First Time Kegging Questions

[MikeSar]

Hello everyone! I am new to the forum but I have been brewing off and on for about 3 years now. I have finally taken the step to start kegging my home brew. I am still a little confused about the process so I thought I would reach out to the collective wisdom of "Home Brew Talk" to make sure I'm doing everything correctly.

FYI: I have a pin lock keg

1.) Transfer the beer into the keg and seal the top
2.) Attach the CO2 and fill (PSI ?)
3.) Purge the keg by pushing down on the pin
4.) Let sit for a day or two in the kegerator then draw off a glass
5.) Re-apply the C02 and bring to serving pressure (5-10 PSI).

Are these the correct steps? What PSI should I use? Also, I know there are a few different ways to keg (Fill to 30 PSI and let sit for 48, etc). Which is the best to use and where can I find step by step instructions?

Thanks for your help!

 

[dleonard]

I would make this the first step
Close the keg, and fill it with CO2.
That way you're transferring your beer into a keg filled with CO2. If there is any splashing then your absorbing CO2 not air.

 

[MikeSar]

I understand that theory; I've seen breweries do it when bottling their beer. This maybe a stupid question but if I close the keg and fill with CO2 how would I get the beer in?

 

[JVD_X]

Don't worry about transferring under CO2 - Just put the racking hose through the unsealed top into the keg and fill. When you fill it will displace the air. Don't try and rack through the pin lock as you might clog it.

Are you force carbing the beer or using corn sugar? If you are using corn sugar, just add the corn sugar mixture, close up the keg, attach the c02 and bleed the air out of the keg using a couple of short bursts as serving pressure. Remove the line-in and then let the keg sit for a couple of weeks at room temp.

If you are force carbing your beer then don't use the corn sugar and set the pressure to 30 psi. Again, use a couple of short bursts from the pressure valve to get rid of the air and then let the beer sit with the co2 attached for 3 days. After that, turn down the psi to your serving pressure (12-15 psi), bleed some air from the keg, then put it in the fridge.

 

[dleonard]

Yeah, as JVD_X says, don't worry about doing it under pressure.
I find that if put the keg in the spot that I'm going to transfer, start the transfer and then leave the room, with no A/C running, that sometimes I'll still have a cloudy layer over the beer when it's done transfering.

 

[MikeSar]

Thanks for your help!