First shot at kegging - PSI to fix carb?

So while building my Jester clone keezer, I knew I needed to have beer kegged and ready to go once I got her up and running. So I have a Maibock that fermented for about a month in the primary/secondary and then in a keg for about 2 more weeks at room temperature at 12 PSI. Got the keezer done enough for cooling and gave it a taste test and it had a head but was flat. After scanning the forum I see the PSI should of been 28 or so, so lesson learned. My question is ... what now? Do I set it and forget it at 12 PSI now and wait a couple of weeks. Should I boost it for a couple of days to force carb? I don't want to over carb my initial keg as I want the boss lady to see that the dough that I dropped on the keezer build was worth it, but I'm getting thirsty. Thanks for all your help.

 

Well I'm not entirely sure, but I think if you just set it to the proper volume, you should be ok. Even if you have it partially carbed, I think it'll be fine.

Follow this chart

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

 

You need to set the regulator at the proper pressure at serving temperature not room temperature. Co2 is dissolved more readily at the lower temps.

 

+1

Now that it is cold, set it to your serving psi and wait a week or two.

I don't mess with carbing until the keg has had about 24 hours in the fridge with just enough CO2 to purge out the O2. Then I set it to 3x the serving pressure for 36 hours. Then purge and set it to serving psi for a few days and viola. Works every time. No shaking, no muss, no fuss.

 

I'm only on my second keg. I went with the set it and forget it method. It worked for me. I poured my first after two weeks. It was dangerous. almost to easy to pour the second and the third and so on.

 

If you need to force carb it, here's how:

1) once it's refrigerated, set the regulator to 30 psi.

2) while leaving the co2 line connected, pick up the keg. Hold it horizontally with one hand on top and one on bottom.

3) Tilt the keg by lifting the bottom up until you hear gas bubble up through it. Do that 20 times, then let the keg settle for 5-10 minutes with 30 psi pressure.

4) taste a sample, repeat 2) and 3) if necessary. It usually takes three repetitions to carb from still beer to moderately carbed. since yours is partially carbed, I'd take a sample after the first one. You can cut the number of tilts if you only need it to come up a little bit.

5) once you are satisfied with the carb, set your regulator to the desired psi for your temperature and carb level (10-15 psi at 36-45 F). it will take a day or two to equilibrate, but should be drinkable after a 10-30 minute rest.

 

Thanks guys for all of the advice. Sounds like I should leave this one at 12 PSI for a couple weeks before I taste it again. I will give Cider's method a try on the porter that I'm moving from primary to secondary today and PDX's method on a farmhouse saison that I'm brewing today. I love that there are so many options to getting to the final result. I should have the 3 tap keezer fully stocked within 3 weeks or so.

 

Just wanted to let you know the 2 weeks has produced a well carbonated beer. It's so much better than bottles. It's great to know that every beer is going to be carbonated correctly. I popped the porter in tonight and will follow Cider's method to see how it goes. Have a little more work to do on my keezer but I think it's going to be a hit with me and the boss lady.