First time kegging

[ravegti]

Never kegged before. Been researching and finding some great threads here (thanks!). Here's my scenario. Racked to the keg and connected to the co2 tank at 10psi. It is sitting at room temperature in my basement, about 65 degrees, for 2 days now, tank still connected. The beer is going on a friends boat for a party in 3 weeks and he doesn't have a kegerator. He plans on tossing the keg in an ice bucket for a few hours before the party.

How long do I leave the co2 connected right now? Do I leave it connected at 10psi for 3 weeks? Is that even necessary at this point? Do I just make sure its pressurized and disconnect for the 3 weeks? Should I have not connected the tank at all except to burp out the oxygen, then connect the night before the party? Thanks in advance.

 

[day_trippr]

Looking at this carbonation table, 10 psi at 65°F gets you only 1.4 volumes of CO2. Most styles are huddled around the 2.2-2.5 range, which at your 65°F would require between 24 and 30 psi.

It takes a couple of weeks for the beer to reach those levels from a standing start. You could speed things up by rolling the keg around with the CO2 set in the range specified for 15 minutes. Should be relatively safe as long as you have an anti-backflow (aka "check") valve between the regulator and the keg...


Cheers!

 

[wi_brewer]

You should definitely leave the co2 tank connected. As the co2 dissolves into the beer it will require more to keep the same pressure.

As day_trippr mentioned, you will need to crank up the pressure if you want your beer to carb up at 65 degrees. Best bet is to find fridge space for it. I usually put mine at 13-15 psi @ 40 degrees for 3 weeks to achieve the carbonation I am looking for.

Good luck.

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

Either raise the pressure or cool the keg. Warm and low pressure isn't going to work.

Bob

 

[jed1975]

Never kegged before. Been researching and finding some great threads here (thanks!). Here's my scenario. Racked to the keg and connected to the co2 tank at 10psi. It is sitting at room temperature in my basement, about 65 degrees, for 2 days now, tank still connected. The beer is going on a friends boat for a party in 3 weeks and he doesn't have a kegerator. He plans on tossing the keg in an ice bucket for a few hours before the party.

How long do I leave the co2 connected right now? Do I leave it connected at 10psi for 3 weeks? Is that even necessary at this point? Do I just make sure its pressurized and disconnect for the 3 weeks? Should I have not connected the tank at all except to burp out the oxygen, then connect the night before the party? Thanks in advance.

Hi I've been kegging for about 12 months now and i find that if i just rack into keg after primary burp out remaining oxygen then turn co2 up to 20 psi put it straight into fridge forget about it for a week with the co2 connected, then after 1 week disconnect co2 pull pressure release valve reconnect co2 put a couple of pounds of pressure on it then pour a beer it should be carbonated depending on how you like it if under carbed just reconnect turn co2 up to 20 psi check again in another day or two.
Cheers, happy brewing!