Moving on up!

[WarpedBrewer]

So I have been brewing like a caveman for a few years and now it is time to find the wheel. I just purchased a retiring brewers old setup and this is what I now have:
10 Gallon Blichman boilermaker (with some type of hop blocker or filter screen, I couldnt find anything like it online)
4 5gallon pinlock kegs, dual guage and 2 co2 bottles. + hoses, cleaning supplies, etc
Blichman therminator, separate coldpate, and thrumometer
5 gallon ported Better Bottle and four other glass carboys
burner
johnson thermostat
A whole bunch of odds and ends

I get to pick it all up Firday and cant wait to brew this weekend.
The first question I have is can I put less then 5 gallons of beer in the corny kegs before carbonation. I have a Pale Ale in the fermenter but I still want to bottle a few, as well as try out my new keg setup.

 

[KTRyan]

Yes, you dont have to worry about filling the keg, you just have to make sure you fill the head space with CO2. There's a few ways to do this, pin locks normally dont have manual pressure relief valves on the lids so you have to use a spare disconnect, or anything that lets you push down the poppet on the gas post. After you fill your keg, put about 10 psi to it and then vent it, repeat 3-5 times. Alternatively, after you sanitize your keg fill it with 10 psi of CO2, then vent pressure and fill with beer, you may want to give it one pressurize and vent after filling.

 

[JohnnyO]

Considering this is all used equipment, you should do a thorough cleaning of anything on the cold side. Kegs, plate chiller, thrumometer, etc. Also, you should probably replace the o-rings on those kegs. It's a cheap replacement, and could save a batch. Pressure check those kegs too. I once found two cornies that were put out as trash. Filled and pressurized them, and discovered that they both had pinholes in them. Glad I checked. Harvested diptubes, lids and posts before putting out at the curb.

 

[WarpedBrewer]

Thank you. The kegs do have a manual relief valve. I remember him showing me one of them still had a little pressure. Ill def be checking everything over and cleaning it again, as it has all been sitting for four years. He kept everything in pretty pristine condition and is giving me all the replacement o rings and other parts to the kegs. What psi is recommended for force carbing?

 

[JohnnyO]

I go with 10-12 PSI, and use that for my serving pressure as well. I had to use longer beer lines because I had foaming issues. I use 8-10 ft per line. I think standard is 5 ft.