Kegging question

[CountryMile]

Hello, yesterday I kegged my first batch of beer and I've attached it to my kegerator in hopes of carbonating. I have read multiple techniques on how to properly carbonate. I've read about rocking the kegs, bumping psi to about 15 for a day or two and then backing it down to serve it. Chilled vs room temperature, etc. As of right now I have not rocked my keg, the psi is set to 15, and the beer is chilled. It has been in this state for about 12 hours now. I just wanted to reach out and make sure I'm doing this correctly because I don't want to ruin anything. Thank you so much for any insight.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

15psi probably wont "speed" up the process that much. You could leave it there for a few days then back it down. Or you could put it to 20psi for 2 to 3 days then back it down. Or you can reference a carbonation chart and use that to set your psi based on temp and carb level you want to achieve and let it be for about 2 weeks.

 

[mattdee1]

This step is one of those things you kind of have to feel your way through over time to see what is the best fit for you, taking all things into account, such as how much time you have for home brew stuff, how that time is distributed, availability of equipment and space, your patience level, etc.

I say this because I've tried all manner of approaches and they have all worked, with some of them being a bit more error-prone than others.

Easily the most fool-proof method is the so-called "low and slow" method where you put the keg at serving temperature and pressure and let it ride for 1-2 weeks. Pretty much the only "risk" of this method is if you have an undetected leak in your CO2 system you will come down one day to an empty CO2 tank, which is rather infuriating (ask me how I know.) Check your connections and seals carefully.

If you search this forum you can find some pretty specific instructions on the quickie-carb method of chilling the keg, hitting it with high pressure, and rocking it on the floor. That method definitely works and I have used it in a pinch when I have needed to get kegs on tap quickly for planned events, etc. The drawback of course is that it's not difficult to overshoot the target and end up with over-carbed beer (ask me how I know.) Also, all that rocking will take every last particle of sediment in the beer and toss it back into suspension, so your beer will be rather turbid and ugly until that has a chance to settle down again.

Then there is the middle-ground type method where you chill the keg and hit it with higher-than-serving pressure for a much shorter time than low-and-slow; i.e., 18-24 hours or whatever it works out to be. There was an article on Brulosophy that provided some guidelines on this and I recall following that process with success (although I haven't used it in ages). I should note that I have also accidentally over-carbed using this method. Not a huge deal to fix but a PITA.

These days I usually just use the chill-and-rock method but I'm very conservative with it, using about 25psi for 45 seconds or so. I'm not trying to fully carb the beer, I just want a headstart on it. Then, I put the keg on my serving system to finish the process. Once there, it gets topped up on CO2 and is ready in a couple days, but the risk of overshooting is pretty much nil, and those few days gives the keg a chance to settle a bit as well.

 

[micraftbeer]

I've tried the quick carb methods and over carbed once or twice, and I kicked myself for being so impatient.

I then also found on ones that I didn't over carb, that it took them about two weeks for flavors to clean up and be where I wanted them to be. Yes, with super hoppy IPA where freshness is king.

I then figured out that setting it to serving pressure and leaving it hooked up in my keezer for two weeks solved both issues.

 

[CountryMile]

Thank you everyone for your insight. It appears I got a little over excited thinking it would take a couple days not a couple weeks. That's my bad. I will back the pressure down to serving size tonight when I get home. Will I need to purge out the extra pressure or will it balance out on its own? Thanks again everyone.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

This early on you can just back it down, from 15 to 12 psi wont take long to balance out. Depending what carbonation level you are trying to achieve.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I have a single regulator into a manifold that feeds 4 kegs at the same pressure. Most of the time I will just connect a keg at my 12 PSI serving pressure and let it carbonate over a week. I find that my 5 gallon kegs are 80% of the way there after 7-10 days, and my 2.5 gallon kegs are the same around 4-7 days. They are plenty carbonated to drink and serve to friends.

If I want to speed up carbonation, I will turn off the other kegs and jack up my PSI to around 25 PSI and leave it for 24 to 36 hours. I am not sure my regulator will go much above 25 PSI. Even if I rush and burst carb a beer overnight, it is very likely that the beer will taste better after 1-2 weeks of cold conditioning in the keg.

 

[CountryMile]

I'm still learning about the process but the beer I have in the keg right now is a blonde ale. With reading about proper serving pressure being between 7 psi and 13 psi I was aiming for about 10 psi as the final serving pressure.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

I have used the following method for the last 10 years and it has never let me down.

35 psi for 24 hours.
purge and set at serving pressure.

at 24 hours, it is not at full carbonation, but you can drink it if you are in a hurry.

another 2 days at serving pressure should get it right where it needs to be

 

[Broken Crow]

I fall on the side of the impatient more often than not, so I use the Blichmann quick carb and then give it 1-3 more days at serving pressure to reach ideal equilibrium. That said; Some of my brews could definitely use the extra week or 2 to achieve their best taste, so my bad.

 

[Cameronl]

I have used the following method for the last 10 years and it has never let me down.

35 psi for 24 hours.
purge and set at serving pressure.

at 24 hours, it is not at full carbonation, but you can drink it if you are in a hurry.

another 2 days at serving pressure should get it right where it needs to be

This one.
I cold crash in the keg first, with the CO2 set at 10psi just to compensate for pressure drop. Then I crank the CO2 to 40psi in the ferm fridge for 24 hours. Drop in the keezer, purge and hook up to the keezer's gas line.

 

[malter]

I'm lazy and like to brew lagers. After transferring from fermenter to keg, I set the keg for 12 psi at 35 degrees for a month or six weeks. The result is bright, effervescent beer! My ales don't seem to mind this process either (for them, I limit the time to 2 weeks).

This process is also easiest on my system hardware.

 

[Beermeister32]

I naturally carbonate my kegs with 4 to 4.3 ounces of corn sugar, then purge the keg 15 cycles to remove CO2. I set them in a cooler spot in the house and let them carbonate, like if you were carbonating bottles. The residual yeast will uptake any remaining oxygen in the beer. After 2-3 weeks, I put it on C02 to lager at 34F for the remaining time, total 90 days.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

@CountryMile chill your beer to 36F and set the Co2 regulator to 35psi for 24 hours. Then reduce the pressure to 10-12psi and see how quickly the pressure drops over the next several hours. If the pressure drops quickly, increase the pressure to 20psi for a few hours, then drop it to 10-12psi. This process works, and in two days, you will be enjoying perfect pours.

 

[balrog]

I Found a spreadsheet that tried to calc what high pressure and time to do a "burst carb" over shortest time, typically a day, much like what @JoeSpartaNJ says. It is supposedly based on volume beer, volume keg, temp beer, pressure CO2 and time. You have to remember this is a chemical process, CO2 dissolving in water, and does not happen instantly, any more than dumping sugar into cold iced tea dissolves instantly - it lies on the bottom but eventually will dissolve, typically on a time frame long after you've sucked it up in a straw, but I digress. The point is, it takes time. This is the sheet I think. It will get you close but the carb will be what I consider "rough", and maybe it's me, but it's not the fine little bubbles that I like that happen after the beer has been sitting, carbed, for 2 weeks.

 

[camonick]

I'm still learning about the process but the beer I have in the keg right now is a blonde ale. With reading about proper serving pressure being between 7 psi and 13 psi I was aiming for about 10 psi as the final serving pressure.

Don’t get too comfortable with generic suggestions for serving pressure. There are several factors that determine the final carbonation level in your beer. Temperature and pressure being the 2 most important and even your elevation can make a slight difference. You need to decide what carbonation level YOU prefer and refer to a chart to achieve that based on the temperature your kegs are being forced at. For example, most commercial macro beers (Bud, Miller, Coors are packaged between 2.6-2.9 volumes, up to about 15psi). Do not mess with your pressures after that to get a nice pour, but rather balance your serving system using the suggestions from this page as a starting point. I find that I personally like longer than suggested lines to guarantee trouble free pours… the only downside to lines that are a little too long is a slower pour. Lines that are too short and/or the incorrect inside diameter, however, can cause all kinds of problems.