Kegging and Transport

[Wantok Brewing]

I am being requested to brew and bring some beer to a after wedding party. I normally will keg my beer and force carbonate 30psi in my kegerator for 2 days before serving. However I will not have room to carbonate in the kegerator. I will also be transporting the kegs via car and am worried about the shaking of the keg in the car. Just trying to prevent under/over carbed beer. I am also looking at using the small micro regulator and gas cylinders for serving the beer.

Questions are:
1) How should I Carb and store the beer outside of the kegerator?
2) Does CO2 need to be connected to the keg after it has been carbed?
3) What do I do with the kegs for transport? Do I release the CO2 before transport?
4) Once I am where we are going, I will have 2 days before the beer is to be served. The kegs will be stored outside in a cooler of ice to keep cold. The temp should be between 35F-55F.
5) Do I need to carb the kegs again at the correct pressure due to the being cold?

Thank you for the assistance.

 

[Vale71]

1) How should I Carb and store the beer outside of the kegerator?

Just like you do inside the kegerator but with a pressure that matches the ambient temperature. You can find dozens of tables that will tell you what the correct pressure is.

2) Does CO2 need to be connected to the keg after it has been carbed?

Assuming no leaks, no it does not.

3) What do I do with the kegs for transport? Do I release the CO2 before transport?

No, why would you? Kegs are made to be pressurized at all times.

4) Once I am where we are going, I will have 2 days before the beer is to be served. The kegs will be stored outside in a cooler of ice to keep cold. The temp should be between 35F-55F.
5) Do I need to carb the kegs again at the correct pressure due to the being cold?

Assuming no leaks, no you don't.

 

[Blazinlow86]

As others have stated the gas part of its not a big deal. If I was serving to a audience I would be much more concerned with how your going to deal with the sediment that's gonna be re suspended when you move the kegs. Some homebrewers are ok with cloudy beer but non brewers definitely won't be. I'd say do whatever you can to cold crash then without moving the keg transfer to another to leave the sediment behind. Cheers

 

[MaxStout]

Can you bring it to the venue early, like the day before? That may give it time to settle.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I recommend using the Keg Carbonation Calculator provided by the HBT corporate owners as it has a higher upper-bounds than our favorite carbonation table.

Also, those cylinders don't last long, you'll need 3 to 5 of the 16 gram cartridges to dispense a full five gallons.

Two days once chilled should drop most of the sediment back to the bottom for a couple of murky pours...

Cheers!

 

[Vale71]

He did say the beer is going to rest for 2 days before serving, so it will clear up somewhat.

 

[day_trippr]

Use red solo cups - nobody will notice it isn't brite

Cheers!

 

[Wantok Brewing]

I guess where I am a little confused is: If you carb a beer at 68F at 27psi lets say. And then you transport it and then chill the beer down. Over the course of 2 days. Is the carbonation of the beer going to be different at 35F when served if the new settings is 10psi?

And I figured the first couple of pours will be a little murky, but after that no problem.

 

[Blazinlow86]

No the carbonation state the same. You require higher psi at warmer temps and lower psi at lower temperatures

 

[balrog]

Once CO2 is dissolved into liquid, and keg is equalized (nothing hooked up to supply, no leaks), then everything is fine. When temp changes, you'll proly dissolve a little of the CO2 in the headspace into the liquid as the equillibrium has changed (temp). But with nothing hooked up, it's no big deal. The main thing will be to have enough to push the volumes of multiple kegs out, per @day_trippr above. It's great that you have a couple days to settle, and on ice. That's huge after transporting I have found, even if only 2-3 hours.

 

[day_trippr]

Once the kegs have chilled simply pop the prv valves to release any excess pressure.
Then you can hook up your keg chargers and picnic taps and go nuts without having anything blow-out...

Cheers!

 

[Wantok Brewing]

Cheers everyone. Exactly what I need to know.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

And yes, you will need to apply co2 during serving to replace the pressure lost.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Good luck. I brewed and brought 3 kegs to my wedding. Letting it set overnight really helped the crap settle out. I was surprised how much came out in the first few pulls.