New to kegging; predictably full of questions

[BrettV]

I just kegged my first batch today, and I'm having a bit of trouble. After filling the keg, turning the gas on to 30 PSI, purging the headspace, and shaking it for a few minutes, I left it in my chest freezer set to 38 degrees.

I checked on it a few hours later and heard a faint hissing, and got a whiff of CO2, so I sprayed some Starsan all over and discovered a slight leak coming from the gas-in connecter. Tightened that up with a screwdriver and that killed the hiss and the bubbles.

Checked on it a few hours later, and no longer heard a hiss but was still getting that dizzying CO2 whiff from the cooler and noticed that my newly filled CO2 tank is now reading about half full. Spray Starsan all over and nothing. No bubbles anywhere; no hissing. However, it seems like there is an ever so slight amount of beer coming out of the picnic faucet. I tighten that as much as it will allow. I actually tried to tighten it with vice grips, but putting too much pressure on the plastic just makes beer spurt out of it, so I just tightened it by hand. Put it in a glass of water, and there was clearly bubbles and beer flowing out, so I just disconnected the beer-out altogether. I'm assuming it isn't necessary for it to be hooked up while it's carbing, anyway.

Is it normal for the picnic faucet to leak slightly like that under high pressure, or is it possible I just have a faulty faucet? Everything was brand new (except the keg) and used for the very first time today. Is it possible that when I bring the pressure down to serving level (9 or 10 PSI) that it will alleviate the issue, or is it more likely that it's just not a good faucet?

 

[chickypad]

Those picnic taps seem to be notorious for leaking, lots of threads on here about enitire kegs of beer emptied onto the bottom of the keezer. Hopefully it will hold at regular pressure. I wouldn't leave it at 30 psi for more than about 24 hrs or you risk overcarbing. Also, the high pressure gauge is not showing you how much CO2 is left, it reads a constant pressure at a given temp until all the liquid CO2 is gone then it rapidly falls. The pressure went down because you cooled the tank in the keezer. To find out how much CO2 is left you need to weigh the tank.

 

[BrettV]

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I'll be dropping the PSI to 9 today. Just did the 30 for the first 24 hours because this is going to be served at a wedding on Saturday, and I don't have the luxury of just letting it carb for a week or 2.

Good to know about the tank. I knew the gauges weren't perfect, but I didn't realize that refrigerating them would cause the gauge to drop like that. I'm comforted in knowing that I didn't just lose half my gas. We'll see what happens when I re-attach the faucet on Saturday. Luckily, this will more than likely be completely gone in one one night, so even if it is faulty and leaks every so slightly, it probably won't be enough of a problem for a beer that's going to disappear very quickly.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Hmmmm.....I just have ONLY the gas in line hooked up when carbonating, especially if I have the "initial" pressure kicked up for the 24-36 hour period that is sometimes employed.

Pic-a-nic taps scare me @ those elevated pressures!

Most brewers I know have nothing connected to the liquid out whilst carbonating, 'cept for doing a quality control "taste test".

 

[RonPopeil]

Yeah I leave the liquid side disconnected when carbing up. It's really just a practice I started from accidentally knocking into the faucets when I'm cleaning or playing guitar in there. Got sick of wasting beer on the floor.

 

[HiImBrian]

No need to start another thread and it looks like this one's already set for some noobish questions.

I kegged my beer the other day and after cleaning and sanitizing the crap outa the keg I filled er up 3/4 of the way (bottled the rest) and set 20psi on it overnight in the keezer with the tank open so as to not fall below 20psi. Next day I danced around with my keg in the garage for about 25 mins to shake it up, then back to the keezer with 20psi on it for roughly another 24 hrs. I'm going to drop the pressure down to 10psi and hopefully enjoy my first kegged beer this evening. Anybody see anything I might have totally messed up or skipped?

Beer: Apricot wheat
Keezer temp: 36F
CO2: Open tank at 20psi

 

[chickypad]

I kegged my beer the other day and after cleaning and sanitizing the crap outa the keg I filled er up 3/4 of the way (bottled the rest) and set 20psi on it overnight in the keezer with the tank open so as to not fall below 20psi. Next day I danced around with my keg in the garage for about 25 mins to shake it up, then back to the keezer with 20psi on it for roughly another 24 hrs. I'm going to drop the pressure down to 10psi and hopefully enjoy my first kegged beer this evening. Anybody see anything I might have totally messed up or skipped?

As long as you purged I don't see anything you really skipped. My only thought is that the burst method - i.e. carbing at higher than equilibrium/serving pressure - can take some tinkering to dial in, so you might be prepared for either over or undershooting until you figure out your schedule. Personally I prefer the set and forget method for it's reliability and the fact that I don't have to keep messing with pressures,with 9 lines that becomes a pain. Unless it's something that needs to age most of my beers are in the keg by about 2 wks anyway, so even with 10-14 days to carb I'm still drinking them fairly young.

 

[HiImBrian]

As long as you purged I don't see anything you really skipped. My only thought is that the burst method - i.e. carbing at higher than equilibrium/serving pressure - can take some tinkering to dial in, so you might be prepared for either over or undershooting until you figure out your schedule. Personally I prefer the set and forget method for it's reliability and the fact that I don't have to keep messing with pressures,with 9 lines that becomes a pain. Unless it's something that needs to age most of my beers are in the keg by about 2 wks anyway, so even with 10-14 days to carb I'm still drinking them fairly young.

Ahh yes..the purge. Definitely did that (whew)!

Curious though, do you have a separate tank for each keg or how do you set different kegs to different pressures?

Also, how big of a tank do you have? I'm sitting with a 3 gallon tank now and I'm afraid that might not be big enough to last for 3 kegs.

 

[chickypad]

I've got 6 lines coming off the primary regulator then 3 lines coming off a secondary that I use for carbing beers to a low level which are going on beer gas through stout faucets. It's not a big deal to me to carb to style, 2.5 vols is good enough for everything not on nitro. If you want a different carb level for each keg you need multiple secondary regulators. My main tank is 20 lb, IME you get about two 5 gal kegs carbed and served per lb of gas. I think you mean a 3 lb tank?

 

[RonPopeil]

No. Just don't anticipate properly carbed beer. The shake method is really hit or miss. I've had overcarb and undercarb from it. Best to just let it sit at 10psi for 10 days or so.

 

[HiImBrian]

I've got 6 lines coming off the primary regulator then 3 lines coming off a secondary that I use for carbing beers to a low level which are going on beer gas through stout faucets. It's not a big deal to me to carb to style, 2.5 vols is good enough for everything not on nitro. If you want a different carb level for each keg you need multiple secondary regulators. My main tank is 20 lb, IME you get about two 5 gal kegs carbed and served per lb of gas. I think you mean a 3 lb tank?

Yes sorry, 3lb not gallon haha. Good to know, thanks for the info.

I assume you keep your tank outside of the keezer? Do you notice a big difference in longevity by keeping the tank outside vs inside?

 

[day_trippr]

[...] Next day I danced around with my keg in the garage for about 25 mins to shake it up, then back to the keezer with 20psi on it for roughly another 24 hrs. I'm going to drop the pressure down to 10psi and hopefully enjoy my first kegged beer this evening. Anybody see anything I might have totally messed up or skipped?[...]

If you did not have the gas connected to your dancing partner there's a better than even chance you didn't seriously overcarb the poor thing.

If you simply leave the keg in the keezer at 36F and 10psi it will carb up perfectly in due time...

Cheers!

 

[HiImBrian]

If you did not have the gas connected to your dancing partner there's a better than even chance you didn't seriously overcarb the poor thing.

If you simply leave the keg in the keezer at 36F and 10psi it will carb up perfectly in due time...

Cheers!

Aint nobody got time for due time! I'm thirsty NOW!

...but yea you've got a good point. In the future I plan to go with the let er sit method. I purposely disconnected the CO2 while I danced just to be on the safe side.