Kegging my first NEIPA-advice needed

[JP2013]

hello everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for hopefully offering your insights.

I’m about to brew my first 5 gallon NEIPA (all grain), but I have a few questions about my kegging schedule. I've looked at close to 15-20 different NEIPA recipes while developing mine, and just about everyone has a slightly different kegging preference.

To avoid as much oxygen exposure as possible I am going to allow fermentation (2 dry hop additions and 4-5 lbs of fruit puree) to complete in one carboy. Once my FG is reached and fermentation is complete I am going to transfer into my corny keg and place it into my keggerator. It seems that most people force carb at 30 psi for the first 24 hours (shaken), then lower it to 20 PSI or so for another 24 hours, and then set to serving PSI (~12 PSI).

Because this beer will have fruit puree in it, I'm thinking that schedule is what I will follow, but I just wanted to see if anyone had any input or suggest that I do it differently?

Sorry if this question is totally silly.

Thank you in advance!

Cheers,
James

 

[IslandLizard]

Nothing silly, good questions.

Avoiding secondaries is a wise move, not only for NEIPAs, pretty much any beer.

You'll need to time your dry hop and fruit puree additions. Your fruit puree will contain sugar, that will ferment out, which may take a few days to a week, but could be longer. You probably want to add the fruit when the main fermentation is slowing down. Make sure the fruit is totally submerged, stir gently (using the back end of a long plastic brew spoon) if it hasn't all sunk after a day.

Dry hopping has usually completed in 3-5 days, 7 days is about the upper limit. Add dry hops loose for best extraction. If adding when fermentation has well subsided, I'd stir once or twice a day, if possible, for better extraction.

After any additions and stirring, flush the headspace with CO2, to reduce any air (O2) that got in. Or better yet, hang a (skinny) CO2 hose inside the neck, about half way down into the headspace, and stream some CO2 in while you add stuff or stir. That way much less or no air can get in. If you feel the need, flush afterward, for good measure, before putting the bung back in.

Kegging:
Look up closed or near-closed transfers to a keg. The receiving keg should be 100% liquid pre-purged. It gets filled through the liquid in post/QD, while the lid remains on until it's kicked and you clean it.

 

[IslandLizard]

It seems that most people force carb at 30 psi for the first 24 hours (shaken), then lower it to 20 PSI or so for another 24 hours, and then set to serving PSI (~12 PSI).

I think most people actually use set and forget, but especially for IPAs and NEIPAS, or when in a hurry, force carbonation works fine. I do it all the time. I'm not gonna wait 3 weeks. It usually does improve a bit over the first week after force carbonating, after that it's diminishing returns.

I roll the keg on a towel on the floor. The gas post and gas line are pointing 'up' while I rock/roll the keg about 45-60 degrees in either direction. 10 minutes is about all it takes, or when the regulator stops groaning. I use a similar schedule, after 12-24 hours at 20 psi I vent off the excess and set to 12 psi. It may be a bit foamy for a day or 2.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]It seems that most people force carb at 30 psi for the first 24 hours (shaken), then lower it to 20 PSI or so for another 24 hours, and then set to serving PSI (~12 PSI).[...]

Shaking a cold keg on 30 psi CO2 is a recipe for an overcarbed keg. If you must "burst carb", just use 30 psi for the 24 hours - no shaking - then dial the pressure down to the proper carbonation pressure given the beer temperature (use our favorite carbonation table, where 2.4-2.5 volumes is typical for pales/ipas/neipas)...

Cheers!

 

[couchsending]

Don’t shake the keg! Most likely you’re gonna get some o2 in there if it’s your first time and shaking while carbonating is gonna oxidize the living crap out of it, fast.

You can force carb it quickly with high pressure but I always feel like the set it and forget it method is best. Slow and low baby. If you want faster carb times drop the temp. Co2 will go into solution much faster at 32 than 39/40.

 

[Jag75]

I force carb @30 psi for 36 hrs then set it to 12 psi . This is at 36-38 degrees f. It's good to go in a few days .

 

[JP2013]

Awesome, thank you so much. Brew day went great and I just dry hopped yesterday. Looks and smells fantastic! Your advice is much appreciated!

 

[JP2013]

Oh, and for what it is worth, I think I have settled on this for a 5 day no shake carbonation.

Closed transfer to keg once FG reached. Then stick my keg in the kegerator for 24 hours to cool to 38-39 F.

Once at 38-39 F (in my kegerator) I’ll attach and set to 30 psi for 24 hours, purge the keg and set to 20 psi for another 24 hours, purge the keg and set to 12 PSI for an additional 3 days.

Should that be okay, or would anyone suggest altering this?

 

[wilserbrewer]

I force carb @30 psi for 36 hrs then set it to 12 psi . This is at 36-38 degrees f. It's good to go in a few days .

Always better to err on the low side when carbing as it is much easier to add then subtract.

I don’t bother waiting until the beer is cold, I put the gas on 30 psi immediately and go 36 hours and reduce to serving pressure and have a small sample.

Depending on how impatient I am I will either keep serving pressure or keep the pressure elevated to tweak carbonation.

 

[JP2013]

Hello again,

I've got another ridiculous questions for you veterans. This is my first time kegging, and I have one last question that I cannot seem to find the answer to.

I'm going to closed transfer into my corny keg either tomorrow or Friday. Because I have a little bit of time before needing this to be ready, I'm going to do 30 PSI for 24 hours, and then lower to serving PSI of 12 for 5-6 additional days.

I understand how to hook everything up and set my regulator, purging, etc. BUT one thing that I never really thought about is do I leave the Co2 valve hooked up and the line open for the entire 24 hours? Or do I simply apply 30 PSI, purge a few times, and then disconnect everything for the 24 hours? Rather, is it a constant flow of 30 PSI being applied to the keg, or do I pump in 30 PSI and then remove the line?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jag75]

Leave it on @30 for 36 hrs then down to serving psi .

 

[IslandLizard]

If you do a closed transfer [EDIT] into a liquid pre-purged keg there is no need to purge the keg's headspace as it cannot contain anything else but CO2.
If something goes wrong, and air does get in, by all means, purge the headspace 5-10 times at 30 psi to get rid of most oxygen in there, before force carbonating.

Yes, you leave the CO2 hooked up for the entire time, as CO2 from the headspace dissolves into the beer, it needs to get replenished with fresh from the tank.

Check thoroughly for CO2 leaks anywhere.