Noob kegging question

I've got my kegging equipment on the way, I'm very excited I might add. Anyways..I've read about every tutorial and watched every video on kegging and force carbing I can find. There is something I’m not sure of though, after I’ve forced carbed and let the beer sit for a few more days. Do I need to hook the CO2 line back up as I'm dispensing the beer? I've seen a few videos that made it look like this was the case but I haven't been able to find anyone who has actually commented on this. Most of these tutorials touch on prepping, and filling. Not dispensing. Thanks in advance.

Yes, you need to push the beer with CO2 pressure. Just to be sure you're on the right track, what method, exactly, do you plan to use to force carb your beer?

IMO/IME you're better off using the slower forced carbing method, over the rapid one. Give the keg two weeks at serving pressure (and temperature) to carbonate. As shown in this chart. IF you used the rapid method, then you'll still need to wait for the keg to equalize before you pour. That can take the same amount of time as using the slower (or two week) method. IMO, if it's easier on me and gets me a solid result, I do it. IMO/IME, trying to do the rapid forced carbonate will very often result in over carbonated kegs that you then take more time correcting.

Also, you need to keep the keg at serving pressure (and temperature) until it kicks. Each time you pull a pint from the keg, more CO2 needs to go in.

I think your confused dude.... The gas line is always hooked up, while carbing & dispensing. If you're carbing at a high pressure....when your done unhook or turn off the gas valve, bleed the keg, turn the pressure down to 12 psi and hook back up and serve. The easiest way is to just hook up the gas, set it to 12psi, let it sit for a couple weeks and serve.....with the line still connected that is.

+1 one on slower forced carbing. You'll have less headaches and foaming issues.
Make sure your beer line is long enough too to help prevent foaming.
Once the keg is carbed, you can essentially take it off the c02, there will be enough pressure to push beer out for a while. I usually leave it on a low PSI for pushing out once I get to my optimum carbonation.

stratslinger said:

Yes, you need to push the beer with CO2 pressure. Just to be sure you're on the right track, what method, exactly, do you plan to use to force carb your beer?

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Everything I've seen so far as pretty much told me to chill the beer for 24 hours in the keg, hook up the CO2, turn the valve up to about 25PSI, lay the tank on it's side and gently rock for about 2-3 minutes. Then put the beer back in the fridge for another 24 hours, after that I supposed to release a little bit of CO2 and put it back in the fridge for another 4 days or so. What Golddiggie makes a lot of sense but i'll be honest I feel more confused then ever now. I know everyone has there own way of doing things, I really need to get some hands on experience and find out what works for me I guess.

Cold71 said:

Everything I've seen so far as pretty much told me to chill the beer for 24 hours in the keg, hook up the CO2, turn the valve up to about 25PSI, lay the tank on it's side and gently rock for about 2-3 minutes. Then put the beer back in the fridge for another 24 hours, after that I supposed to release a little bit of CO2 and put it back in the fridge for another 4 days or so. What Golddiggie makes a lot of sense but i'll be honest I feel more confused then ever now. I know everyone has there own way of doing things, I really need to get some hands on experience and find out what works for me I guess.

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Oh, no don't do that! If you MUST shake the keg (and I do not recommend it but if you MUST), then have the psi at no higher than 12 psi. Otherwise, you'll have overcarbed foamy beer.

There are two pretty sure-fire ways to get a good carb. The first is to set the keg in the kegerator, set it at 12 psi, and come back in a week to 10 days. That makes perfect carbonation.

If you're in a huge hurry, set the beer in the kegerator at 30 psi for 36 hours, then purge and reset to 12 psi. That will give you a decent carb level in about 48 hours.

Shaking/rolling/rocking the keg will not be a reliable way to do it, and it's not any faster than the 48 hour method I mentioned above.

You'll get a more stable result by using the two weeks at serving pressure, and temperature, method. The rocking, at high pressure, can be VERY tricky for getting the desired CO2 volumes level. It's very easy to over carbonate a keg that way.

IMO, the rapid forced carbonation method is for people with zero patience and just want to get beer to glass fast. That's not me. I have four spots in my brew fridge, with three taps. SO, I have one keg being carbonated at any point, while three are being served. By the time a keg kicks, the one not on tap is carbonated fully.

I'm thinking about putting some of the kegs that are being stored in the basement, onto a CO2 feed. I'll just need to set the pressure to the correct level to at least partially carbonate them as they sit.

Yooper said:

Oh, no don't do that! If you MUST shake the keg (and I do not recommend it but if you MUST), then have the psi at no higher than 12 psi. Otherwise, you'll have overcarbed foamy beer.

There are two pretty sure-fire ways to get a good carb. The first is to set the keg in the kegerator, set it at 12 psi, and come back in a week to 10 days. That makes perfect carbonation.

If you're in a huge hurry, set the beer in the kegerator at 30 psi for 36 hours, then purge and reset to 12 psi. That will give you a decent carb level in about 48 hours.

Shaking/rolling/rocking the keg will not be a reliable way to do it, and it's not any faster than the 48 hour method I mentioned above.

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Thank you everyone for their help and thank you Yooper. This sounds like a very easy way to get it done. Leaving the gas turned on kind of freaks me out, any idea what it would take to over pressurize, rupturing the tank?

Corny kegs are made to withstand up to 130 PSI. Sanke kegs are made for up to 60 PSI. Chances of you getting the keg to either point (without seriously F'ing up) is virtually nil.

Cold71 said:

Thank you everyone for their help and thank you Yooper. This sounds like a very easy way to get it done. Leaving the gas turned on kind of freaks me out, any idea what it would take to over pressurize, rupturing the tank?

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This is why you use a regulator on your CO2 tank. Set the regulator at 12psi and it won't allow anymore than that to go into your keg.

Golddiggie said:

Corny kegs are made to withstand up to 130 PSI. Sanke kegs are made for up to 60 PSI. Chances of you getting the keg to either point (without seriously F'ing up) is virtually nil.

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It's a corny keg. After it's sat for a week at 12 PSI do I need to shut it off inbetween despensing it or just keep it on till the beers gone?

brewser7 said:

This is why you use a regulator on your CO2 tank. Set the regulator at 12psi and it won't allow anymore than that to go into your keg.

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That's news to me, good to know though. I always thought it would just keep the flow at 12 psi. This is a very new hobby to me so I appreciate the help. Thank you.

Leave the pressure set to what you need to carbonate, and serve, for the entire duration of the keg. Do NOT turn off the gas to the keg. You're seriously over-thinking this. Regulators are made to REGULATE the CO2 going to the keg. Once the keg is at pressure, no additional pressure/gas goes in until you remove some liquid, which makes more space for the gas to occupy. You can hear the gas going into the keg, when it's needed.

Turning the gas feed off, and on, will give you more issues than just leaving it the F alone. This isn't brain surgery you know.

Cold71 said:

It's a corny keg. After it's sat for a week at 12 PSI do I need to shut it off inbetween despensing it or just keep it on till the beers gone?

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Always have the co2 turned on. Basically as a few others have mentioned, you are literally going to set it at 12psi(look at a carb chart for exact figures) and forget about it...don't turn it up, down, or off. You leave it like that till the keg kicks.

If you follow that advise you will never overcarb your beer and it really doesn't take that much longer anyways. If you can't wait an extra couple of days you're in the wrong hobby . Patience is the name of the game as I quickly found out when I started.

For the record, I'm with everyone else in the "set it and forget it" camp. My observations have shown that, at 11psi anyway, it's more like 10-14 days before I have a fully carbed keg. If you're really impatient, you can drop a couple bucks extra on a carb stone attached to a length of tubing which is in turn attached to the gas dip tube inside your keg. I've got one keg rigged up in such a fashion, and it carbs up in just a couple days at serving pressure.

This might also be a good time to head off one of the next logical question you could run into: how long do you intend to make your beer lines? Too short, and they can lead to very foamy pours. Good rule of thumb, is if you keep your kegerator around 40F or so and your pressure around 11 or 12psi, that 8-12' is a good line length.

Golddiggie said:

Leave the pressure set to what you need to carbonate, and serve, for the entire duration of the keg. Do NOT turn off the gas to the keg. You're seriously over-thinking this. Regulators are made to REGULATE the CO2 going to the keg. Once the keg is at pressure, no additional pressure/gas goes in until you remove some liquid, which makes more space for the gas to occupy. You can hear the gas going into the keg, when it's needed.

Turning the gas feed off, and on, will give you more issues than just leaving it the F alone. This isn't brain surgery you know.

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Thanks, I understand now. This certainly isn’t brain surgery but clearly I’ve never done this before. I'm big on asking a question when I don't know something and I’m never afraid to admit when I don't have a clue what I’m doing, hence the thread name Noob Kegging Question. I'm a computer engineer for Dell by trade so this is quite a bit different from what I do day to day. I feel like I’ve learned a ton here in a very short amount of time and I appreciate everyone’s help. I think this will keep me from making any noob type mistakes.

I just want to add... Don't be afraid to experiment. Its YOUR stuff and everyone has different ways to do it. I can't stand to wait for 2 more weeks after Ive waited 3 already. But i do only have one keg so I basically have 0 pipeline.

I'm not saying that the people here are wrong. They're NOT. I'm just saying try different things, listen to different opinions, then formulate your own.

Soldevi said:

I just want to add... Don't be afraid to experiment. Its YOUR stuff and everyone has different ways to do it. I can't stand to wait for 2 more weeks after Ive waited 3 already. But i do only have one keg so I basically have 0 pipeline.

I'm not saying that the people here are wrong. They're NOT. I'm just saying try different things, listen to different opinions, then formulate your own.

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Having just one keg, or 0 pipeline, is just WRONG...

I have enough kegs, and plan batches far enough ahead of consuming, that I can give at least half of the batch more time to age/condition in keg. I like having several kegs in storage (basement now) so that I'm not concerned about running low/out of brew. I also have more than one fermenter to fill, so I can make batches that are ready when either I am, or kegs are available. IF I have a batch that's ready for keg and I don't have enough empty kegs for it, then I simply get more kegs. I have enough empty kegs, currently, for two batches.

I'm hopeful that by the time I need more kegs, I'll have enough empty for the batch. Might need to get some neighbors over to have some brew.

I know. it sucks.

But that's where I am at the moment. I have a fridge that will only fit one keg so. Sucks to be me. I'll get another one someday. haha

Yeah the high carb, shake, carb, shake, is for when you're in a pickle and need to get it carbed fast. You're essentially trying to get as much c02 in the beer as you can as fast as possible. It does work, but you usually have more problems than worth it. I've been pressed for time with BBQ's and events etc. and had to carb fast, I usually just do what Yooper said carb high for a while, release, carb lower, I tried the shaking thing, was a mess trying to get it back to a normal carbonation level without foam. Obviously best way is to be patient and carb at 12-20 over a longer period of time. Pour a glass or two here and there to where it is you like it then put down the pressure for serving. In a pickle, put it on higher PSI (40'ish), but you will have to play around with it to have it pour right. Another thing to add, sometimes poppits and picnic taps can leak, i've had a chest freezer full of 5 gallons of beer (yeah I cried) so I tend to not even put the beer line on until after 10 days or so and you have time to watch it every now and again to see it is not leaking. It'll take some time to figure out your system and you'll know the right levels for your beer lines and set-up, take some good notes on what you did with the previous keg and the results and you'll get it just right. Trust me, I love kegging but hated all the foam I was getting until I got it all figured it out. I wouldn't worry about c02 being left on, put your keg on 12 psi in the evening and if it is not empty the next morning, then you probably don't have a leak and you'll be fine. And unlike Golddiggie, I had a busy summer and did not brew too much so i'm with 2 half kegs and zero pipeline, so don't worry about it. Time to brew!. Goodluck.