New to Kegging Could use some advise

[scoots]

I just bought my first keg and I would love to serve a fresh beer this weekend to visiting relatives.

Details:
Corny Keg
10 Lb CO2
Beer: Whose in the Garden Grand Cru (Papazain Ed 3)

I have already cleaned the keg but nothing else.

Here are his instructions:
1. Clean (used about 1/4 o the keg and PBW cleaner)
2. Run cleaning agent through new equipment
3. Rinse (should I repeat this? How much water to rinse with?)
4. Sanitize keg and Equipment (StarSan)
5. Rinse (small amount of water)
6. Keg beer (I hope to do it still tonight)
7. Run CO2 at about 25 psi in refrigerator and hope for a decent carbonation by Thursday or Friday
8. Run about 8 psi while serving

Just checking if this will work (at least to anyone's best guess).

Thanks
Scott

 

[SourHopHead]

I am new to kegging myself but I will give it a try. No need to rinse the Starsan. Put in 30psi and shake it around and you will hear it going into solution. Purge the air from the top of the keg a few times. Dispense around 12psi.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

I wouldn't rinse after sanitizing...just doesn't make sense to me to sanitize, then rinse with water that you're not quite sure what's in it. It's not what I do, but I guess you can sit it on 25 - 30 psi and give it a shake every few hours for the first day.


Oh, another thought...you want to purge to air out of the keg with CO2. That what a barrier is created and your beer what touch any air.

 

[scoots]

Purge the air out how?

 

[Sea]

Yes rinse your cleaning agent, multiple times.

Then do what the other guys said.

Purging the air is very important as mentioned, to do this, simply hook the keg up to gas, and pop the pressure relief valve a few times.

If youi are going to force carb quickly, crank it to 35 psi, put the keg on it's side, and shake vigerously until you no longer hear any gas rushing in.

When force carbing at a high pressure, you will need to turn the pressure down, and purge the headspace, then wait and purge again (pop relief valve), and again, quite a few times, otherwise you'll get a sh@tton of foam.

 

[SourHopHead]

Purge the air out how?

Relief valve at the top or the gas intake. Ball Locks have a valve and pin locks I use the gas intake.

 

[scoots]

Thanks for the tips. Beer in.

Shook for quite a while. Placed the keg into the refrigerator at this point. Will I need to force carb again due to the lower temp, or will the lower temp only affect the number of purges I will need to do?

 

[Scotty_g]

You'll actually get more gas in solution with the beer cold.

FWIW I recondition kegs with PBW, rinse, then partially fill them with starsan and some pressure...let 'em sit until I'm ready to fill them. I also take all the hardware out, replace gaskets and poppets, wash it all with hot soapy water, soak it in starsan, and hit every rubber part with a little keg lube before reassembly. I also soak hoses in star-san...the first partial glass gets dumped because it's half star-san but after that, joy.

To bleed the pressure off you could either use the pressure relief (which you'll fill with foam and get sticky inside) or hook a picnic tap up to the gas in line. Crack that a little and hold to bleed off some gas. Neither of these is all that precise. You could just shut off the high pressure gas to the regulator and lower the pressure on that, but if you go down too fast you might end up foaming into the regulator...which will screw that up.

Personally I prefer holding the beer for a few days and shaking gently at slightly over serving pressure (15 psi?). I've not tested it, but if you are agitating the beer under 15 psi you could probably get it carbed in < 1 hr. Surface area for gas-liquid contact and intra-liquid mixing are the limiting factors for CO2 to dissolve, not gas pressure (although higher pressure does help).

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Sounds like your on the right track, once you have the beer down to the serving temperature in a day or so, you can just pump it up to 20 lbs or so, sit down, and rock the keg on your knee, forcing as much of the CO2 into contact with the beer for quick absorption. (Make certain you bleed out the air before this). Or like I did this weekend, put them in the car driving to a party under pressure.
Depending on your line inner diameter and length for the serving pressure, but six pounds is a little light. I use 5-6 feet of 3/16th line and usually use around 12 to 13 pounds to keep the beer from going flat. Below are some more detailed explanations for more details. Hope this helps.
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer-edu/beer-questions-cid-2297.html
http://kegman.net/tap_info.htm#beerline
http://www.leeners.com/kegginghow2.html
http://docs.northernbrewer.com/homebrew_keg_system.html