Kegging First Beer Tomorrow

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Patrick87

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Messages
196
Reaction score
28
Location
Andersonville
I've cleaned up two used ball-lock kegs, installed a 20lb Co2 tank in an old fridge with a triple gauge Taprite regulator, and plan on using 10' long beer beer lines with picnic tabs to dispense my brews. :rockin:

I keg my first beer (IPA) tomorrow evening. I cold crashed it two days in the fermentor, fined with gelatin last night, and plan on racking it to a keg tomorrow evening. A question for those who force carb:

I don't really want to shake my keg to speed carbonation. Seems like it could get beer inside the "gas-in" post/poppets/disconnects which would require some extra cleaning, right?

So assuming I don't want to shake the keg up, and I want the beer carbed in the next 3-5 days, could I crank the PSI up to ~30psi for about 2.5 days, purge, set the regulator to 10-11psi and have a carbed beer a day or two later? Do you think it be over-carbed or under-carbed on this schedule? Just wondering what to expect.
 
When I started kegging I used the set it and forget it method for the majority of my beers because I listened to all the horror stories associated with burst carbing. This chart is a great tool for that.

That said, I rarely set and forget anymore. More like a shake and chug. I set my chilled kegs on the floor with the 'gas in' side up and roll the keg back and forth. Does this get beer in the 'in' poppet? Probably. Do I care? Not really. I disassemble and clean my kegs after every few uses. This includes the poppets. If I notice a leak between fillings I'll just hit it with some lube and call it good.
 
When I started kegging I used the set it and forget it method for the majority of my beers because I listened to all the horror stories associated with burst carbing. This chart is a great tool for that.

That said, I rarely set and forget anymore. More like a shake and chug. I set my chilled kegs on the floor with the 'gas in' side up and roll the keg back and forth. Does this get beer in the 'in' poppet? Probably. Do I care? Not really. I disassemble and clean my kegs after every few uses. This includes the poppets. If I notice a leak between fillings I'll just hit it with some lube and call it good.

Do you find that rolling/shaking the keg speeds up the carbonating significantly? By how much? A day or two?
 
I always do the two days at 30psi then purge and set to 10psi. Beers are always nicely carbed and drinkable but they do get better over time flavorwise.
 
I'll be kegging a black ipa in a few hours. Since I have room in my kegerator, the burst carbonation method will be used. I will be drinking it tonight. :rockin:
 
cold beer at 36hrs at 30psi, bleed a bit, set to 10-14 depending on style for another 24-48hrs, drink. & repeat. I do this everytime. good luck.
 
I always do the two days at 30psi then purge and set to 10psi. Beers are always nicely carbed and drinkable but they do get better over time flavorwise.

Is that without any shaking? You're saying that the beer is carbed to the desired level on Day 3, but a few more days let's the flavor develop? Or it carbonates a little more after a few more days?

I'll be kegging a black ipa in a few hours. Since I have room in my kegerator, the burst carbonation method will be used. I will be drinking it tonight. :rockin:

What PSI does that take, and how long and how vigorous do you shake it?
 
Is that without any shaking? You're saying that the beer is carbed to the desired level on Day 3, but a few more days let's the flavor develop? Or it carbonates a little more after a few more days?



What PSI does that take, and how long and how vigorous do you shake it?
I set my regulator to 30 psi, sit on a chair and "rock" the keg for around 5-10 minutes. Then I let it sit for an hour or two, check the carbonation, and repeat if necessary.

You want to err on the side of caution; don't over-carbonate. I usually stop burst carbing a little low and finish off slowly.
 
Just want to echo what others have been saying: no need to shake, just hit it with a lot of pressure for a day or two then reset to serving pressure and wait a couple of days.

I just did the following: 4.5 gallons, 37 F, 40 PSI, 24 hours. Pretty much nailed my 2.2 vols target, and now it just sits at 9 PSI and gets silkier and smoother as time goes by.

I assume that, as others have said, going down to 30 PSI you'd want to wait 36 hours, but I don't know the science behind PSI changes and how they relate to carbonation time.
 
I've kegged 2 so far, and 35 - 40 psi for 2 days then down to 10 for a few days allows me a good pour from a 5' hose and picnic tap.
That said, the carb level is better after a week
 
One more thing....once beer is in the keg hit it with 30psi and purge then repeat once or twice more to be sure lid is sealed. I read this somewhere and I do it with every new keg of beer. The CO2 loss from this is minimal since the keg is full it doesnt take much to get it to 30.
 
Fisrt things first.PURGE KEG BEFORE DOING ANY SHAKING.OP didn't mention it an neither did anytime else.If you forget to purge first all that oxygen gets forced into your beer giving you a nasty tasting beer.Once its done theres no undoing it.When your all jacked up the first few times its easy to forget.
 
Do you find that rolling/shaking the keg speeds up the carbonating significantly? By how much? A day or two?

Oh yeah. I can have a carbed beer in 2.5 minutes.

Here's my schedule:

Fermentation is done. I rack to a bottling bucket, fill some bottles, put the rest in a keg (I have a mark on my bucket marked "Keg Line").

Put filled keg in the kegerator overnight (or at least 8 hours) to chill.

Pull keg out, put on floor, set CO2 to ~25 psi., roll keg for 2.5 minutes, stand keg up back in fridge and turn pressure back down to serving pressure. After a few minutes to let the foam settle I'll relieve the pressure and hook all the lines up. Pull off about a half pint and either pour it down the sink, refill the mosquito/fruit fly trap, or on the ground for the homies.

I'm am now drinking cold carbonated beer.
 
Cool, thanks for the help everyone! I kegged the IPA yesterday evening (Saturday) and plan on letting it sit at 30psi till around lunch-time Tuesday. (a little more than 2.5 days). I'll then drop my PSI down to serving pressure, which looks to be 10-12psi, then pour my first one Tuesday evening. Sounds like it'll be carbed by then.

I'll keep the burst carb method in mind for "emergencies" (lol).

I'll report back with my results! :mug:
 
After a little more than 2.5 days at 30psi, I turned the regulator down to 10psi and bled the keg. I waited about 7 hours and hooked up my 10' lines/picnic tap. I think I may have slightly overcarbed the keg, because I'm getting Co2 bubbles forming in my beer line right after a pour.

I've read that if the keg pressure is higher than the serving pressure that Co2 will come out of solution in the beer line. Can you guys confirm that? I don't have any external taps, (picnic taps/lines are inside the refrigerator) so I don't think it's a temperature difference.

Other than that, the beer seems to have great carbonation, if maybe just a little bit on the high-side. Sounds like I should only run 30psi for 48 hours, rather than the ~65 hours I did this time.

After a year and half of bottle conditioning, this is the first time I've cold crashed and fined with gelatin: WOW! For the first time ever, you can actually read a book through my glass of IPA! (even with 6oz of dry hops) All my brews before have been completely murkey, even after 6-7 days fridge time.

Even though my recipe is pretty much the same as all my previous bottle-conditioned brews, I've got WAY more hop flavor/aroma than I ever had bottling. Perhaps the headspace in the bottles was hurting me in that department. This IPA was also grain-to-glass in 3 weeks vs. 6 weeks.

I'll try and take a picture of a pint tomorrow... the clarity is truly is impressive!
 
Hello I have never kegging before
I was wondering if you absolute need to cool your kegs while you force carbonate or could leave a room temp and then place the in a fringe a couple days before serving
 
Hello I have never kegging before
I was wondering if you absolute need to cool your kegs while you force carbonate or could leave a room temp and then place the in a fringe a couple days before serving

From what I've read: you can, but it will take longer since the beer can absorb more Co2 faster at lower temperatures.
 
I'm done burst carbing. I found that my beer is much better after two weeks under serving pressure and decided it just isn't worth it to rush it.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top