New Years Prep - 1st time kegger

[motobrewer]

I've never kegged before. In fact, I just ordered my equipment.

I have two beers that I want ready for New Years, so I'd appreciate any advice from the expierienced keggers.

I have a Christmas ale (1.061 OG with spices, finished at 11) that has been in the primary for 26 days. I also have a basic porter (1.050) that has been in the primary for 8 days.

How long does it take to force carb? When should I transfer to start carbing? I'd like to leave both in the primaries for as long as possible.

Thanks!
-Nick

 

[carnevoodoo]

If you want to go with setting it to the proper level and letting it carb up from there, I'd go 2 weeks. That'll give you plenty of time to adjust if you need. Should be ready in about a week.

 

[khiddy]

+1 on waiting until December 10-14. About two weeks is right, though 1 week is fine as well. Be sure you pull the first two pints or so before your guests are there, so that any residual yeast and proteins that make it into the keg are gone from the keg when you're serving. After that, you're good to go!

 

[motobrewer]

good info, thanks guys! I'm currently cold-crashing the christmas ale, hopefully that'll clear it pretty good.

i'll have the kegs set at 35-40F, as I'll also be lagering in the same fridge. will that affect my carbing time?

thanks again!

 

[khiddy]

It will, but in a positive way: it reduces the PSI that you need to apply to the beer in order to achieve the proper level of carbonation. Here's a handy chart that tells you what PSI setting to use by temperature:

http://www.kegerators.com/articles/carbonation-table-pressure-chart.php

All you need to do is decide what precise level of carbonation you want for each beer (assuming you can force carb at two different pressures, which requires a dual-regulator setup). If you have a one-regulator setup, then both beers will have to be carbed at the same level.

Porters usually fall into the 1.7-2.5 pressures range, and your Christmas Ale can be just about anything, but you might just treat it like the porter and carb it to the same level. At 37F (halfway between 35-40, as you said the lagering fridge will be set), you'd want to apply between 1 and 7PSI for 5 days to get it carbed properly, according to the chart. Obviously, 1PSI is going to be pretty low carb, so I'd aim higher within the range, approaching 6PSI or so.

Good luck!

 

[WenValley]

I've tried the force carbing method more than once, and the results have been disappointing. It seems like I spend the next week or more trying to get the keg carbonation dialed in for serving.

I can dial in one regulator in the keezer for the carbonation pressure and let that keg get happy, while I'm serving from the second manifold one of the other five selections on tap.

 

[motobrewer]

wenvalley, I don't know what you're trying to tell me....

are you saying spring for a dual regulator? I personally have no problems carbing both to the same volumes.

 

[WenValley]

Motobrewer:
I'd suggest two regulators. I have one regulator set at 12-15 pounds of pressure to properly carb. a keg. This pressure can be adjusted for the specific style of beer and it depends on the temperature of the keg. There are charts that give you the specific PSI.

Serving pressure is different than the carbing pressure (usually). The serving pressure is dependent on the line length, the line diameter and the temperature. I push beer at around 5-8 pounds of pressure.

Something else I've started doing the past couple of months is that I don't leave the CO2 tank "on" 24/7. I'll get the kegs where I want them, and I'll give them a bump with the CO2 when I need to add more CO2. Usually it a burst of CO2 once every couple of days depending on how much beer I'm serving. My CO2 lasts a lot longer now. Seems like I would get a leak in a keg or fitting and I would lose too much CO2 before I noticed the problem.

My keezer has six kegs and a 20 pound CO2 bottle, plus two manifolds with a total of six valves serving the kegs. Just too many places for CO2 to escape.

Anyhow, that's how I'm doing it today...