PSI in Keezer (cold tank)

[Michael S. Henry]

Quick question. I just put my first homebrew on my brand new keezer and this is completely new to me. I know that the gauges will read lower based upon my tank and regulator being inside the keezer. Where should I ideally have my regulator set? I currently set it at 12 (cold mind you). Any advice from pros on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[VVbrewery]

The gauge that reads the tank pressure, the high pressure gauge, will vary with the temperature. The low pressure shouldn't be affected. What that pressure should be depends on your setup. You have to take into account line length, inner diameter and material. There's a good calculator for that at: http://www.mikesoltys.com/2012/09/17/determining-proper-hose-length-for-your-kegerator/
FWIW I have mine set at 12 PSI.

 

[kh54s10]

Start at 12. Then adjust. I usually need 10 or 11. It depends on temperature, line length and your faucets.

 

[Michael S. Henry]

Thanks guys. Holding pat at 12 now. Curious how long it will take to be carbed enough to pour with a head? 3-4 days?

 

[mcgearybrewing]

Are you using a carbonating stone or just letting CO2 flow into the keg?

Are you looking to carb the beer or just serve it?

How many volumes of CO2 are you looking to put into whatever style you have in the keg?

What is the temperature of the keezer?

 

[kh54s10]

Thanks guys. Holding pat at 12 now. Curious how long it will take to be carbed enough to pour with a head? 3-4 days?

Set and forget method will take about 2 weeks. If you want it in 3 days increase the pressure to 30 psi for 12 - 24 hours, then return to serving pressure. I have not had much luck hitting it right this way.

 

[Rev2010]

If you want it in 3 days increase the pressure to 30 psi for 12 - 24 hours, then return to serving pressure. I have not had much luck hitting it right this way.

I set my pressure to 30psi and let it sit for about 30 hours then shutoff the gas, dial the regulator back down near zero, purge the keg headspace, then turn on the gas and set it to the pressure I want and leave it another 4-5 days (figure to give it some cold conditioning time as well). Has worked perfectly for me this way for years. Doing it this way if I keg on a weekend day (say Sunday) I am drinking the beer on the next Saturday. I personally avoid rushing to drink my beers in 2-3 days as I honestly have noticed that the extra cold conditioning time makes a difference.


Rev.

 

[kh54s10]

I set my pressure to 30psi and let it sit for about 30 hours then shutoff the gas, dial the regulator back down near zero, purge the keg headspace, then turn on the gas and set it to the pressure I want and leave it another 4-5 days (figure to give it some cold conditioning time as well). Has worked perfectly for me this way for years. Doing it this way if I keg on a weekend day (say Sunday) I am drinking the beer on the next Saturday. I personally avoid rushing to drink my beers in 2-3 days as I honestly have noticed that the extra cold conditioning time makes a difference.


Rev.

It has been quite a while since I tried to force carb a keg. I do now remember the approximate 30 hour timeline. I was unsure. My kegging system is in storage due to a move. I most often put the kegs on serving pressure then tried a sample after at least a week to check on the progress. When to my liking I hit that keg harder. This also works for the cold conditioning.

 

[mcgearybrewing]

Setting it to 30psi for 24 hours isn’t enough time for all of the CO2 to dissolve into solution, you’re looking at minimum of week in the bright tank regardless.

 

[mongoose33]

I have a couple times gone over doing a force carb, and what a pain in the neck that is.

Now with an uncarbonated keg I do it like @Rev2010. I'll set it to 30 or so for 20 or so hours, then see what I've wrought. Usually close enough to just let it finish at normal serving pressure.

I bought a Spike conical in the spring, and something I've done with it lately is to let it finish fermentation under pressure. When gravity gets to about 8 points to go, I'll seal it up, and it creates about 13 psi in the fermenter.

Since the fermenter is in the 60s, that's not enough to get it to serving carbonation, but I've calculated that it gets me maybe 1.4 or 1.5 volumes of CO2 in the beer. If I'm aiming for something like 2.5 volumes, I'm about 60 percent there, so a brief force carb followed by dropping to serving pressure gets me close.

That's worked really well except for the one time when I put that partially-carbonated beer on 30psi for the normal time. Guess what that spells? Overcarbonation!

I've not made that mistake since.

 

[Michael S. Henry]

It’s an IPA so I was looking for around 2.8. Temp is 42. I am keg carbing.

 

[mcgearybrewing]

If you’re looking for 2.8 volumes, you should be setting it 17psi for about a week or so, without using a carb stone you’re going to wait a lot longer to dissolve the CO2 into solution.

 

[kh54s10]

If you’re looking for 2.8 volumes, you should be setting it 17psi for about a week or so, without using a carb stone you’re going to wait a lot longer to dissolve the CO2 into solution.

What is "a lot longer"? I get good results in 2 weeks at 11 PSI without a carb stone.

 

[Rev2010]

*EDIT - Disgregard.

 

[bluebanksmalt]

I have a couple times gone over doing a force carb, and what a pain in the neck that is.

Now with an uncarbonated keg I do it like @Rev2010. I'll set it to 30 or so for 20 or so hours, then see what I've wrought. Usually close enough to just let it finish at normal serving pressure.

I bought a Spike conical in the spring, and something I've done with it lately is to let it finish fermentation under pressure. When gravity gets to about 8 points to go, I'll seal it up, and it creates about 13 psi in the fermenter.

Since the fermenter is in the 60s, that's not enough to get it to serving carbonation, but I've calculated that it gets me maybe 1.4 or 1.5 volumes of CO2 in the beer. If I'm aiming for something like 2.5 volumes, I'm about 60 percent there, so a brief force carb followed by dropping to serving pressure gets me close.

That's worked really well except for the one time when I put that partially-carbonated beer on 30psi for the normal time. Guess what that spells? Overcarbonation!

I've not made that mistake since.

After you transfer it to the keg, what's your process with time and psi? I do the same exact thing you do with my spike conical.

 

[mongoose33]

After you transfer it to the keg, what's your process with time and psi? I do the same exact thing you do with my spike conical.

It's more or less by feel and intuition (just what you did not want to hear). I'm figuring that I probably have 1.5 or 1.6 volumes of CO2 in the beer. If I want 2.5 volumes, say, then that's about 40 percent of the total I still have to do. I've done an uncarbed keg at 30 psi for 20 hours, then see where I am. So 40 percent of that would be 30 psi for 8 hours.

And then I sample and see.