first time kegging

[tchever1]

Forgive my newbee status BUT I'm kegging for the first time and have been told a dozen ways to do it. I'm gonna carbonate with the CO2 bottle and usee no sugar--where do I go from there to get a good charge without ENORMOUS headage? Thanx

 

[Sailingeric]

I just started kegging. I used http://www.brewersfriend.com/stats/ and it has a kegging calculator based on style and temp.

 

[chuckcomm]

I am on my third keg after starting kegging. First thing I do after putting the beer in the keg is put 30lbs of pressure on it...release pressure from keg then do this twice more to seal the lid. Im not sure this is absolutely necessary but its something I read.

Next I put 30 on the keg for approx 36 to 48 hours then drop it to serving pressure (8-10)

Its worked great and the beer is carbed and ready in two days. It is better however to let it age a bit usually two weeks is good but I do drink at least one daily until that time is up.

 

[ol-hazza]

Your serving system will also come into play here and it took me some trial and error to get it balanced.

Firstly pick your serving temperature, say 7°c or 44°f.
Then your carbonation level, I like 2.5.
Use the calculator above which says you need 13.3psi or one of these charts which says 14-15psi (no idea why these have a variation, they really shouldn't).

Leave this for a week and your beer will be good to serve (there are quicker ways but we can get into that later).

Now comes serving the beer, and the main consideration is the resistance of the set up which is effected primarily by length and internal diameter (ID) of the tubing. Too little resistance and the beer will pour too fast and turn to foam in the cup. Too much resistance and it wont pour. feel free to get complicated with figuring that one out here but a great starting point is 3m of 5.5mm line or 9' of 3/16" with a picnic tap.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

BEFORE ROLLING KEG FORCE CARBING,open valve at regular pressure (10 psi) let tank fill for a second,shut regulator off,purge till no more gas comes out,5 seconds or so,repeat 3 times.Then crank up pressure to 30 psi for 30 hours.After that shut off reg,purge to lower pressure,set to serving temp..done

 

[ol-hazza]

BEFORE ROLLING KEG FORCE CARBING,open valve at regular pressure (10 psi) let tank fill for a second,shut regulator off,purge till no more gas comes out,5 seconds or so,repeat 3 times.Then crank up pressure to 30 psi for 30 hours.After that shut off reg,purge to lower pressure,set to serving temp..done

purging the keg, a very necessary step, can't believe I forgot to mention it

 

[doug293cz]

Yes you need purge the headspace in the keg multiple times to get the air and especially the oxygen out. Oxygen in the headspace will oxidize your beer over time. Air in the headspace displaces CO2, so that the CO2 partial pressure is less than the total pressure, and you end up with less carbonation than you intended (but this will improve as the headspace volume increases with beer consumption.)

5 purge cycles at 30 psi, or 8 purge cycles at 15 psi will get rid of 99.6% of the original air (and O2.) 8 cycles at 15 psi uses less CO2 than 5 cycle at 30 psi.

Brew on

 

[dancingfetus]

Ive been dealing with kegging for my first time too. The easiest way to make sure your beer comes out at the proper carbonation is to chill the beer, calculate the PSI/ volumes needed, and leave it for 7-10 days chilled. You can rush the process by upping the PSI for several days, or upping the PSI and shaking the keg, However both can lead to an overcarbed beer. Burping is needed as stated above, and then the next critical thing is the beer line length, as stated above. The length of your line varies based on the type of beer line you use, PSI, and vertical rise in the line. From my understanding a balanced system should be set to your desired PSI(around 13 PSI for most beers), while still having around 0 PSI at the tap due to the resistance in the lines for a perfect pour. A few more points are check for leaks first, and make sure to thoroughly clean your keg if you bought it used, maybe consider replacing gaskets, and have fun!

 

[SanPancho]

Before I run beer into the keg I push c02 down the liquid tube, with the lid open, to push all the old air up and out. Then once you fill with beer you don't have to keep purging to get air out. Plus beer never comes in contact with anything but c02.

And before you do anything check for leaks with spray bottle of soapy water. My first kegged beer had a slow leak- so slow that it took about a week to run my tank down to empty. But when I poured the first pints, beer seemed fine. It wasn't until all the friends showed up that we realized the tank had gone empty- because there wasn't enough pressure left to pour anymore beer. And nowhere to refill a c02 tank at midnight on Friday either.

That party was lame.

 

[VegasBrew1]

I'm kegging for first time tomorrow. You say beer is ready to consume in 2 days. So with the high psi (30) value on it for 30 to 36 hours, you just have to purge keg of excess pressure and set the correct serving pressure? In 12 more hours she's ready to serve? Sounds pretty sweet.

On the flip side, I really want to try and brew that Caramel Amber Ale recipe (you got it from this website?). Best of luck with that, reads like it'll be a real winner. Cheers.