Kegged For the First Time

[jhart94949]

Well I think it went well. I am going with the ole set it at 30psi for three days trick. My Lagunitas IPA Clone came in at 6.68% ABV. Right where I was aiming for. The recipe said 5.7% and I added a 1% boost. I just hope it carbonates well, taste awesome right now, little bitter bite at the end but it is an IPA! Color seems to be right on! I will have to pick a sixer of the real deal up and have them side by side. Would love to hear if anyone thinks my carbonation plan is whack!!! I was told by my LBS to use this method. 30psi 3 days drop down to 9-12 psi and enjoy......

 

[JuanMoore]

Depends on the beer temp and desired carb level, but in most cases I'd limit the 30 psi to 48 hrs max. Waiting an extra day or two for perfect carbonation is way easier than fixing an overcarbonated keg, and too long at a higher pressure is tempting fate. Judging by the pics you may not have steady temps though, which could complicate things.

 

[JustBrewinAround]

Never seen a keg setup outside of a fridge or "keezer" other than commercial beer in a bucket of ice for a party.
If the beer is warmer, than the CO2 will absorb slowly. If cold, more rapidly. In a tub like that I would say you should be ok with 48 hours at that pressure, maybe even 72. The biggest issue beyond carbonation is getting the beer down to serving temp and pressure in that tub.

 

[mikescooling]

IMHO, I'd burst carb for 24hrs max; then set it to serving pressure and check it in a week. Don't get me wrong, I can carb a keg up in 5min but it's going to be all jacked up. The other guys in my brew club can smell it like a fart in a car.

 

[jhart94949]

Thanks for the input, I have a cool-brew bag that showed up at work after I left last night. My plan is to put the keg in it with about 4-6 pounds of frozen water bottles for the rest of tonight. I was going to do that from the beginning but ran out of patients waiting on FedEx at work

 

[jhart94949]

Ok I have my keg in my cooler bag now and it is holding steady at 45 degrees, I am going to drop it down to 20psi tonight and then down to 15 tomorrow night and serving pressure Friday and see how it turns out

 

[jhart94949]

Ok so after 48 hours at 30 PSI I am almost there. I knocked it down to 12 psi last night and will let it settle out for another day. Found a leak on my plate chiller so I have to figure out how to magically fix that, JB Weld or some 2-part epoxy should do the trip I hope.