 14, 2010

Thanks guys! I left the gas flow to the keg open at 12 psi. I noticed this morning (after 8 hours) that the gauge is now showing 11 psi instead of 12. Is it normal to loose a little bit of pressure as the beer gets colder inside the keg and the gas mix with the liquid, or should I be concerned about the keg not holding pressure? I got the keg at keg connection, reconditioned.

jackers252 · Dec 14, 2010

That's fine, just bump it back to 12 psi. Congrats on not having a leaking system!

Indyking · Dec 14, 2010

jackers252 said:
That's fine, just bump it back to 12 psi. Congrats on not having a leaking system!

Thanks. I think I will just leave it at 11 psi if it stabilizes there. I was planning to carbonate it at 10-12 psi, but set up 12 initially as if I was anticipating the drop.

I'm just glad I'm kegging now, although I don't completely plan to give up bottling.

cruckin78 · Dec 14, 2010

I force carb my kegged beer, as I'm less patient....30 psi for 36 hours, then dial back to 12 for 2-3 days, then back to 10psi to serve....Perfectly carbed in ~5 days.

Indyking · Dec 14, 2010

cruckin78 said:
I force carb my kegged beer, as I'm less patient....30 psi for 36 hours, then dial back to 12 for 2-3 days, then back to 10psi to serve....Perfectly carbed in ~5 days.

How do you then control how much carbonation you want?

I like different CO2 volumes for different beer styles, so Beersmith help me to determine how much steady pressure I need to apply to the Keg.

cruckin78 · Dec 14, 2010

There are 'force carb' calc's out there, you put in your co2 volumes and temp, it will tell you psi and how long.

Indyking · Dec 14, 2010

cruckin78 said:
There are 'force carb' calc's out there, you put in your co2 volumes and temp, it will tell you psi and how long.

I have yet to see a calculator (online or software) that brings the information of "how long" to force carb a beer.

I also force carb and most people kegging does the same! The reason I used 10-12 psi was that my beer was already refrigerated and that's all need to accomplish 2.2 volumes of CO2 in a refrigerated beer.

I suspect you are using 30 psi for 36 hours in a beer that is at room or at Ale-fermenting temps then adjusting it to 10-12 psi after 36 hours when it has already reached cool temps inside the kegerator. If you do that, you are not speeding up the process at all. Forced carbonation does not mean carbonating it faster, it just means artificial carbonation with CO2 as opposed to natural carbonation using sugar. More details here: http://www.beersmith.com/kegging_basics.htm

If you really want to speed up artificial carbonation, then there is the crank and shake method (http://www.makinghomebrew.com/kegging-homebrew-carbonating-beer/).

Shooter · Dec 14, 2010

Indyking said:
I suspect you are using 30 psi for 36 hours in a beer that is at room or at Ale-fermenting temps then adjusting it to 10-12 psi after 36 hours when it has already reached cool temps inside the kegerator. If you do that, you are not speeding up the process at all. Forced carbonation does not mean carbonating it faster, it just means artificial carbonation with CO2 as opposed to natural carbonation using sugar.

I believe he's doing the 30 psi at a cold temperature. What he's talking about is a sort of hybrid technique I've seen mentioned by a few people where they force a fair amount of gas into the beer during a 24-48 hour period and then back it down to serving pressure for a couple of days. I've never tried it, so can't really say if it works.

Suthrncomfrt1884 · Dec 14, 2010

My opinion of the above mentioned method...it's crap. 99% of the time, you'll end up with a poorly carbonated, or overcarbonated beer. 12psi will still have a beer carbonated in 5-7 days...so why risk overcarbing it?

Either way...impatient or not... your beer is still going to be green even if you get it carbonated that fast. Why not let it sit the full 2-3 weeks and enjoy your beer at a better level?

Indyking · Dec 14, 2010

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:
My opinion of the above mentioned method...it's crap. 99% of the time, you'll end up with a poorly carbonated, or overcarbonated beer. 12psi will still have a beer carbonated in 5-7 days...so why risk overcarbing it?

Either way...impatient or not... your beer is still going to be green even if you get it carbonated that fast. Why not let it sit the full 2-3 weeks and enjoy your beer at a better level?

I tend to agree. I listened to a podcast from basic brewing where they are saying that forcing quick carbonation, like using the crank and shake method, is good only to achieve always a similar level of carbonation after getting a lot of experience with the method. They say the "purists" achieve better carbonation overall with the traditional sit and wait method because control is much easier, but I think full 2-3 weeks is a bit exaggerated. They say 3-4 days to sit and wait for good results and 1 week minimum for the best taste.

Suthrncomfrt1884 · Dec 14, 2010

Indyking said:
I tend to agree. I listened to a podcast from basic brewing where they are saying that forcing quick carbonation, like using the crank and shake method, is good only to achieve always a similar level of carbonation after getting a lot of experience with the method. They say the "purists" achieve better carbonation overall with the traditional sit and wait method because control is much easier, but I think full 2-3 weeks is a bit exaggerated. They say 3-4 days to sit and wait for good results and 1 week minimum for the best taste.

Are you sure they don't mean best carbonation in 1 week?

I can agree with that. It only takes me 5-7 days to carb a beer. But...after years of kegging experience, I can say that a beer definately tastes MUCH better after 2-3 weeks. It gives the beer time to absorb that "carbonic acid" taste. It's the little "pucker" you get from drinking a freshly carbonated beer.

snowman · Dec 14, 2010

Indyking said:
I also force carb and most people kegging does the same! The reason I used 10-12 psi was that my beer was already refrigerated and that's all need to accomplish 2.2 volumes of CO2 in a refrigerated beer.
<snip>
If you really want to speed up artificial carbonation, then there is the crank and shake method (http://www.makinghomebrew.com/kegging-homebrew-carbonating-beer/).

psi and volumes still need a duration factor, the 12 psi works at a constant temp given some length of time, 30 psi will need less time at the same temp.

There is no such thing as artificial carbonation. Force carbing is as real as longer duration carbing, you just don't get the conditioning time included. Agitation at low temp can provide excellent carbing in just a few hours.

Suthrncomfrt1884 · Dec 14, 2010

snowman said:
psi and volumes still need a duration factor, the 12 psi works at a constant temp given some length of time, 30 psi will need less time at the same temp.

There is no such thing as artificial carbonation. Force carbing is as real as longer duration carbing, you just don't get the conditioning time included. Agitation at low temp can provide excellent carbing in just a few hours.

+1 to the info...

For anyone who wants to force carb at 30psi just so they can get the beer done faster... read this thread. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/does-fast-force-carbonation-green-beer-113978/

Shooter · Dec 14, 2010

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:
My opinion of the above mentioned method...it's crap. 99% of the time, you'll end up with a poorly carbonated, or overcarbonated beer. 12psi will still have a beer carbonated in 5-7 days...so why risk overcarbing it?

Either way...impatient or not... your beer is still going to be green even if you get it carbonated that fast. Why not let it sit the full 2-3 weeks and enjoy your beer at a better level?

Possibly, like I said, never tried it, just clarifying that technique for the OP as it's somewhere between the shake method and the wait method.

Personally, I just throw priming sugar in the keg and let it carbonate that way.

Indyking · Dec 15, 2010

snowman said:
psi and volumes still need a duration factor, the 12 psi works at a constant temp given some length of time, 30 psi will need less time at the same temp..

Sorry, but I think you missed the point here. That higher psi needs less time to carbonate at the same temp is obvious! What I meant was that if 30 psi is applied when the beer is still at room temp then dialed back to 12 psi when the beer gets cold, that's not speeding up the process!

snowman said:
There is no such thing as artificial carbonation.

I'm afraid you are wrong. The guy who wrote the article about kegging at BYO magazine 2 issues ago... he aslo have a podcast at basic brewing and defining carbonation in 2 basic styles:

1-Artificial carbonation (Like the popular crank and shake or sit and wait methods but there are also other methods)

2-Natural carbonation (using priming sugar)

This is a great source for artificial carbonation:

http://www.homebrewit.com/Brew_House_Artificial_Carbonation_Techniques.pdf

It tells exactly how much psi you need for each temp.

Also if you google artificial carbonation, you can find hundreds of different articles on it...

cruckin78 · Dec 15, 2010

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:
+1 to the info...

For anyone who wants to force carb at 30psi just so they can get the beer done faster... read this thread. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/does-fast-force-carbonation-green-beer-113978/

Well after reading that thread...I stand corrected....My beer never seems green though, maybe since I always use a secondary is why.....I usually go primary 10-14 days, secondary 10 days, then keg....drinking excellent beer after ~5days.

So i'm basically wasting gas at 30psi for 36 hours?

skibumdc · Dec 15, 2010

Hammy71 said:
Dial back your regulator screw til it feels loose. Hook up keg. Turn on valve on CO2 tank. Turn regulator screw til it reaches 12 psi. Leave it hooked up for a couple of weeks.

:rockin:
If you're not in a hurry to drink from the keg, the set and forget method hasn't failed me yet. Plus it allows the beer to condition for a bit int he keg.

j1laskey · Dec 15, 2010

cruckin78 said:
+1
And this is why I use a secondary!

First time kegging - need help!!!

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