First Time Force Carbonating

[A1sportsdad]

So I have my first 3 kegs loaded up in my Keezer. This has been a long time coming but I’m there. Just have to add one more faucet to get it to a Mac of 4 kegs. I started force carbonating the kegs. I have previously verified no leaks up to the point where they enter the Keezer. I don’t think it’s leaking, but have a question.
While I force carbonate, I’m not leaving my tank on. I pressurize up to 12 psi then shut the tank off. Over time the pressure will drop off. I assume this would be expected as the CO2 is dissolving into solution into the beer. Once it is saturated with CO2 the pressure should hold until I start drawing off of it.
Is this correct? Appreciate the feedback.
A couple of photos of my setup attached.

 

[AlexKay]

You’ve hit the nail on the head. You can think of it like this: you’re probably shooting for 2-2.5 volumes of CO2 in your beer, which means you could fill the entire keg more than two times over with gas and have it all go into solution.

 

[brewbama]

I would add that if you’re going to turn on and off the pressure it’s going to take a LONG time to carbonate those beers. I recommend setting your desired CO2 pressure, leaving it on, and forget about it. (aka ‘set it and forget it’) Come back in about a week to 10 days and it will be carbonated.

 

[wsmith1625]

+1 @brewbama

Plus, get some of these.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/duotight-635mm-14-od-retaining-circlip-10-pack.html

 

[tracer bullet]

Agreed w/ the above. Either leave it on at 12 all the time, or "force carb" it and then leave it at 12.

I force carb by setting 15psi and rolling the keg on the floor about 5 - 10 minutes until it stops absorbing anything. Then it goes in the frig and sits a couple days to finish taking on CO2 if needed and also to sort of 2nd cold crash any suspended yeast and other bits to the bottom. Works about perfectly for me.

If holding it at 12psi is a problem, it's a problem you have to fix right away. Because that's basically what it'll need to do 24/7 to be able to serve the beers.

 

[wsmith1625]

I think you may have some issues with your co2 line setup. The 3 secondary regulators allow you to have 3 independent PSI settings. It looks like you currently have them set to 15, 12, and 30. The 15 and 12 psi regulators are being feed into each of the gas manifolds, but the output lines from the manifolds are then being tee'd together into a single line. The pressure of the tee'd line would be 15. You're setup is only allowing you to serve at 2 PSI settings, in this case it would be 15 and 30.

EDIT: I spoke too soon. I realized that your setup allows you to change the PSI to each of the lines. Nice!

 

[A1sportsdad]

I would add that if you’re going to turn on and off the pressure it’s going to take a LONG time to carbonate those beers. I recommend setting your desired CO2 pressure, leaving it on, and forget about it. (aka ‘set it and forget it’) Come back in about a week to 10 days and it will be carbonated.

Yes, I would do that only I am headed out of town for a week and a half and have not yet proven out that I have no leaks. Once I get back I will leave it on to finish carbing it and verify no leaks, then I will be more comfortable leaving it on the force carb in the future.

 

[A1sportsdad]

+1 @brewbama

Plus, get some of these.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/duotight-635mm-14-od-retaining-circlip-10-pack.html

Yes, I have them. Installed them after I took the photos. Thx.