Newbie question about carbonation.

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PtotheL

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Hi,

I'm kegging for the first time (and brewing for the first time as a matter of fact) and couldn't find a clear answer to my newbie question.

My witbeir is currently sitting in my keg. I ran 20 PSI into it and purged a couple of times to remove the most o2 I could.

Now I set the keg in my mini-fridge, which is sitting at 40*F.

According to Beersmith, to achieve 2.4 volume, I need to set the PSI 11.20... let's say 12.

This is were I am somewhat confused... I understand that the colder the temp, the less PSI I need, but isn't 12 PSI considered somewhat of a "regular" serving pressure ?

If I do need to set it at 12 PSI... how long should I maintain it at this pressure for it to be carbed up, and should I then lower the PSI when comes the time of serving ?

Won't I start over-carbonating the beer if I leave it at 12 PSI as a serving pressure ?

How can I find out the "equilibirum" PSI where the beer does not lose carbonation but stops carbing up ?


Thanks in advance for setting this straight for me... up to now the samples I took tastes great and I just want to make sure I do not mess up the last part of the craft...
 
Hi,

It will find equilibrium on it's own. The beer will stop carbonating when it has absorbed all of the gas it can at that PSI and Temperature.

If you looked at the carbonation chart (or Beersmith) and determined that 12 PSI will give you the correct volumes of co2, then you can just set the regulator, leave the gas on and forget it.Usually takes about a week to get to the right carbonation level with this method. If you do a search there are other ways to get it carbonated faster. I find any way I carbonate, it still takes another 5-7 days before it tastes right.

10-12 PSI is fine for serving. You will need about 5-6 feet of 3/16" beer line to keep it from foaming up too much at that serving pressure. Again, there are lots of threads on serving pressure and line length here.

Hope that helps.
 
Hi,

It will find equilibrium on it's own. The beer will stop carbonating when it has absorbed all of the gas it can at that PSI and Temperature.

If you looked at the carbonation chart (or Beersmith) and determined that 12 PSI will give you the correct volumes of co2, then you can just set the regulator, leave the gas on and forget it.Usually takes about a week to get to the right carbonation level with this method. If you do a search there are other ways to get it carbonated faster. I find any way I carbonate, it still takes another 5-7 days before it tastes right.

10-12 PSI is fine for serving. You will need about 5-6 feet of 3/16" beer line to keep it from foaming up too much at that serving pressure. Again, there are lots of threads on serving pressure and line length here.

Hope that helps.

Thanks A LOT. That clears it up. I've read about calibrating the system, line lenght etc. so I should be good with that part.

Thanks a lot again ! Cheers !
 
You're just getting confused due to the folks who run short lines or large diameter lines that need to drop to some OTHER pressure to dispense. If you want the volumes on the chart, you should be leaving it at the pressure on the chart.

I'll dissent from the poster above a bit and say that 10-12psi pours a little better out of 8-10' of 3/16ths tubing.
 
Probably, I was just doing 2x line length in my head. Better to err on the side of too long though.
 
Followup question on this...

If maintaining that serving pressure of 10 in the fridge I am getting about 2.3vols for everything that is kept at said pressure. What if I am looking to do less on say my stout? Do I need to get a splitter and seperate valves?
 
Followup question on this...

If maintaining that serving pressure of 10 in the fridge I am getting about 2.3vols for everything that is kept at said pressure. What if I am looking to do less on say my stout? Do I need to get a splitter and seperate valves?


You need two regulators on your output. Only splitting the gaz will result in 10 PSI in both of your kegs.
 
Dual regulator you can set different PSI's (just clarifying).

If you're budget is limited, you can set it for the higher, then drop the PSI and bleed the one for serving. Dual regs are GREAT for different style beers, as well as being able to force carb/serve at the same time (if you do the 30PSI for 48 hours, serving PSI method).
 
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