Kegging - Steps involved?

[ThatKidLuig]

Hey guys -

Gonna be kegging my first beer. It's an American IPA, 7.25% ABV. I'm going to force carb and wanted to know all the steps (besides sanitizing) involved in the process.

My understanding is this:

1. clean and sanitize
2. siphon beer into keg
3. turn on the co2 to 12psi (I've looked up temp & co2 volume charts) and purge keg of oxygen
4. let it sit for a week or two.

Here is where I am unsure of things... before I start pouring my beer, do I purge the keg again? I'd assume not.

Also, do I always leave the co2 and regulator turned on throughout the process? or, after I finish drinking for the night, should I turn the co2 off? And what is a good serving psi?

Thanks for the help.

-Zac

 

[jeff13]

If you want to force carb it hook up the co2 line only and turn the pressure up to 20-30 psi. Set the keg on its side and rock it back and forth for a minute or two or until you hear the co2 stop flowing into the keg. Unhook the co2 line and let the keg sit for an hour or so then either hit your release valve to release the pressure or push in the gas pin Whatever part your keg has the beer will stay full of co2. Now hook the co2 back up to the keg at your serving pressure o 9-14 psi depending on your fridge temp and beer line length. You can hook the beer line up now or wait a day. This way you don't have to wait for it to carb and the beer can be drank the next night but the best beers will come after a few days to a week. This is what I do and works like a charm to serve up a fresh beer the next night. Cheers

 

[Flipadelphia]

visit Youtube and type 'how to keg homebrew' and watch any of the zillion videos.

 

[Yooper]

You've got it! That's exactly how to set up your kegerator and not have foamy beer.

You won't purge the gas, and you will keep it on the gas to carb up.

If you're in a huge huge hurry and can't wait 10 days to drink it, you can turn the regulator up to 30 psi for 24 hours, then purge and reset it at 12 psi and it will be ready in about 48 hours- or at least close-ish.

Don't shake, roll, etc, and don't fall into any trap of carbing through the "out", etc. There are alot of bad techniques out there that result in foamy, sediment ridden beer. If you do it without any extraneous measures, the beer will be great!

 

[BigFloyd]

I did the shaking method once and I'll never do it again. That beer never did completely clear up and had a very noticeable carbonic acid bite at first.

If I need it quick, after purging, I burst carb the keg (full of already-cold beer from the cold crash I just did prior to racking) with 30 psi for 30 hours stored at 38*F. Then, turn the gas valve off, relieve the pressure, reset the reg to serving pressure (12psi for me), re-open the valve and let it sit a day.

Most often, I just put it in with the others at 12psi and wait a couple of weeks. The beers done this way seem to taste and pour a bit better with a smoother head.

How long is your beer line? Most systems come with too-short 5ft lines. Switching to 12ft 3/16" line (on the advice of Yooper - thanks!) made for much more controllable pours.

 

[jeff13]

I did the shaking method once and I'll never do it again. That beer never did completely clear up and had a very noticeable carbonic acid bite at first.

If you only did it once that's not much of a trial for the method.
If you just racked it into the keg the sediments are already churned up that will be in there so a minute of rolling will do nothing. Just remember to release the headspace pressure after force carbonating. Yes it will be foamy and unpredictable for a few days but works much faster than setting it at drinking pressure for a few weeks.

 

[Flipadelphia]

Yeah I'm not into shaking. Just set it to 12 PSI or so @ 38 degrees, use 12-15ft of 3/16" beer line, and enjoy frustration free kegged beer. That is until you wake up and discover an empty co2 tank due to a minor gas leak, or a black disconnect randomly decides to leak beer out while you're sleeping. That totally didn't happen to me.

 

[The542]

Between your steps 1 and 2, blanket the inside of your keg with CO2. Take every opportunity to reduce the potential for oxidation.

 

[thrashandburn]

Obviously many use the burst carb method successfully with relative ease, however, I thought I would contribute how I do things. I use the "set it and forget it" method. to do this, set the regulator at the psi needed for the carbonation level desired, let it sit for a week or two to carb, then serve at that same pressure.

However, when doing it this way, one must have a balanced system with the proper length and diameter of line to prevent foaming issues and ensure a good pour. I like that method because you wont really have to fiddle with the regulator or purge excess Co2 when you go to serve or when you're done serving. I keep a few different lengths of line so that I can keep the system balanced with different levels of pressure which allows me to dial in on the exact Co2 volume I want in various beer styles and get a good pour.

Some might think it's more trouble than it's worth, but a little planning and investing in beer line saves a lot of time fighting with a keg if you over or under carb or forget to turn the pressure back to where it was before serving.

 

[j1n]

i clean and sanitize, purge o2, rack beer to keg, purge o2, set to 11 psi. leave alone for a week. purge o2 at 5 psi

 

[BigFloyd]

i clean and sanitize, purge o2, rack beer to keg, purge o2, set to 11 psi. leave alone for a week. purge o2 at 5 psi

Why 5psi? Is that your serving pressure?

 

[j1n]

Why 5psi? Is that your serving pressure?

idk why i put that at the end. lol. i purge at 5 psi after i rack the beer cause ive seen others do it like that and they say to do 5 psi so you dont force any o2 into the beer if there is any in the head space while trying to purge.

at the end i set to 11 psi and leave it there.