Kegged a beer for the first time.

[Saunassa]

First time ever kegging a beer. I have a 2.5 gallon so I kegged half and bottled half. Bottles were primed with the Domino dots sugar cubes. Excited to see what the difference will be like between the two and how the dots priming turns out.

 

[Snuffy]

I have a very similar setup and do a lot of keg half/bottle half. I’ve been using the carbonation drops lately. Takes a little longer to carb than corn sugar and the bubbles are finer. I’d be interested to know if table sugar cubes work well or not. What size are your bottles?

 

[S-Met]

I’d be interested to know if table sugar cubes work well or not.

There are many threads here on hbt confirming this exact question. I personally have not used sugar cubes, but I believe the concensus is that it takes a little longer than with corn sugar. But it's measured by days. Be patient and you will be rewarded.

 

[AJinJacksonville]

Kind of off-topic...but aren't those 2.5 gallon kegs so cute?!

 

[Snuffy]

I've got the classic black rubber handles short corny keg. They are kinda cute. I like it cause it fits under the shelf in my bar fridge.

 

[Saunassa]

Kind of off-topic...but aren't those 2.5 gallon kegs so cute?!

I really like this 2.5 torpedo. Was able to easily put it in the back seat. Fits in regular fridge with shelf on lowest level and still leaves some for bottles.

 

[Saunassa]

I have a very similar setup and do a lot of keg half/bottle half. I’ve been using the carbonation drops lately. Takes a little longer to carb than corn sugar and the bubbles are finer. I’d be interested to know if table sugar cubes work well or not. What size are your bottles?

12oz glass bottles, one dominos dot sugar cube fits right through the mouth.
So after a week and a half they are carbed well. Another week and chill for a few days should be perfect. My biggest concern is somehow I will contaminate the beer when I put the cube in.

 

[Harleybrew32]

congrats, hate to ask this question but do you have the keg in the fridge?
needs to be cold to carb.

 

[Snuffy]

congrats, hate to ask this question but do you have the keg in the fridge?
needs to be cold to carb.

I carb kegs at room temp all the time. You just need to chill it if you want it carbed faster and with less pressure required.

 

[day_trippr]

Mostly right: with the "chart pressure" appropriate for the temperature the rate of carbonation gain should be the same...

Cheers!

 

[Vale71]

I carb kegs at room temp all the time. You just need to chill it if you want it carbed faster and with less pressure required.

Right on the less pressure required but carbonation takes longer (up to twice as long going from 20°C to 0°C) the colder the beer.

 

[Vale71]

First time ever kegging a beer. I have a 2.5 gallon so I kegged half and bottled half. Bottles were primed with the Domino dots sugar cubes. Excited to see what the difference will be like between the two and how the dots priming turns out.

Looks like your bottle of CO2 is either empty or you forgot to open the shutoff valve?

 

[bracconiere]

Looks like your bottle of CO2 is either empty or you forgot to open the shutoff valve?

the keg's sitting at what i'd assume is 30psi for a tap rite though....and i think i see the back-flow valve is open, so maybe they shut off the tank....i'd be curious how much the low pressure side drops in a few days....and, lol, i didn't even notice...wait that's weird one, just did the conversion for 2 bar, and it looks like that's only at 20 or so psi......

 

[Vale71]

Hopefully he's already noticed by now...

 

[Snuffy]

Right on the less pressure required but carbonation takes longer (up to twice as long going from 20°C to 0°C) the colder the beer.

If you are saying it takes longer to carb a chilled keg, that runs opposite of my experience. A room temp keg takes about twice as long to carb as the same keg using less pressure in the fridge. I may be reading you wrong...

https://www.brewcabin.com/force-carbonation/
“CO2 is Best Served Cold
Temperature plays a critical role in force carbonating. The lower the temperature, the more quickly CO2 dissolves into your homebrew, and the lower the volume of gas you’ll need to reach the proper volume of carbonation. Ideally, you’ll carbonate your beer at the same temperature you’ll be serving it.”

 

[Snuffy]

Mostly right: with the "chart pressure" appropriate for the temperature the rate of carbonation gain should be the same...
Cheers!

it has been my experience that a colder keg carbs faster - even with the lower chart pressure for the temp. That comes from carbing 2.5 gal kegs. Not sure if the volume plays a role in the rate or not.

 

[Vale71]

it has been my experience that a colder keg carbs faster - even with the lower chart pressure for the temp. That comes from carbing 2.5 gal kegs. Not sure if the volume plays a role in the rate or not.

The surface-to-volume ratio plays a role. Of course if you force carb two identical kegs filled to nominal capacity the ratio will be identical and the warmer keg, set to the appropriate higher pressure, will carb faster than the colder one.

 

[Beermeister32]

Another thing to consider is whether you are filling glasses from the keg, or bottling from the keg.

If filling glasses, you might want to carb at 10-12 psi @ 34F. If I'm bottling from the keg, I carb at 20 psi @ 34F. This compensates for residual psi losses you will encounter when filling with a counter pressure filler (or beer wand if that is what you use.)

 

[bracconiere]

The lower the temperature, the more quickly CO2 dissolves into your homebrew

i hate to jump over posts, but isn't temperature a meassure of how fast molecules are moving? so lower temp just would hold more and not let it off as quick, but not absorb it as fast either?

 

[Vale71]

i hate to jump over posts, ...

Then you shouldn't, especially in this case...

 

[bracconiere]

Then you shouldn't, especially in this case...

damn, for what started out as a faulty high pressure gauge, or empty tank....we moved into thermodynamics, and stuff like that....i'm not sure about gases but i know when i need to dissolve not quite soluble liquids into each other that ARE soluble but don't really get along, heat helps them blend....and stiring.....

 

[Volcano]

Some important factors when thinking about carbonating beer in a cornelius keg are as follows:

In the beginning there is negligible CO2 dissolved in the beer.
In two closed systems where the factor being compared is temperature we could consider that in the warmer system there will be a lower concentration of CO2 in the headspace at the beginning because gas at a warmer temperature exerts a higher pressure.

In the second, cooler system, there is a higher concentration of CO2 at identical pressure in the headspace, simply because gas at a cooler temperature exerts a lower pressure, so more CO2 is required to be present to exert the same pressure.

In reality, chilled kegs of beer carbonate faster than warm because the amount of CO2 in the cold keg headspace is greater. I believe this to be the overriding cause of our observations in keg systems where gas to liquid surface ratio is small, and liquid to gas volume is high.

 

[Vale71]

Some important factors when thinking about carbonating beer in a cornelius keg are as follows:

In the beginning there is negligible CO2 dissolved in the beer.
In two closed systems where the factor being compared is temperature we could consider that in the warmer system there will be a lower concentration of CO2 in the headspace at the beginning because gas at a warmer temperature exerts a higher pressure.

In the second, cooler system, there is a higher concentration of CO2 at identical pressure in the headspace, simply because gas at a cooler temperature exerts a lower pressure, so more CO2 is required to be present to exert the same pressure.

In reality, chilled kegs of beer carbonate faster than warm because the amount of CO2 in the cold keg headspace is greater. I believe this to be the overriding cause of our observations in keg systems where gas to liquid surface ratio is small, and liquid to gas volume is high.

The only problem is that if you're targeting the same final carbonation level you have to set the correspondingly higher pressure for the warmer beer as per the carbonation chart, otherwise your warm beer will never ever reach the desired carbonation level no matter how long you wait. The situation you describe would lead to the warmer keg being extremely undercarbed so your consideration is meaningless in practical applications.

 

[Saunassa]

Looks like your bottle of CO2 is either empty or you forgot to open the shutoff valve?

I had shut the tank valve off because I was curious if anything was leaking plus wanted to see how much co2 it would take the first 24 hours.

 

[Kent88]

You can discuss how temperature impacts the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide over time in the kegging process here if you like, but you need to keep it civil.

No more personal attacks.

 

[Saunassa]

Whew, I just wanted to show I had kegged for the first time and how cool the 2.5 gal is since I can always bottle for friends.
I had wondered if anyone would notice the gauges and ask what's up? I had to keep it in the cool basement a couple days before I could take it out to the farm and put it in the fridge there. Once there I turned the pressure down to 8# and it has been there since. Pressure may sound low but I will be using a 5' 3/16" party tap to begin with and that looked like about the right pressure from the charts.

 

[Volcano]

Hey! Its Monday
If you want your beer to carbonate faster then chill it!
Gases are less soluble in liquids as temperature increases.
Just a little practical tip there.

 

[Snuffy]

No more personal attacks.