First Time Kegging

Hi homebrewers,

This is my first time kegging, but I'm about to leave for my honeymoon. Should I add my brew to the keg, hit it with a little co2 to seal the lid (and if so, how much?) or should I force carb and let it sit? I'm leaving tomorrow and won't be back until August.

Thanks much!

 

Keg the brew. Purge the O2 out with CO2 by hooking it up the gas @ 10psi or so and venting the keg through the pressure release valve. Purge it a few times, and then crank it up to 30psi for a few seconds to make sure the lid gets a good seal. Your kegged beer is now ready to be stored.

If you are able to and want to force carb it while you are gone (might as well, so it will be ready when you get back), you can go ahead and put it in your kegerator/fridge and hook it up to the gas at ~10-12psi (depending on the temp and desired carbonation level, consult the force carbonation chart). Your beer will be ready to drink when you get back.

 

I'd say fore carb and let it sit. It won't be a problem. If you just put enough CO2 in to seal it, it won't stay sealed as the CO2 will go into solution. I'd pump it up to 30-35 PSI to seal it, then back down to serving pressure. Note you'll probably want to "burp" the keg a few times to make sure you're getting all the air out.

 

Thanks for the advice! I have a chest freezer which I'm turning into a keezer, but I haven't plugged it in yet. If I don't force carb or keep it hooked up to the co2 tank, would it make sense to add sugar to the brew so that it stays carbonated and keeps the pressure up?

 

You can, but that somewhat defeats the purpose of kegging, in my opinion. Why not just purge the O2, seal it up and leave it at 10 - 12 PSI for the time you're gone? You can plug up your chest freezer and set it for maximum or use an after-market temp controller to keep it from freezing.

 

You could add priming sugar and "natural" carb it the same way you would bottles (though I believe you use a bit less sugar per batch than you would for bottles). Edit: The only problem with this method is that you will get a bunch of sediment in the bottom of your keg, like with bottles.

Personally, I would just leave it hooked up at 30psi at room temp (assuming room temp is ~70+) and force carb it warm. That way it will be more or less ready when you get back. It's not like you will run out of CO2 while you are gone, the regulator will only add CO2 as it is absorbed by the beer, and the beer will only absorb CO2 up to its equilibrium, and at room temp you won't over-carbonate at that pressure.

 

Ah, thanks for that info, hunter. Being a newb, I thought keeping the co2 pressure up would deplete my tank while I was away.

 

You will only come back to an empty CO2 tank if there is a leak somewhere in the works. You might check for that before you leave, but I've never had such an issue.

 

Plug it in, hook up the gas, check for leaks and leave it at serving pressure. By the time you return and are ready for a cold one it will be perfectly carbonated, conditioned, clear and cold and ready to drink

 

Set the regulator to what you need based on your temps, hook up your keg in the kegerator, pull the pin purge for a bit, let it sit on the co2 for a week, 2 to 3 is better, drink... some people do the roll method and some do the high pressure for 2 days then bring it down. Me, I just let it sit and never had an issue.

 

If you have yet to test your lines too I would before you go... what I do is with no keg hooked turn on the gas, let it sit for a day, if your pressure hasn't gone down your good. If it does then dunk the lines where there are connections in a bucket of water or spray with some soapy water to find the leak.