Need opinions on keg pour

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Iceman6409

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Hi all. Attached is a very short video of my first kegging attempt pour. Here are some details. Please feel free to offer any opinions and ask any questions.

I decided to try water first. I do have a beer almost ready, a Brooklyn Summer Ale clone, but it is not quite ready to be kegged yet hence the water experiment. 3 gallon keg. Mini fridge temp is about 40F. 5 feet air line, 10' beer line. Carbed at, what I think was 11-12psi for almost two weeks. I say what I think because I beleive my gauge may be slightly broken, hence another reason I experimented with water. I do have a new gauge coming. Tubing is all brand new, faucet is new. Everything is new except the fridge itself but that does not matter.

I think the pour is pretty rapid. I did turn the psi down to almost off and got the same pour pretty much. I think the gauge itself is probably a little bit off as sometimes the needle sticks a little but I did play with it and did my best to make sure it worked. The carbonation itself seemed fine for what it's worth but to me the pour itself was rapid.

Questions? Thoughts?

View attachment WP_20160124_001.mov
 
That came out very fast. I think you are correct in your assumption the regulator being broken. If you can try your experiment with a new regulator or try fixing the one you have.
 
That is way too much pressure/fast of a pour. If that was beer it would be nothing but foam. I would wait until your new regulator comes in and then try again. Don't forget to release the pressure on the keg before you set it to serving pressure on the new regulator.
 
Ahhhh that may be a step I missed, relieving the pressure before the pour. I definitely did not do that. So let me make sure of the steps then.

1 - Beer in keg
2 - turn on CO2 to roughly 10psi or whatever you want
3 - Come back in a week
4 - RELEASE THE GAS IN KEG
5 - Dial to preferred pouring psi and then pour

Have I missed anything?
 
1. Keg beer
2. Set regulator to serving pressure (probably 10 - 14psi)
3. Pressurize keg
4. Turn off gas
5. Release pressure on keg
6. Repeat steps 3-5 two or three times in rapid succession (this just purges any oxygen that may be in the keg after you seal it)
7. Let keg sit at serving pressure for 10 - 14 days
8. Enjoy kegged homebrew

In your original post you mentioned that your current regulator may be broken. The above steps are not going to fix that issue. Also once you dial in your serving pressure, you shouldn't have to mess with it again.
 
So basically you are saying pressurize it, release gas and re-pressurize a few times and then let sit at serving pressure for a week or so and then serve. No gas needed at serving time? If not that could also be part of my problem as I did have gas on while pouring.
 
So basically you are saying pressurize it, release gas and re-pressurize a few times and then let sit at serving pressure for a week or so and then serve. No gas needed at serving time? If not that could also be part of my problem as I did have gas on while pouring.

No, you just purge at the beginning to release oxygen that may be in the keg, so you can fill it with c02 to protect the beer.

Once you set the beer at 10 psi (or whatever you need, based on the temperature of the kegerator), you leave it there. Forever. No purging, jacking up and down/etc. Just always leave the regulator alone.
 
i am 99% sure it is 3/16". 10 foot line. So no gas needed to make a pour correct?

You always need gas on to serve.

As others have said, chill your beer, then you keg your beer, then purge the headspace to remove oxygen (10-15 purges at 30PSI), then pressurize your keg at your serving pressure (usually 10-16PSI depending on temperature) let it sit for a week or two, then enjoy your beer. You should never need to touch it again until the keg is finished.
 
I apologize for not being clear. After you purge the oxygen, you just leave the regulator alone. Let the beer sit and carbonate for a week or two and then drink it. The gas stays on the whole time.

A long time ago I figured out that I got the best pours from my system with 12psi. I have eight feet of 3/16" tubing and my keezer set at 39°. So when I keg my beer, I pressurize the keg, purge two or three times, and then let it sit for 14 days. I haven't adjusted my regulator since. It stays at 12psi.
 
i am 99% sure it is 3/16". 10 foot line. So no gas needed to make a pour correct?

No. The gas always stays on. The regulator is never adjusted. Turning the gas off and on will mean that the beer will be foamy all the time, as the constantly changing pressure means that the gas will be always trying to reach equilibrium.

Once you have a balanced system, jacking around with it is going to cause problems.
 
Several posters here have given different recommendations for the number of CO2 purge cycles (pressurize then vent cycles) in order to "eliminate" O2 from the headspace. The concentration of O2 remaining in the headspace depends on the purge pressure and the number of cycles. The O2 concentrations are easily calculated, and the results are presented below.

ppm O2 after purge table.png

ppm O2 after purge chart.png

You have to decide for yourself how much O2 in the headspace is acceptable to you. Some commercial brewers target TPO (total packaged oxygen) at less than 0.2 ppm (200 ppb, ref: page 21 of http://www.craftbrewersconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2015_presentations/F1540_Darron_Welch.pdf.)

Brew on :mug:
 
Ok I think I got it now.

1 - Beer in keg
2 - Chill
3 - Attach gas at chosen serving psi
4 - Purge a few times
5 - Walk away
6 - Come back in 1-2 weeks
7 - Pour and enjoy the awesomeness I have created and share with the mass :)
8 - Repeat process on next beer

How is my line length? 10' ok? I have heard you should have 1 foot for every 2 psi but I started with 10' knowing I can cut down if needed.

Also my apologies to everyone for my ignorance. Never done this before and no one live near me to show me. So a great many thank you to all of you helping for your patience. It is greatly appreciated!!!
 
So @doug293cz at my current pressure (approximately 12 psi), if I read the charts correctly, I would need to purge my keg 20 to 21 times to reduce the TPO to less than 0.2 ppm?
 
@Iceman6409 - yep, you have it now. :D

The line length is a good starting point and may be right on the money. Best part is you get to drink beer while testing/dialing in your system. :mug:
 
Ok I think I got it now.

1 - Beer in keg
2 - Chill
3 - Attach gas at chosen serving psi
4 - Purge a few times
5 - Walk away
6 - Come back in 1-2 weeks
7 - Pour and enjoy the awesomeness I have created and share with the mass :)
8 - Repeat process on next beer

How is my line length? 10' ok? I have heard you should have 1 foot for every 2 psi but I started with 10' knowing I can cut down if needed.

Also my apologies to everyone for my ignorance. Never done this before and no one live near me to show me. So a great many thank you to all of you helping for your patience. It is greatly appreciated!!!

well.....................not exactly how I do it, but close. Let me add:

1b- give the keg a shot of c02 (30 psi) and spray with some star-san to check for leaks around the lead. (Some kegs I have just don't seal with a bigger shot than serving pressure, plus then I have 30 psi for purging).
1C- purge. Give another shot (30 psi), purge. And again. Then set it at 10 psi in the kegerator.

Then continue with your steps.

Actually, more like 1' of beerline per every psi on the regulator is a good bet. You'll be ok with 10', unless you want to serve a weizen or something at 15-18 psi and then you'll have an issue.
 
1 get a home brew
2. Have a couple drinks
3 put beer in keg
4. Happy dance ...
5. Couple more hits of home brew
6. Chillll .... This goes for you and the beer
7. Attach gas and purge a few times....this also goes for you and the beer..homebrew can make you gassy
8. WOOP...time for another home brew....
9. Happy dance
10. Come back in 2 weeks
11. Purge gas...this goes for you..not the keg this time
12. Happy dance
13. Draw a homebrew....drink....repeat...
14. Happy dance
 
So @doug293cz at my current pressure (approximately 12 psi), if I read the charts correctly, I would need to purge my keg 20 to 21 times to reduce the TPO to less than 0.2 ppm?

You're reading the chart correctly, but the chart just applies to headspace O2. The chart doesn't cover enough purges at 12.5 psi to get down to 0.2 ppm in the headspace, but it would be more than 21. TPO is:
(Headspace_O2 * Headspace_Vol + Beer_O2 * Beer_Vol) / (Headspace_Vol + Beer_Vol)​
If headspace volume was 0.5 gal, headspace O2 was 1.0 ppm beer volume was 5.0 gal, and beer O2 was 0.05 ppm, then the TPO would be:
(0.5 * 1 + 5.0 * 0.05) / (0.5 + 5.0) = 0.75 / 5.5 = 0.136 ppm​
Brew on :mug:
 

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