Carbing for first time questions...

I am just about to keg and carb my Raspberry Chocolate Stout and my Belgian Abbey Ale and i have read a lot about how much pressure to carb with and how long and all that but i seem to always read differing things about the process. So, can someone please tell me the proper times, pressures, process of carbing these beers?

Well, everyone has different ways to do it- that's why you read so many different processes. The one thing that is helpful is to realize that your system is probably not exactly like anyone else's. There are charts to follow for your temperature, line length, etc.

Some of us force carb by the "set it and forget it" method- like put it on serving presure (my system is usually 12 psi) for a week, and come back and it's carbed up. Some people put the gas on high, like 30 psi, with a chilled keg, and shake it. That will carb it super quick. Others have even more ways to do it.

This thread helped me the most: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=43347

well, i'm not sure my kegs will carb up ok now. I just put one keg on the CO2 bottle and it's reading about 525 psi (just above the "order more CO2 line" lol). Kinda weird because i got the bottle filled a few weeks ago but haven't really used it since. The only thing i've used it for is pushing the cleaning fluid through the lines.

if your co2 tank is in the fridge, it always reads lower than it actually is. And I think when my tank is filled, it reads about 800 psi. (It's a 5 pound tank). That lasts a LONG time. Unless you have a leak, then it will drain overnight (ask me how I know!).

I have a 5 pound tank as well. And i do know about leakage out of tanks (i do have nitrous in my car after all ). Just worried that the pressure wouldn't be enough to carb it. It should be enough to carb two batches though right? Because i'm about to transfer my Belgian Abbey ale to the keg right now and try to carb that as well. If it won't be enough i could just go tomorrow to get some more CO2.

Is your tank is in the fridge, it's a false reading. I bet it is nearly full!

You not only have enough to carb up those two, you'll have enough to last maybe 10 kegs (if it's really not reading the correct amount).

Ok cool. Thanks! I just turned up the CO2 to 30 psi and tried shaking it but i guess the "in" fitting wasn't screwed down all the way (from the actual line into the disconnect) so it sprayed beer all over my floor! Got it fixed though i couldn't really hear gas re-injecting into the beer i will just let it set for a while.

I just started force carbing, and I've found that leaving the kegs at about 20 PSI for 3 days does the trick, no shaking necessary.

Unless you have a secondary regulator, though, you can only get away with this at the beginning, because later you'll have properly pressurized kegs that you won't want to keep at 20 PSI for 3 days.

Yah I have done the "shakin' baby" carbing method and I have also done the turn the carb to about 20 psi and let it sit for 3-5 days. Ive also naturally carbed in a corny keg as well. For me the best method for the most consistent carbonation level has been to turn the psi to about 20 and let it sit for 3-5 days. At day 3 take a sample, if its where you want it to be then vent the headspace CO2 in the keg by pulling the release on the keg lid so that your regulator reads 0 psi then adjust it to your dispensing PSI level and away you go. Using priming sugar also works good too but I have found that I can tell no difference between a slowly forced carbed keg and a naturally carbed keg. With jacking up the PSI and shaking it I have found that my results have been to inconsistent. If it is your first keg I would just high PSI it and shake it just to get it out of your system, then from there on out just slowly force carb.

Yeah i'm force carbing both kegs right now. The stout I only brewed about 3 weeks ago so it definitely isn't ready to drink yet even though it definitely already tastes like it is ready. The Belgian abbey ale is about 4 weeks old so it also isn't quite ready to drink so i think i have to wait a while on both which i'm willing to do (have my first batch in bottles and am drinking that now and it's great!).

Setting it and forgetting it is the best method i think. but psi is always going to change depending on the beers temp. the colder it is the easier the co2 can carb the beer. If you set the psi to 30 and shake it works but it is really hit or miss which i learned from my first time tryin

I originally had my kegs set to 30 psi but eventually decided it would be easier and more consistent to do the set it and forget it method so i dialed it down to 20 psi. We'll see how they turn out. Thanks for the help!