kegged for first time last night

[TDorty3]

I just kegged for the first time and I am kind of nervous about if I did everything right.

I filled up a an old coca-cola cornie with my wheat beer, which has been in the secondary for about 7 weeks. (it took me that long to get valves for my keg) I added about 1/3 cup of corn sugar too.

I connected the co2 and picnic tap and put it in the fridge. I put the tank on about 15-16 psi and left it on.

I am guessing that in about a day I will be able to drink it and it will be okay. Does that sound right?

Another question I have is I was wondering if the length of my beer dispensing hose is too long. It's about 3 feet. I ask because when I pour a beer and it comes out the hose there is still some left in the hose when I stop pouring.

Will that beer in the hose go bad? It's 3 feet worth of beer and I would hate to lose that beer everytime I pour a beer or have to drink 3 feet of bad beer. You know?

Do I have to leave the co2 tank at about 15psi the whole time?

I have it at about 35 degrees fahrenheit. I hope I spelled that right.

Thanks for any help or comments. I love you beer guys!

By the way, if this works I absolutely love kegging. I was able to get my whole set up for 30 bucks. It's all used equipment of course. Some donated and some purchased.

 

[FlyGuy]

Congrats on the new kegging system. You are going to love it!

First thing, though -- it is not necessary to both prime your keg AND force carbonate it. In fact, the priming sugar could build up enough pressure to backflow gas (and possibly beer if you really filled that keg) into your regulator. Bad. If you just added the sugar a day ago, get the keg off the CO2 system. If it has had already had more time than this to ferment and pressure up, then you should have vented the CO2 before connecting your keg to the CO2 system.

You should also read up on some of the kegging instructions in the wiki. Specifically, you need to read about force carbonation, carbonation levels (varies with the beer style and serving temperature), line balancing (using the correct diameter and line length for your beer). If this stuff doesn't make sense, we can help.

Regarding the beer in the hose -- don't worry about it for a second. Realistically, it all stays cool in the fridge, and how long is it really going to stay in the hose anyways???? Hmm???

 

[Cheesefood]

It won't be ready in a day. It takes a minimum of 10 days to become nicely carbonated. Most who try force-carbing agree that it doesn't create good beer. You end up with foamy head sitting on flat beer. Just let the CO2 do it's thing for about a week and you'll be happy with the results.

 

[TDorty3]

The Home Brew Wiki is lacking any detailed instructions on how to properly keg. I have checked some other sites and they are all slightly different.

 

[FlyGuy]

Here are some good links:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/docs/html/corny-keg.html
http://hbd.org/clubs/franklin/public_html/docs/balance.html
http://sdcollins.home.mindspring.com/ForceCarbonation.html

 

[Bobby_M]

We'll assume you cleaned and sanitized the keg well cuz that's pretty important.

Right about not adding priming sugar AND force carbing. You do either. Now that the sugar is already in there, take the keg off the gas and leave it outside the fridge for 5 days or so. The yeast will be quite slow to convert the sugar at 39F if at all. I suppose you'd be OK if you don't mind the extra sweetness.

For most beers, I like about 9-11 PSI, and yes, I leave it under gas 24/7.

Your beerline is absolutely too SHORT, not long. You'll get a really foamy pour on any carb level above about 3 PSI. You're going to want about 6 feet but start with 8. You can always cut it shorter.

 

[david_42]

The beer in the line will not go bad unless it is in the sun. In that case, it will skunk. You'll probably need a longer line, 8 feet of 3/16th would be about right for 15 psi.

 

[abracadabra]

I force carbonate at a little higher pressure 20-25 PSI and dispense at very low pressure (to keep it from foaming) Then ramp the pressure back up to 15-20 when I've finished for the day. I'm sure I use more CO2 this way but I like a high level of carbonation.

Also if you are refering to temp. you can just put 35F or 2C and we'll know what you are talking about.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

abracadabra, why don't you just get longer lines? That way you won't have to drop pressure down to 5psi to pour. You could just leave it 24/7 at your carbing pressure.

 

[Bobby_M]

Right on. Given enough time, you'll eventually use up enough extra CO2 from purging to equal the cost of replacing the beerline. That doesn't even consider the pain in the butt of messing with pressures.

 

[mot]

It won't be ready in a day. It takes a minimum of 10 days to become nicely carbonated. Most who try force-carbing agree that it doesn't create good beer. You end up with foamy head sitting on flat beer. Just let the CO2 do it's thing for about a week and you'll be happy with the results.

im new to kegging just been researching it and saving up cash to buy the equipment, but 10 days to carb? Whats the point I though force carbonating was ready in afew hours or a day, not 10 days?

like this guys says on these videos, why do you have to wait that long when kegging isnt that kind of wasting time, bottle can be carbed that fast, they might need to condition more but there carbed. Am I missing something here?
http://www.freebrewingvideos.com/kegging/carbonating.html

 

[DeathBrewer]

you're missing his point. force carbonating is faster and will give you drinkable beer, but if you want great beer, it's best to wait and not do the whole shaking bit. it's still generally much faster than bottling.

last brew i kegged for about 12 days at 20 PSI. it was perfect. i've had several beers force carbonated (rushed for parties) and while they were decent and definitely drinkable, they were by no means "great" beers

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Though 10 days later it will be. If you have any left.

I tend to force carb then drink a few, but it's not till 5 to 10 days later that they start to taste the best.

Besides, we don't have to worry about sediment in our beer.

 

[TechnicGravy]

Hi all,

I'm also new to kegging. I just kegged my first batch over the weekend.

You'll probably need a longer line, 8 feet of 3/16th would be about right for 15 psi.

Does this still apply if you're using a picnic tap?
I was under the impression that they didn't really provide any resistance like a faucet would, so lengthening the beer line would be futile?


Thanks!

 

[Bobby_M]

It's the line itself providing the resistance so yes, it still applies. I was getting great pours with 6 feet of 3/16" on a picnic faucet because I was able to hold it up high a few feet higher than the keg. 6 feet of resistance, plus 3 feet of head = no foam.

 

[TechnicGravy]

Thanks for the clarification. :rockin:

 

[TDorty3]

First I want to say "thank you" for all of the help I have received from this and other posts. You beer guys are always so informative and helpful. I have been on here for two years and although I don't post a lot, I do read almost daily.

Secondly, after three days of waiting I became impatient and tried a small glass of my first ever kegged homebrew.

Of course it tastes good to me (because I made it), but I must be honest and say I'm somewhat dissatisfied with it as of yet. I thought three days of constant 20psi pressure would be good, but I was wrong. I didn't do any shaking, and I suppose that could have helped.

I guess I will have to wait longer. I am somewhat dissatisfied with the flavor of my beer. It is my first ever wheat beer and tastes slightly watery. Maybe because it's not carbonated enough yet. I will wait til friday and try it again.

Thanks again beer brothers!

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

It also needs some conditioning time so it will get better as time goes on.

Like Bobby said, it's the line that provides resistance. Almost all faucets are designed to be on or off. If you pull them half way they will not slow the pour, they will just spray foam. Including picnic taps. (The exception are these really expensive German faucets that can adjust the pressure)

Thought I'd throw that tidbit of info in cause I've seen people try to be "careful" and only open the tap part way and getting a glass full of foam.

 

[gresc]

I had similiar questions. Kayos sent me the following link and after about 7 days ( I made an american wheat) it was perfect. You probably don't want to do this now b/c of the sugar but next time try it, it worked well. Of course I drank almost half of it while it was still green

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html?8737341#tag

 

[TDorty3]

It's been a few days later and it tastes great. I love it! Great taste, great carbonation. To me it doesn't taste like a traditional wheat beer, but it's still awesome. It will be a long time until I bottle again.:rockin:

 

[FlyGuy]

Excellent -- glad it worked out so well!