Newbie to Hombrew and kegging

[CAtoVA4]

Hello all,

Just built with the help of a friend a homemade Kegorator. Just kegged a Imperial Irish Red Ale. Which has been under CO2 at 20psi since Friday night. It is still fairly flat I have been told it takes upwards of 5 days to full carbonate a Corny Keg??? Second question my CO2 lines are very long should I cut them to a length that that is shorter so that the gas doesn't travel so far in the lines?? Any other advice is welcomed.



JC

 

[day_trippr]

CO2 line length doesn't matter.

In my experience force carbing at serving temperatures to a typical 2.5 volume level, it takes at least two weeks of carbing for full corny kegs to be ready to serve, and another week to be ideal...

Cheers!

 

[CAtoVA4]

Ok so next time should I carbonate warm for a few days then drop temp?

 

[Yooper]

Ok so next time should I carbonate warm for a few days then drop temp?

No. Use the correct pressure for the temperature you have. Here is a chart: http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

20 psi would be overcarbed for my kegerator, which is at 40 degrees. I use 12 psi for mine.

 

[BrewmeisterSmith]

For what it's worth, I leave all my kegs at 10psi when in the kegerator. When I sample 1 week in, the carbonation has not reached it's full volume. But that's okay, I don't like drinking beer that is 1 week old anyway. At week 2 the carbonation level is great. I've been aging in the kegs at serving temp too. That was a mistake. I now have a separate CO2 system so that I can let the beer age and carbonate over a two week period at room temp. I'll adjust the PSI for the temperature difference when I get to that point.

If you want to carbonate faster, just crank up the gas to 25 psi overnight (Assuming no carbonation currently). Then sample the next day. Then, about 12 psi the next night. The third night, I'd leave it serving pressure. You don't want over carbonated beer so be careful and take lots of samples before deciding to adjust. Cheers!

 

[jflongo]

Quite often, people will hook it up to 30 - 40 psi for 18 - 24 hrs, then drop it to serving psi after that. Then try it after 3 days and so on.

 

[Holy_Hops]

If you want to carbonate faster, just crank up the gas to 25 psi overnight (Assuming no carbonation currently). Then sample the next day. Then, about 12 psi the next night. The third night, I'd leave it serving pressure. You don't want over carbonated beer so be careful and take lots of samples before deciding to adjust. Cheers!

+1 on that method.

When I started kegging I did the set and forget method (leave at about 10psi for a week) and got impatient because it took too long.

Then I did the roll 'n shake force carb method which carbed it fast but shook up all of the hazy stuff and my beers never cleared.

Now I get my keg cold, crank up the PSI to 30 for 24 hours, then 15 for 24 hours, and then down to serving pressure where it's usually good to go. Takes about 3 days from racking to drinking. Plus, it leaves all the stuff on the bottom settled so the beer gets crystal clear in a week or two.

 

[ja09]

I've found that 30psi ~ 40 degrees for 24 hours gets a low carb level going, then serving psi will have it fully carbed in 2-3 days. This seems to be a safe way to have it ready soon without the risk of over carbing.

 

[CAtoVA4]

Thanks guys!!! For all the great feedback!!!!!