New To Kegging

[matthewgardner]

So here is what I have done...

Brewed on March 2nd and put it in the primary
Racked to secondary on March 15th.
Racked to a keg five minutes ago...then placed it in the kegerator I built yesterday. I have not hooked up my CO2 yet to the keg. I was planning on giving it 18 hours before I did. I did not add priming sugar to the keg

I know a lot of you are advocates for NOT force carbing, but I am going to try it. I guess my only real question is - was it an ok idea to put it into the kegerator or should I have let it sit at room temperature for a while. I did not attach my disconnects.

Also - does anyone have good step by step directions to hook up my lines and my regulator. I am really not that handy and a lot of this is way over my head.

Sorry for being such a noob...

 

[BendBrewer]

Hit it with 5-7 pounds of gas, turn the gas off then release the gas via the valve on the keg.

Repeat.

Repeat again.

This will remove any oxygen in the keg.

Then hit it with 5-7 pounds of gas again to seal all the gaskets. DO NOT release this gas. Place into the keg and allow to chill.

Don't get confused by the term Force Carbing. A lot of us do Force Carb but we do it over time with the Set and Forget method.

As far as hooking up your lines, use hot water to soften the lines and use good hose clamps.

 

[DubBrew]

It is a good idea to cool the beer. Cold beer is easier to carbonate. I don't think you need to wait 18 hours but once you get it to serving temp hook it up to gas at your serving pressure for two weeks and enjoy. Use one of the many available tables for determining hour much pressure at a given temp to reach the proper carbonation level for your style. How to brew and being classic styles has the charts. Or do a search here.

 

[matthewgardner]

The set it and forget it was what I was planning - I was going to let it chill til noon tomorrow and then hit it with 30 psi til Friday - release it - hit it with 12 psi and maybe start to drink it on Saturday.

 

[Kaz]

I can't speak for the others, but to me, set and forget means set it at serving pressure (usually 10-12psi) and let it go for about 2 weeks...even 3 weeks. While its carbing it will settle and condition. Just about every beer I've made tastes better the longer I wait.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Home Brew Talk

 

[TRainH2o]

Unless you're going to add priming sugar, you will be force carbing. Quick cabing is different. For sure follow the above advise and purge the oxygen out of the keg now.

After purging off the oxygen, I put the keg n the cooler and connect it to the CO2. Sometimes I will set it at 12 psi, which will carb it in about 5-7 days. Otherwise, I set it to 30 as it cools for about 24 hours, reduce to 12psi.

 

[BigJerk]

I'd also blast it with 30-40 # of pressure then release to seat the seals, cornies were made for higher pressure than we use, and I went through a couple of tanks of co2 before I learned this one.

 

[Bmorebrew]

Kaz, that is exactly what I do. Transfer beer to keg, hook up lines, flush out air, place in kegerator, pressure to about 12 psi and see you in a couple of weeks.

 

[Yooper]

I can't speak for the others, but to me, set and forget means set it at serving pressure (usually 10-12psi) and let it go for about 2 weeks...even 3 weeks. While its carbing it will settle and condition. Just about every beer I've made tastes better the longer I wait.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Home Brew Talk

Right. "Set it and forget it" means just that. Keep the co2 at the same pressure all the time, and don't mess around with it. Put the keg in the kegerator and hook it up. Take it out when the keg is empty. That's all you do. The beer is drinkable in 7-14 days or so.

With quick force carbing, some people shake the keg, or do like what you suggested and set it at 30 psi for a day or two and then reduce the pressure to the appropriate level. Some people have very good luck with doing that, some people have foamy beer.

I have more than one keg, so it'd be impossible to turn the psi up and down all the time, so I just leave it alone. It works well for me, and I've been happy with it. Occasionally when I''m in a big rush I have done the "30 psi for 36 hours, purge and reset to 12 psi" technique. The beer is drinkable in 3-5 days that way.

 

[ttk420]

I only have one brew under my belt but I put right in a keg. I had it at 30 psi for 2 days then released pressure to 10 psi and forgot about it for 5 days. after the 7th, I released the pressure to 7 psi and it was ready to drink.

 

[Yooper]

I know a lot of you are advocates for NOT force carbing, but I am going to try it. I guess my only real question is - was it an ok idea to put it into the kegerator or should I have let it sit at room temperature for a while. I did not attach my disconnects.

Also - does anyone have good step by step directions to hook up my lines and my regulator. I am really not that handy and a lot of this is way over my head.

Sorry for being such a noob...

I think most of us force carb. Force carbing means using co2 in the beer, and not priming sugar to carb it up. You're "forcing" the co2 into the beer instead of "naturally" carbing it with sugar.

I don't have step by step directions, but it's pretty easy. If I can do it, it's got to be easy! The main thing to watch for is a leak or two. A big leak is easy to find- it'll hiss. But a small leak is harder, and means your tank can drain overnight! So, hook it up and look for leaks by spraying some star-san or soapy water on all the connections. There is a little plastic washer that goes between the tank and regulator- don't lose that! You need that for sure. Tighten everything up and check for leaks.

Do you have the disconnects already on the lines? The gray disconnects go on the gas (G for gray/gas) and the black disconnects go on the beerline (B for Beer/black). Don't mix those up as they are NOT interchangable!

There is a kegging "sticky" thread at the top of the kegging section that I found very helpful. Take a look at it and read through the sections. That will help, I promise!

Let us know if you have any questions!