Carbonating the brew in keg

[pingeyeg]

First, I just want to state, I like to have 30 psi on my brew for 24 hours to carbonate the beer drinkable the next day. On that note, my question is, if I seal the keg with the 30 psi and remove the gas line from it, leaving the CO2 inside the keg, will that carbonate it just the same or do I have to continue the CO2 flow into the keg for 24 hours? I ask, because I would like to be able to let the keg sit by itself in the fridge while still drinking out of another keg with only 12 psi for serving. I currently do not have a dual regulator.

 

[Snagg30341]

I would think you'd be fine as long as no leaks

 

[LLBeanJ]

No, it won't work. You need continuous CO2.

 

[pingeyeg]

Crap, it sounds like I need to add another regulator.

 

[mdgagne]

The gas that it takes to get your keg that is full with beer to 30psi is much less than the amount of gas that is required to carbonate the beer. The CO2 in the head space is absorbed by the beer and effectively drops the PSI of the keg. If you want to see this in action quickly, apply 30 PSI to the keg and roll/shake the keg. You will hear more gas applied to the keg as it is absorbed the beer.

In short, you need to keep your source of CO2 hooked up to the keg in order to carbonate it.

 

[pingeyeg]

Thanks mdgagne, that makes total sense. Thanks for the info.

 

[one-L]

Edit: mdgagne beat me to it before i hit reply

 

[day_trippr]

If I'm thinking straight at this moment (already hitting my Stone IPA clone ) it takes up to 50 liters of CO2 @ STP to bring the carbonation level of a five gallon keg of beer up to 2.5 volumes. That would be many times the headspace volume, even when filled at 30psi...

Cheers!

 

[zachattack]

If you want, you can just get a cheap splitter and keep both kegs at 12 psi. The keg won't be carbonated overnight, but it will be after a couple weeks.

 

[Snagg30341]

I have a splitter and two kegs. Works great.

 

[2thGuy]

A short term solution is to keep the keg you are carbing at 30 then unhook your gas QD, turn your regulator down to dispensing pressure, hook it up to the keg you want to drink, dispense, then put your carbing beer back on 30 when your done.

 

[RRBrewer]

After applying the 30psi at the beginning of carbonation, do you leave the regulator set at 30 psi for a couple of days until the carbonation level you want is achieved?

 

[forstmeister]

I have started to establish a pipeline of kegs finally. When I have one or more tapped with plenty of beer in them I just carbonate with priming sugar in another keg. It takes time to carb up but I already have a couple kegs tapped and ready for drinking usually