Quick question before I start Kegging.

Got my CO2, got my kegs, got my beer. Shangri-La is near. I sanitized with start san. Now my only question is should I force carb at room temp or wait until its in the fridge for 24 hrs? Im not drinking it until Saturday so no hurry really.

I always force carb with 30lbs CO2. Relieve the valve to purge the oxygen, put more CO2 in, then roll the keg around for about 120seconds. hook up the CO2 again.
Put it in the fridge. After three days my beer is always perfectly carbonated and yummy.

Sounds easy enough. Thanks for the info. I will let ya know how it turns out.

cjmcfoot, are you leaving it at 30 for all 3 days or resetting it to serving pressure after shaking it?

What works for me is checking what psi my particular beer style should be carbed add based on typical serving temperature. I don't wait for it to fall to that temp once kegged, I just figure it will get there in a day or so. Meanwhile, let's say it says set it to 28 psi. I'll set to that psi. Shake it...Then set it back to 28 psi and let it sit. The next day I'll shake it, and set it again at 28 psi. I'll do this for about 3 days. Then kick it back to serving pressure.

Then after you shake your keg and keep it at a super high psi for days, you can start a thread on why your beer is all foam.

The set and forget method is the most accurate for proper carbonation, but it requires time. The funny thing is , people will spend hundreds of dollars on brewing equipment, spend hours brewing, and weeks fermenting, meticulously clean and sanitize everything in preparation of tasting their homemade masterpiece.

Then skimp on the last step, just to get a mouthful (usually green) a couple of days early. I'm not saying it won't carbonate it faster, i'm saying I despise the practice. I will never shake a homebrew, a baby maybe, but never my beer.

wildwest450 said:

The set and forget method is the most accurate for proper carbonation, but it requires time.

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THIS! Your beer won't really be ready any sooner than the keg will carbonate by the set and forget method anyway. Put your keg in the kegerator or keezer and hook it up to your CO2 at whatever is the appropriate psi and it will carbonate.

wildwest450 said:

Then after you shake your keg and keep it at a super high psi for days, you can start a thread on why your beer is all foam.

The set and forget method is the most accurate for proper carbonation, but it requires time. The funny thing is , people will spend hundreds of dollars on brewing equipment, spend hours brewing, and weeks fermenting, meticulously clean and sanitize everything in preparation of tasting their homemade masterpiece.

Then skimp on the last step, just to get a mouthful (usually green) a couple of days early. I'm not saying it won't carbonate it faster, i'm saying I despise the practice. I will never shake a homebrew, a baby maybe, but never my beer.

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Dude I've been doing the shake method and I have no problem with foam. The first week of drinking may have about an inch and 1/2 which is 'maybe' a little much, but after that a consistant 1 inch head.

daveooph131 said:

Dude I've been doing the shake method and I have no problem with foam. The first week of drinking may have about an inch and 1/2 which is 'maybe' a little much, but after that a consistant 1 inch head.

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Thats fine, I had to throw my 2cents in, I despise that method. To each his own.

daveooph131 said:

Dude I've been doing the shake method and I have no problem with foam. The first week of drinking may have about an inch and 1/2 which is 'maybe' a little much, but after that a consistant 1 inch head.

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You keep it at high pressure for how many days?

It all depends on the Style of beer. I find I have to fine tune the CO2 over a period of about a month before I think it's as good as it gets.

I do find it interesting how dramatically CO2 affects the quality of my beer. Too much and it accentuates the bite... too little and it looses the flavors and becomes "Dull". Currently I have one at 8 psi and another at 14 psi, different beers and completely different carbonation levels for best effect on the given brew.

Then again I'm just a NOB... only 6 brews under the belt, one more this w/e. WOO HOOO!!!! My fermentation chamber in the house is finally a stable 62 deg... after a long hot summer and fluctuating temps! It's finally BREW TIME!

FxdGrMind said:

It all depends on the Style of beer. I find I have to fine tune the CO2 over a period of about a month before I think it's as good as it gets.
I do find it interesting how dramatically CO2 affects the quality of my beer. Too much and it accentuates the bite... too little and it looses the flavors and becomes "Dull". Currently I have one at 8 psi and another at 14 psi, different beers and completely different carbonation levels for best effect on the given brew.

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Good post. I spent the first 8 months of my homebrewing obsession drinking over carbed beers. I always set at 30psi for a few days and stepped down to 20psi and so on. I didn't realize I was compromising the taste of my beers by doing this. I'm sure mamy people will say it's how they do it and it's fine, good for them.

You owe it to yourself to make the best beer possible, and for that reason I will only ever use the set and forget method.