First time kegging

Ryanhuddo

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Morning all,

I went ahead and bought a keg and gas, maybe a bit impolsive but i am brewing faster then i can bottle haha.

So i kegged it last night, insuring i didnt airate it, however i wanted to drink it tonight, so i saw you should gas it at 30psi for 30 hours then turn it down to 10psi for serving. Given i had less then 24 hours (maybe 22 from kegging to drinking) i tried to partially force carbinate it by rolling it vigorously on 30psi for about a minute then i am leaving it for the last 20ish hours.

So. Is this process wrong at all, if i over carbinated it during this prosess will it level out, also once the beer has been on tap for a while does it get a little flat and needs to be boosted back up?

Thanks, Ryan
 
You more or less had the force carbing right. Probably do it for a little longer than a minute too.
It sounded like you were rolling the keg all the way around, definitely don't do that. You don't want to get beer back into the gas regulator

The colder the beer is the more gas it can absorb too.
If you do overcarb, you can just bleed some gas out. Might not be perfect at first but it'll even out.
 
There are carbonation charts you can find on the internet. Like jm said above, carbonation is a function of beer temperature and regulator pressure. The beer will not go flat when it's hooked up to a CO2 tank.
 
HEy Guys - Its been a long time since my last post

I, too, am finally going the keg route after consecutive bottle conditioning fails (Inadequate sugar mix)

Question - when you bottle condition with sugar, the yeasties convert the sugar to CO2 and sediment. Over time, the beer conditions, and you hit a sweet spot after a few weeks

How does this process change when you keg? What happens to the yeast? Is there a conditioning time?

Or am I totally off base?
 
HEy Guys - Its been a long time since my last post

I, too, am finally going the keg route after consecutive bottle conditioning fails (Inadequate sugar mix)

Question - when you bottle condition with sugar, the yeasties convert the sugar to CO2 and sediment. Over time, the beer conditions, and you hit a sweet spot after a few weeks

How does this process change when you keg? What happens to the yeast? Is there a conditioning time?

Or am I totally off base?
welcome back!

The yeast is still there in the keg, but without the sugar to eat, they don't multiply and just keep floccing out. the first pull or so off a keg is going to have a bit of that sediment. you can try using gelatin or other clearing agents if you'd like

you can basically carb the beer in a day, so there's not really a "conditioning" phase, i.e., the yeast aren't giving off the CO2 and you don't have to wait to have the beer

that being said, just because a keg is able to be drank (it's carbonated), doesn't mean that it's ready to drink though
 
i will say, the one downside i've noticed is that you have to finish an entire 5 gallon batch before you can reuse the keg. I'd suggest only doing batches that you know are good and kegging them. save the bottles for the smaller, experimental batches

i need to find some people to help me empty some kegs in the future :D
 
you can bottle from your kegs to free it up, I have a bottling set up, takes some practice but works well
 
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you can bottle from your kegs to free it up, I have a bottling set up, takes some practice but works well

yeah, i had gotten an adapter and tubing a few months ago, but the dang thing didn't fit in the faucet. i had some extra tubing laying around, and thankfully that fit into the tap. worked well enough
 
this is my set up
7912.jpg
 
Thanks guys, it turned out a little flat but i looked at that link posted and use it as a guide on the next keg
 
I have 8 kegs and 6 taps. That works out well for me. When I blow a keg, I fill it with whatever is next at bat. I chill it for a day, and then put 30# of CO2 on it as I rock the keg back and forth for about 3-4 minutes. By the time one of my taps is free, it's sufficiently carbonated.
 
Can you share? Is it the racking cane/stopper set up?

20160729_173453.jpg

Mine is a home-made system that cost less than $20. It's a "Pluto gun" altered to accept a stainless steel tube with a stopper. I slide the stopper up or down so that it seals the bottle and I can regulate back pressure just by easing the pressure on the stopper and allowing a little gas to escape.
If bottle purging is desired (arguably not necessary) , I accomplish that with a bottle filler tube attached to CO2 at very low pressure. Works like a charm.
 
Well Ryan looks like you've got plenty of advise I've got none that can add to the plethora of brewing knowledge presented to you in this thread mate:). All I can say is you'll look back on this decision as one of the best hombrewing decisions you've made. Your beer will in my opinion go to the next level just through Kegging it reduces the risks of unwanted contamination it improves clarity through Lagering your beer whilst you store it. Give it a week and your carbonation should be spot on. You'll just have to drink half carbed beer till then :p. Or go grab one of them bottles
 
What's to keep you from adding more CO2? It'll carb up just fine.
Yeah so trial and error with this batch, as stated i will follow the instructions of the post above in future, i have the psi up for a further 12 hours then ill recheck :)

And thanks Trialben, I dont often spend money on my self (mostly just the bills and mortgage) but this was a purches i will never regret :)
 

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