Kegging carbonation and conditioning

[dilvish]

Hi all. I'm new to kegging, so please excuse me if this is a totally naive question.

I kegged a pale ale after four weeks in primary. I used the "set and forget" method with 12 psi and 40 degrees. After three days my keg is reading 12 psi as measured with pressure tester, so this correlates to approx 2.5 volumes CO2.

The beer tastes good, but should I expect it to improve with more time in the keg, i.e., more conditioning? Also, is it unusual to reach 2.5 volumes CO2 after only three days with set and forget method?

 

[day_trippr]

How does this pressure tester not simply tell you what pressure you had your regulator set to? Isn't it just reading the head space pressure?

I only use "set and forget" carbing, and chill before carbing, and it takes two weeks for my full kegs to reach a good carbonation level, and a third week to be perfect. I doubt your beer is anywhere near fully carbed to 2.5 volumes after three days at 12 psi...

Cheers!

 

[dilvish]

Yes, the pressure gauge is reading the head space pressure, but in theory that would correlate with the dissolved CO2 in the beer if it had reached equilibrium.

But I think you're right - it doesn't seem nearly carbonated to what I'd expect at 2.5 vol%. I was just wondering if it's possible to be fully carbonated at three days with the set and forget method.

 

[zachattack]

Did you vent the headspace, then once it re-equilibrated (with the tank disconnected) it read 12 psi? Or did you just switch off the tank and measure the headspace pressure? If that's the case, I bet if you leave it overnight it will drop down a good bit to tell you the actual carb level.

Or maybe your keg just carbonated abnormally fast...

 

[dilvish]

Yes, I vented it several times, then chilled it down to 40 degrees with the pressure set to 12 psi.

 

[dilvish]

I'll disconnect it tonight and check the headspace pressure in the morning to see if it still reads 12 psi.

 

[zachattack]

If you vented it, then waited for the pressure to come back up it sounds like you're actually at the 2.5 vol you think you are. So that's cool.

 

[Bobby_M]

No, you'd never reach equilibrium via set and forget in only 3 days. The pressure gauge is telling you that you have 12psi in the headspace and that makes sense because you were just holding it there with the regulator. When you disconnect the gas, it will stay at 12 for a little while because diffusion into the beer takes time. Leave the gauge on there for an hour and watch it drop slowly. It will stop dropping when it does reach the new equilibrium and it's probably going to be somewhere around 4psi.

Similar to what zach is mentioning, the fastest way to see where you really are is to vent the headspace, connect the gauge and now gently shake the keg to see what max pressure you read.

 

[zachattack]

No, you'd never reach equilibrium via set and forget in only 3 days. The pressure gauge is telling you that you have 12psi in the headspace and that makes sense because you were just holding it there with the regulator. When you disconnect the gas, it will stay at 12 for a little while because diffusion into the beer takes time. Leave the gauge on there for an hour and watch it drop slowly. It will stop dropping when it does reach the new equilibrium and it's probably going to be somewhere around 4psi.

Similar to what zach is mentioning, the fastest way to see where you really are is to vent the headspace, connect the gauge and now gently shake the keg to see what max pressure you read.

Ah, I read his post too quickly and assumed he vented it right before checking the pressure.

 

[dilvish]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful input.

I disconnected the gas supply for ten hours, then checked the keg pressure this morning. It was 9 psi, so I'll assume that reading represents CO2 at equilibrium and I'm slightly under-carbonated at 2.2 vol %. Still, that's not too bad for only three days of "set and forget" at 12 psi.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Still, that's not too bad for only three days of "set and forget" at 12 psi.

Four days now

Take note of the carbonation quality as time progresses...

Cheers!

 

[forstmeister]

2 weeks is how long it takes my kegs with the set and forget method. Drinkable at one week, but delicious at 2.

 

[dilvish]

Ok, I'll check the pressure again at one and two weeks respectively to satisfy my curiosity. Of course I'll be sampling the beer throughout the process, but it's definitely "drinkable" now.