CO2 pressure for kegged conditioning?

[whoaru99]

Just put a Belgian quad style in a Corny for conditioning.

Keeping the keg in a fridge at ~50F.

Not worried about needing it to be carbed up for a while, thinking leave it sit at least 2-3 months, maybe more.

What sort of pressure should I put in to hold it? I understand CO2 will go into the beer. If I put 10psi then just unhook and leave it, will that be OK?

Or, I have nitrogen too, if that might be better just to keep a little pressure in the keg without carbonating, for the time of conditioning/aging?

It's 9.7% if that matter all that much at this point

 

[day_trippr]

Quads are carbonated to 2.5~3.5 volumes. If you're keeping your keg at 50°F that would correspond to a CO2 pressure ranging from 17 to 30 psi, according to our favorite carbonation table.

That said, if you're going to age this keg for 2 to 3 months there's no hurry to fully carbonate it to style. In fact there's no real need to put CO2 pressure on the keg at all. Just seal it up and let it sit for as long as you want, then allow a couple of weeks near the end to put "chart pressure" on it to bring it up to dispensing quality.

Applying a shot of CO2 then disconnecting the CO2 source is unlikely to do much of anything as that shot would be absorbed by the beer in short order...

Cheers!

 

[GoodTruble]

I would want some pressure inside to help maintain the seal. If you are going to do one burst and then leave it, I would just hit it with 20 PSI. In my experience, that gets a good seal during cold storage and gets it started on carbing without going too far. I also have no science or math to back me up. It's just what I do when chilling new kegs for awhile.

 

[IslandLizard]

If the headspace is around 1-2 quarts (or less), you can easily fill that (relatively small) headspace with 30-40 psi. The 4.5-5 gallons of beer below it will pick up most of the CO2 (getting very lightly carbonated) until an equilibrium establishes. That will leave maybe (I'm guessing) 5 psi in the headspace. That should be enough to keep the keg lid sealed.

You can always test the headspace pressure after some time (by pulling the PRV a little) and decide to add a little more CO2 if needed.

 

[hottpeper13]

I have a Quad that was in a barrel for 8 months and then kegged,carbed up in the lagerator at 12 psi and 33* for around 4 weeks. Took it off the CO2 and it's currently sitting at basement temps and will go on tap for black friday.
I see no difference in the way I do it when comparing it to bottle conditioning. Fully carb it before you let it condition.

 

[odie]

you should periodically check it. it will drop psi as the co2 absorbs. too low and the lid might unseal...and then it will slowly go flat.

 

[whoaru99]

you should periodically check it. it will drop psi as the co2 absorbs. too low and the lid might unseal...and then it will slowly go flat.

That's why I mentioned nitrogen, wondering if using that rather than CO2 might be better for a "set it and forget it (for a while)" situation.

The storage area is at a different location on the other side of town. It's not a huge distance, but just not particularly conducive to frequent tinkering and monitoring as if in the same house I live in. I suppose it might have been good to mention that before.