New kegger questions

[Sturg78]

Hello,

I just a new 5g corny keg and 5# CO2 bottle. I have a few questions regarding carbing:

- I do not have a suitable refrigerator to carb in yet. Average temperature in my beer closet will be ~70 degrees this summer. If I carb ~25 psi for a few weeks I think I can still get it properly carb'd. When it is gassed up properly, how do I cool it down and drink it? Reduce to ~8-10 psi when serving and just pour into cold glasses? Should I invest in a jockey box?

- I have some bottled beer conditioning now for a beer fest between friends. I have an orange Belgium wit fermenting now that started at 1.054. It will be 4 weeks from brewing until the event. I am curious, now that I have a keg, if I could let the fermentation finish and then keg/carb it for two weeks and have it ready to drink by the event. Is that too young for this beer?

- I have heard that you can force carb a beer by shaking the hell out of it and purging the head space every day for a week. Are there negatives to this style of carbing?

- Lastly, I bought this keg cheap off of a friend. It seems to hold pressure (filled to 20 psi and hosed with soapy water) but has a dent or two in it. I am not overly worried about it exploding, but if it did how much damage can a 30 psi keg do?

Thanks for the help. I am excited about my new toys

 

[Pie_Man]

Probably not the answer you are looking for, but it sounds like a huge pain to carbonate at room temperature, then chill the beer without over carbonating since, cold liquids absorb CO2 more easily. You will probably spend just as much money on a jockey box as fridge or chest freezer, so I would start there.

The shaking method helps to speed up carbonation. Alternatively, some like to set the pressure very high for a few days and then lower the psi to serving levels. The downside is it can lead to overcarbonation. I prefer the set it and forget method of carbonation (carbonating at serving psi, usually takes about 1-2 weeks) to avoid over carbonation. You can resort to shaking method if your desired carbonation level is not reached by the morning of the event.

I highly doubt your keg will explode. Even with a dent, the weakest point is likely the lid, seals, or relief valve. If something did fail, you'd probably just spray beer all over the place causing a huge mess.

 

[Hello]

- I do not have a suitable refrigerator to carb in yet. Average temperature in my beer closet will be ~70 degrees this summer. If I carb ~25 psi for a few weeks I think I can still get it properly carb'd. When it is gassed up properly, how do I cool it down and drink it? Reduce to ~8-10 psi when serving and just pour into cold glasses? Should I invest in a jockey box?

You should invest in a small chest freezer or a small fridge and a temperature controller. with a small fridge you can actually skip the temp controller if you can keep it cool to the temperature you wish to keep your beer at.

You should not carbonate while warm. You can, you just waste more gas. When you have a keg at 70 F you will have to increase PSI to at least over 25. 25 PSI is good if the keg is 60F. The reason for this is that there is a balance, temp to PSI. Then you need to have longer lines to serve it at that pressure if that is your intent. You run the risk of over-carbonating your beer. Basically, it is just a very inefficient way to carbonate beer. I would carbonate with priming sugar (use a calculator and be certain to use one that gives you the amount of dextrose for kegged beer and not bottled (it will be about 1/2) then let them sit until you get your fridge or freezer.

- I have some bottled beer conditioning now for a beer fest between friends. I have an orange Belgium wit fermenting now that started at 1.054. It will be 4 weeks from brewing until the event. I am curious, now that I have a keg, if I could let the fermentation finish and then keg/carb it for two weeks and have it ready to drink by the event. Is that too young for this beer?

No, it is not too young. A fresh hefe/wit is yummy. I would definitely get something to chill the keg and use the set and forget method.

- I have heard that you can force carb a beer by shaking the hell out of it and purging the head space every day for a week. Are there negatives to this style of carbing?

You can. People say there is no difference in carbonation when you do this and others say the carbonation if you use a set and forget method is more "even". I have carbonated a keg three ways. In my garage at 70F with priming sugar. I was complimented on the carbonation for the first time ever. The bubbles rose nicely, it was a good beer. I force carbonated setting my pressure to 25 PSI in the fridge for a few days and shook it once a day. It was good, I didn't feel as though there were any negative effects. Finally, I used the set it and forget method. 12 PSI for 2 weeks. I feel the beer turned out well. I never once shook the keg. The beer wasn't over carbonated and I didn't sense any weird bite.

People are going to have various schools of thought. I prefer if I have no space in the keezer but I have a keg to add priming sugar and go. If I have room, set it and forget it method unless I'm out of beer and I want it all now. The chances of me being out of beer are zero.

- Lastly, I bought this keg cheap off of a friend. It seems to hold pressure (filled to 20 psi and hosed with soapy water) but has a dent or two in it. I am not overly worried about it exploding, but if it did how much damage can a 30 psi keg do?

All kegs you will buy unless you spend double or triple the cost will be dented. They will be ugly pretty much. My racetrack keg from a company actually looks like crap but aside from the lid giving me issues, it is fine. I never worried about that because the keg should have a max PSI on written on it. I won't ever come close to that PSI, ever. Not even in a force carbonation situation.

Good luck! I love kegging even though there seems to be a lot of little pieces that can go bad. I love choosing what I want to bottle now instead of being forced to bottle.

 

[Sturg78]

Thanks folks, those answers were very helpful. I'll keep my eyes out for a fridge.