Kegging for the first time

[michaelpeach76]

I'm gonna be kegging for the first time and that also of course means...force carbonating for the first time. Anyway...questions. The main one is since I'm guessing that c02 force carbonating is measured in 'psi'...how many psi is the going average for carbonation? Obviously I don't want a cola, but I'd like a tad more than stout. Well, the beer I'm kegging is and American Red ale not sure if there is a protocol to that style. Hmmm...help?

 

[bnairuni87]

Michael,

The psi depends upon the type of beer and temperature.

The link below is for beer and temperature chart.

http://www.kegerators.com/articles/carbonation-table-pressure-chart.php

I normally run all four taps, at the same temp and psi (40 degrees and 13 psi).

Regards,

Brent

 

[homebrew57]

What you need is this....
http://www.kegerators.com/articles/carbonation-table-pressure-chart.php

Let the kegged beer cool in your kegerator for a day or two so the temp stabilizes. The carbonation pressure relies greatly on the temp of the beer as you see in the chart.

 

[homebrew57]

Looks like bnairun beat me by seconds.....soooo what he said.

 

[day_trippr]

I'll offer this carbonation calculator as it combines both a "carbonation to style" guide as well as the actual PSI vs temperature calculator - which doesn't cut off at 65°F like our favorite carbonation table...

Cheers!

 

[HBC]

I hate to sound silly.. but set it low, and let it sit in your cooler. High is 30psi -- low is 10-psi. Check it in a week and slowly bring up to about 15-psi which is where I end up usually. I think it is more preference/style based than anything!

Keep in mind too that your beer DRASTICALLY changes flavor after a few weeks/month etc-- almost always for the better. I can swallow green beer (1 week of carbonation in the keg) but I find that when I share with friends it has to of been in the keg under carbonation for a month or longer.

 

[michaelpeach76]

YES INDEED! Very helpful...thank you guys so much.

 

[hophop]

I set mine at 10 psi. It takes about 5-7 days to fully carb.


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[CraigKing]

I normally run all four taps, at the same temp and psi (40 degrees and 13 psi).

Regards,

Brent

On that chart, at 40 degrees and 13psi, it says 2.56. What does that number represent? The 2.56?

 

[hunter_le five]

The number of volumes of CO2 that are forced into solution at that specified temp and pressure. The bigger the number, the more highly carbonated the beverage is.


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[fearwig]

Volumes of CO2, the number most bottle primers are familiar with. See the dropdown here for styles.

 

[CraigKing]

Cool, thanks for the info.

 

[anico4704]

Set it and forget it is generally done at 10-18psi which takes about 3 weeks. Force carb is about 1 week at 30psi. I highly recommend set and forget as you can dial in the exact carb you want without over carbing. Google both method to get a better idea


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[texashomer]

I echo "Hophop's" comment. I generally carb a new keg at +/- 20 PSI for 4 or 5 days then drop to 8 to 10 PSI for duration of keg. (This doesn't take into consideration the amount of Co2 volume per style. The stuff you'd find in the charts.)