CO2 questions

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kirkbie

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Hello all,

Some questions...

1-- I'm guessing that since doing the CO2, I'll no longer have to do the priming sugar. Is this correct?

2--Once I fill the 5 gallon corny keg, do I immediately turn on CO2?

3--If yes to #2 above, how long do I need to wait until drinkable? Just until it's cold?

I brew 20 gallons per brew and will be going the growler route for 10 gallons and corny's for the other 10. I hooked up a 2 tap system at my bar last night by using 2 mini fridges. I looked for 1 fridge to hold all but the depth of my bar wouldn't allow anything over 17". I'd like to mention that I looked on this site and it seemed like I would be safe drilling through the top of my fridge(s) avoiding the cooling lines. Well..I lucked out...although both fridges had cooling lines on the top, I avoided them by millimeters. Anyways this paragraph is just a background / story but would like some clarification on my questions...I'm CO2'ing / growling tomorrow. Thanks!!
 
You're on the right track. You don't need priming sugar, hook the gas up once the keg is filled (and after you check for leaks). As for time, you'll get different opinions. I like to set it at serving pressure (10-12 psi) then leave it for 10-14 days. Others like to blast it with high psi to carbonate fast.

What do you mean "the growler route" for ten gallons?
 
1) Correct.

2) Yes, sort of. You'll want to purge the keg. More below.

3) It depends.


Purging the keg.
When you rack your beer to the keg, you have regular ol' air in the headspace of the keg. Air is 20% oxygen, which is about 19.9% too much O2 for our beer. Here's how you can purge the keg of that oxygen.

1) Connect the CO2 and set the pressure to around 12psi.
2) Wait until you don't hear CO2 flowing anymore (the slight hiss stops)
3) Disconnect the CO2 (or, if you have a valve on your CO2 line, close it)
4) Open the pressure relief valve on the keg.
5) Repeat steps 1-4 one to two more times. Now you are ready to carbonate.



Carbonating the beer.
You have two choices - burst carbonation or set it and forget it.

This thread. outlines the burst carb method.

To do the set it and forget it method, consult a carbonation table to determine what pressure to set your regulator to. Hook up the gas, set the pressure, and leave it be for 1-2 weeks.


Good luck!
 
What do you mean "the growler route" for ten gallons?[/QUOTE]


Meaning I siphon the completed fermented 10 gallons into growlers and let the growlers sit for about 10 days then chill. As long as I don't over carbonate, I don't have explosions.
 
Man there's a lot of advice on carbonating. I'm going the set it and forget it method since I have two---5 gallon tanks hooked up. The plan would be to finish one of the kegs before the other and replace the empty on with a full one. While this one is carbonating, I'm drinking the other one. Thanks for the responses...gave me some reassurance. So..until my these batches are done, I'll be buying Busch.
 
Man there's a lot of advice on carbonating. I'm going the set it and forget it method since I have two---5 gallon tanks hooked up. The plan would be to finish one of the kegs before the other and replace the empty on with a full one. While this one is carbonating, I'm drinking the other one. Thanks for the responses...gave me some reassurance. So..until my these batches are done, I'll be buying Busch.

Set it and forget it gives a better result in my experience. Maybe I just get carried away but I usually end up over carbing. Plus it takes a couple weeks for everything to really settle out and clear up your brew anyway. If I force it half of the keg pours are over carbed and cloudy(er). After a couple weeks carbonation is perfect and the beer is clear(er). If I can be patient I can have proper carbonation and clear(er) beer for the whole keg.

I recently started a new kegging process. I fill my keg full of starsan, purge a few times then push it all out with CO2 (low pressure so you don't use much CO2. Then hook your siphon up to the beer out line and remove the pressure relief valve. No splashing, no O2 in the keg and if you have a clip for your siphon it's a hands free process. Being able to remove the coupler makes priming or stopping the siphon super easy as well. I still purge once it's full to remove any O2 that made it in at the beginning of the siphoning process since I haven't figured out how to purge my siphon yet. Actually, I have an idea but haven't tried it yet.
 
Set it and forget it is easiest to not screw up. I used to force carb but the first few days after force carbing it was usually too much but mellowed out by day 3-5.
 
I'm really trying to justify this force carb method since I have zero patience. I do see the method of...

1--chill keg
2--set to 25-30psi for 3 days
3--reduce to serving psi
4--drink

between step 2 and 3 there's something about disconnecting the lines and purging (releasing?) the air. Any of this work good. I see good and bad results on a lot of posts. Thanks.
 
I'm really trying to justify this force carb method since I have zero patience. I do see the method of...

1--chill keg
2--set to 25-30psi for 3 days
3--reduce to serving psi
4--drink

between step 2 and 3 there's something about disconnecting the lines and purging (releasing?) the air. Any of this work good. I see good and bad results on a lot of posts. Thanks.

If you just can't wait hit it with 25ish psi, set it on it's side on your lap (gas valve up) and rock it back and forth for a few minutes, let it sit at that pressure for a few hours, come back and do it again. After a few rounds of this you'll be carbed though if you can hold off a couple days you'll be better off. Carbonation might not be perfect but it'll work. If it foams on you because you got too much in solution just drop your serving PSI to about 3 to 5, pour your glass and turn it back up. I usually serve at about 10 psi with a 10' beer line. Don't leave it at 25 after you are done force carbing it.

I've served many beers in about three days using this method, it works but isn't my preferred method if I have time to wait.
 
Make sure to look at Sanky kegs. Corny kegs have lots of places and ways to leak. Sanky kegs are today's standard. You can buy them new for less than new corny kegs
 
Make sure to look at Sanky kegs. Corny kegs have lots of places and ways to leak. Sanky kegs are today's standard. You can buy them new for less than new corny kegs

I think it's a bit of a stretch to say Sanky are today's standard for home brewing. More home brewers are using them than were 10 years ago but it's still a minimal % of home brewers who are kegging. For home brewing cornys have many advantages, I just don't see Sankys replacing cornys in the average home brewers keezer. Yes there are more places they can leak but it's not like they are difficult to seal.
 
I think it's a bit of a stretch to say Sanky are today's standard for home brewing. More home brewers are using them than were 10 years ago but it's still a minimal % of home brewers who are kegging. For home brewing cornys have many advantages, I just don't see Sankys replacing cornys in the average home brewers keezer. Yes there are more places they can leak but it's not like they are difficult to seal.

I didn't say sanky kegs are today's standard for home brewing
Sanke kegs are today's standard in how beer is sold and used in kegs. If you going to buy beer in a keg, it's going to come in a sanke keg. If a bar serves beer it's going to come from a sanke keg. All I'm saying is look at sanky kegs as an alternative to cornys. They are easy to use and bullet proof, that is why the brewing industry is using them.
 
I didn't say sanky kegs are today's standard for home brewing
Sanke kegs are today's standard in how beer is sold and used in kegs. If you going to buy beer in a keg, it's going to come in a sanke keg. If a bar serves beer it's going to come from a sanke keg. All I'm saying is look at sanky kegs as an alternative to cornys. They are easy to use and bullet proof, that is why the brewing industry is using them.

For a commercial operation, yes. Little different world IMO. I prefer the flexibility and ease of cleaning of a corny. Since my beer isn't handled by distributers, stores and drunk frat kids being bullet proof isn't much if a concern.
 
OK all. I'm going to have the patience to wait. I have everything hooked up and set to 12 psi. However....the store that sold me the system didn't have much CO2 in the tank. Soon as I turned the tank on, it almost went in the red "order gas". There are no leaks. I bought a new filled tank today and will swap out when I get home so my next question....probably a stupid one....

When changing CO2 tank do I just need to turn off the main valve ( on current one that's almost empty ), hook up the new one then open valve on new one? Do I need to relieve pressure on anything before doing this? Thanks again.
 
As Yoda once said, "There is another..."

You can add priming sugar to a keg and set aside. The sugar will carb the beer without the need for forced CO2.

This is useful for a couple of reasons:

You can carb a beer away from the gas tank, like in a closet or something.
If you have a full kegerator, it will carb up while your other beers are being finished.
When other beers are finished, it's ready to chill and drink.
Saves gas.

I rarely do it, but sometimes when I know I won't have a spot for that batch in the kegerator, I will prime in the keg and set it aside. Works well and as a bonus, it's like "Burst carbing" without stirring up the sediment (as much. I usually do stir it up a small bit just putting in the kegerator...)
 
OK all. I'm going to have the patience to wait. I have everything hooked up and set to 12 psi. However....the store that sold me the system didn't have much CO2 in the tank. Soon as I turned the tank on, it almost went in the red "order gas". There are no leaks. I bought a new filled tank today and will swap out when I get home so my next question....probably a stupid one....

When changing CO2 tank do I just need to turn off the main valve ( on current one that's almost empty ), hook up the new one then open valve on new one? Do I need to relieve pressure on anything before doing this? Thanks again.

Don't trust that gage. Many people promote removing it and plugging the hole. The pressure in a CO2 tank is dependent on the temperature, not the level of liquid CO2. The only way to know how much is in there is to weigh it, or remove the regulator, open the valve a little and tip it on it's side and upside down. When you start to see a mist of liquid CO2 you know how full it is. If you can get it upside down with no mist then you are running on fumes. Once you're on fumes the gage will read correctly but it'll be too late anyway.
 
Don't trust that gage. Many people promote removing it and plugging the hole. The pressure in a CO2 tank is dependent on the temperature, not the level of liquid CO2. The only way to know how much is in there is to weigh it, or remove the regulator, open the valve a little and tip it on it's side and upside down. When you start to see a mist of liquid CO2 you know how full it is. If you can get it upside down with no mist then you are running on fumes. Once you're on fumes the gage will read correctly but it'll be too late anyway.


Great info...thanks a lot. So what should the weight be? I do have a full one. Can I take the weight of the full one and compare it with the one currently being used. Mine is also in the fridge.
 
I'm still trying to get my head around your plan to fill two soda kegs (10G), then put the rest in growlers to carb??? Or will you simply let your fermented beer sit in growlers until an empty soda keg becomes open so you can fill from the growlers and then carb in the keg??
 
I'm still trying to get my head around your plan to fill two soda kegs (10G), then put the rest in growlers to carb??? Or will you simply let your fermented beer sit in growlers until an empty soda keg becomes open so you can fill from the growlers and then carb in the keg??

My neighbor brews with me. He takes about half the growlers home ( he doesn't have a tap ).

Also, I'll take a growler or so with me into the woods.
 
OK all. I'm going to have the patience to wait. I have everything hooked up and set to 12 psi. However....the store that sold me the system didn't have much CO2 in the tank. Soon as I turned the tank on, it almost went in the red "order gas". There are no leaks. I bought a new filled tank today and will swap out when I get home so my next question....probably a stupid one....

When changing CO2 tank do I just need to turn off the main valve ( on current one that's almost empty ), hook up the new one then open valve on new one? Do I need to relieve pressure on anything before doing this? Thanks again.

Typically we all look at the pressure in a CO2 tank while it is at ambient or room temp. Then we look at the same gauge when it is at 35F and we panic that the tank leaked out. Not necessarily.

I'm using arbitrary numbers for an example. My filled CO2 tanks reads 100 on a gauge while on my porch and at 80F. I put it in my kegerator at 35F and let it stabilize overnight. The gauge now reads 50. This is perfectly normal, and in most cases, the gauge will show you the gas is in the red zone. No problem as you still have a full tank of gas contrary to what your gauge shows.
 
Priming sugar. As long as I keep it at 5 oz per 5 gallons, I've had no explosions of growlers.

Cool deal, I've never thought of carbing in a growler. I have several growlers I'll take to parties, etc., but they don't hold carb more than a day or two once poured from and left in the fridge. One variable is that there is a good bit of headspace in a half consumed growler that CO2 will escape into. I'll be interested in how your growler carbing works out.

There is an online calculator that tell you how much sugar to use for various carb levels and according to the sugar you use. This takes any guesswork out of the equation. Priming Sugar Calculator from Northern Brewer.
 
Cool deal, I've never thought of carbing in a growler. I have several growlers I'll take to parties, etc., but they don't hold carb more than a day or two once poured from and left in the fridge. One variable is that there is a good bit of headspace in a half consumed growler that CO2 will escape into. I'll be interested in how your growler carbing works out.

There is an online calculator that tell you how much sugar to use for various carb levels and according to the sugar you use. This takes any guesswork out of the equation. Priming Sugar Calculator from Northern Brewer.

Yeah...I went the growler route because bottling became out of the question. I have had better results though as far keeping it's carbonization after opening....usually good for about 3-4 days afterwards. I always fill up just to the bottom of the neck, keep at room temp for 7-10 days then chill.
 
So...if my gauge is just above the red at 500 and stored at 39 degrees, according to this chart.....what is the % of rated fill am I? I feel stupid.

chart.gif
 
Great info...thanks a lot. So what should the weight be? I do have a full one. Can I take the weight of the full one and compare it with the one currently being used. Mine is also in the fridge.

There will probably be a tare weight stamped into the bottle up by the neck. Take the regulator off (leave the valve on obviously) and weigh it. The difference should be the amount of CO2. If there's no tare weight then you'll need to do the tilt trick, just crack the valve a little and tilt it slowly until a mist comes out. That's how much liquid is left.
 
So...if my gauge is just above the red at 500 and stored at 39 degrees, according to this chart.....what is the % of rated fill am I? I feel stupid.

According to the graph 15%. Not sure where that data came from or if it's accurate though. From my experience it is not.
 
According to the graph 15%. Not sure where that data came from or if it's accurate though. From my experience it is not.

Agreed..this graph doesn't help much. I did find a post where the author stated that one way to tell you're empty is when the gauge reads zero...pay no attention to in the red. So if I have a full one on stand-by, I can immediately swap out.
 
I rather look at the effect temp has on the gas vs looking at that chart. If your tank is full and reads 1,000 at 80F, then you'd expect that same volume of gas to read 500 at 33F or roughly half of what it was reading before you chilled the tank.. The volume is still exactly the same but the effect of the temp makes it appear the chilled tank is in the red zone.
 
Agreed..this graph doesn't help much. I did find a post where the author stated that one way to tell you're empty is when the gauge reads zero...pay no attention to in the red. So if I have a full one on stand-by, I can immediately swap out.

That is good advice!
 
Beer on CO2 update.

So my 2---5 gallon corny's have been on 12psi @ 39 degrees since this past Saturday. I did a taste test yesterday at 5 pm and perfect carbonation/taste/clearness That's less than 4 days. From all I've been reading, I thought it was going to take 7-10 days or more. What gives? Luck?
 
And the student becomes the teacher. What the hell did you do? I just poured a pint of my Kolsch which has been sitting under pressure for 2 weeks and it's only about half way there. Time to drop the temp and kick up the psi I guess.
 
I'm not an expert but everything I've heard says growlers are not made to hold the pressure of naturally carbed beer. It may have worked so far but I believe you are playing with very dangerous fire.
 
And the student becomes the teacher. What the hell did you do? I just poured a pint of my Kolsch which has been sitting under pressure for 2 weeks and it's only about half way there. Time to drop the temp and kick up the psi I guess.

Just that. 12 psi @ 37-39 degrees. I say 37 now cause that's what I'm seeing on my thermometer. I kind of toggle the tap when pouring to get some head but the carbonation is definitely there.
 
I'm not an expert but everything I've heard says growlers are not made to hold the pressure of naturally carbed beer. It may have worked so far but I believe you are playing with very dangerous fire.

As long as I fill up the the bottom of the neck on growler and use 5 oz per 5 gallons. I've never had issues. Roughly 40 growlers per 20 gallons X 6-7 brews = 240 to 280 growlers total. No explosions.
 
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