Under pressure

[jgren]

After a keg has been force carbonated at 12psi, would turning the pressure down to a serving setting at 6psi cause a loss in the carbonation level over the life of the keg if the psi remains constant at serving pressure?

 

[Rev2010]

Yes it would lose some carbonation, just the same as if you raised pressure the beer will carbonate more.


Rev.

 

[jgren]

So is it normal practice to leave kegs at the equilibrium pressure until serving

 

[Cyclman]

Yes, and you have to balance the length of your serving lines with the pressure you have the kegs set at.

 

[jgren]

What would that mean if i have a hefe at 23psi and a apa at 11psi

 

[day_trippr]

So is it normal practice to leave kegs at the equilibrium pressure until serving

I don't know what "normal" might be, but I do know a hella lot of people do something else

The most reliable approach is to always set the CO2 pressure required to achieve and maintain the desired carbonation level at the temperature of the beer, and to configure the dispensing appliance to work at that CO2 pressure.

So, for instance, if I want to carbonate to 2.5 volumes at 40°F, I set the CO2 pressure to 11psi, and once the beer is fully carbonated (2 to 3 weeks) and the keg goes in the keezer set for the same 40°F, the CO2 pressure will still be set to 11psi, and my beer lines will be the appropriate ID and length to serve the beer properly...

What would that mean if i have a hefe at 23psi and a apa at 11psi

The hefe beer line would need to be roughly twice the length of the APA...

Cheers!

 

[gregkeller]

What would that mean if i have a hefe at 23psi and a apa at 11psi

It means that unless you have a two stage regulator that the two beers would eventually equalize at whatever you have your regulator set at. If you want to run two beers at two different pressures you need a secondary regulator or two.

 

[dnslater]

It means that unless you have a two stage regulator that the two beers would eventually equalize at whatever you have your regulator set at. If you want to run two beers at two different pressures you need a secondary regulator or two.

You will also likely have a lot of foam if you are serving at a different pressure than the keg was carbed to...... the foam will continue until equilibrium is achieved.