How can I do this?

[RanGra]

I have 2 kegs of beer ready for a party on Saturday. Neither one is carbed yet. What is the best way for me to handle this since I've only got one co2 and one tap? Both kegs will not be tapped at same time, the second is a back up but I'm sure we are going to need it!

 

[aiptasia]

You'd either need a double regulator or a double distributor coming off the single keg. Since you have like, no time, check with your LHBS. Even force carbonation takes about a week.

 

[Yooper]

You can T your gas line, and have both kegs carbed up. At 40 degrees (beer temperature), you could set it at 30 psi for 36 hours, then purge and reduce the pressure to 12 psi. It should be carbed by Saturday. If you can't T your gas line, then you'll have one keg carbed by Saturday.

I'm not a fan of the "high pressure and shake the keg" method as it almost always results in cloudy overcarbed foamy beer.

 

[RanGra]

So then can I do this? Get keg #1 on the CO2 for the 36 hours. Remove the CO2 from it and do the same to keg #2 for 36 hrs? I guess what I'm asking is can I take keg #1 off the CO2 and will it hold the carbonation pressure providing my keg had no leaks?

 

[ThickHead]

So then can I do this? Get keg #1 on the CO2 for the 36 hours. Remove the CO2 from it and do the same to keg #2 for 36 hrs? I guess what I'm asking is can I take keg #1 off the CO2 and will it hold the carbonation pressure providing my keg had no leaks?

Yes, you can. however, putting a T in your gas line to charge both kegs at the same time would be a better solution as the two previous posters have suggested.

 

[stonebrewer]

So then can I do this? Get keg #1 on the CO2 for the 36 hours. Remove the CO2 from it and do the same to keg #2 for 36 hrs? I guess what I'm asking is can I take keg #1 off the CO2 and will it hold the carbonation pressure providing my keg had no leaks?

Yes. The CO2 will dissolve into the beer and stay there under pressure. It will not come out of solution unless you change volume, temperature or pressure, all of which should be near constant in your kegerator. If you don't have one, I would recommend you buy yourself a cheap 3 or 4 way gas manifold like one of these: http://www.towercooler.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=40&Itemid=81

Cheers!

 

[Yooper]

So then can I do this? Get keg #1 on the CO2 for the 36 hours. Remove the CO2 from it and do the same to keg #2 for 36 hrs? I guess what I'm asking is can I take keg #1 off the CO2 and will it hold the carbonation pressure providing my keg had no leaks?

Yes, but then both kegs will be slightly undercarbed. You won't get to a perfect co2 level with only 36 hours on the gas at 30 degrees, so you purge and keep the gas on at 12 psi to finish it off without overcarbing it.

 

[stonebrewer]

RanGra: Some other things to consider. What style of beer are you trying to carb? That will determine how many atmospheres you want it to end at. I tend to shoot for around 2.5 for most of my beers and can get it there pretty quick if I lower the temp in my kegerator and jack up the psi to 30ish. That said, you want to do two kegs, so you may end up with one that is properly carb'd and one that is a little flat, without having some sort of tee/manifold. As Yooper said, there is another way where you roll the keg and agitate the beer to get the gas to dissolve more quickly. I have not had a lot of luck with that method, but others have (see YouTube for many videos on how it is done). Since you are in a predicament, you may want to try it but I find it usually ends up with an overcarb'd. foamy beer that is probably worse than a slightly flat beer. I also dry hop in the keg and this method does not work well with hops as you get a lot of hop "boogers" in your beer. Best plan is to run to the LHBS in the morning, get a manifold, and follow the advice above. Best of luck!

 

[runningweird]

I just did this for a local runners club party -I carbed a summer citrus wheat keg and an IPA in about two days.

shake carb!

I cold crashed and gelatin fined my IPA before racking into keg, the wheat I just cold crashed since they can be cloudy.
after chilling and racking into keg, pressurize them both to seal the kegs, then put them into a cooler/fridge to get them to serving temp - about 40 degrees for me. then I hooked one up to my regulator at 13 psi, and put the keg on it's side and proceeded to roll it back and forth for about 40 minutes while I played games on my phone and my kids asked me what i was doing.
if you set the psi to serving pressure you can't over carb. repeat with the second keg. they won't be crystal clear, but if you need to dry hop do so at room temperature since that will lead to faster flavor/aroma dispersal.

good luck.

 

[runningweird]

I'm not a fan of the "high pressure and shake the keg" method as it almost always results in cloudy overcarbed foamy beer.

I was in this camp for most of my kegging career, but I have recently revised that way of thinking. shake carbonation has its limitations, the beer will not be commercial quality clear, it will still have whatever sediment in it that was in there when you racked it. but it will be properly carbed if you only shake it at serving pressure. It will take longer than shaking it at high pressure but it will come out better in the long run. after shake carbing the keg, put it back in the fridge and let it sit before trying it the next day.

 

[hvjackson]

You have 6 days, that is plenty of time. I think you can do this without any new equipment if you're willing to switch the kegs back and forth a few times.

First, get the kegs as cold as you can, around 30˚F would be perfect. Colder beer will absorb CO2 better. Then pressurize both kegs to 30 psi and then alternate which one is connected. I suspect in 12 hours it would only fall to 20 or 25 psi, so you won't lose much time by alternating.

After at least a day of being in the 20-30 psi range you can disconnect them and let them sit. The pressure will continue to fall as more CO2 gets dissolved. I do *not* like to vent the keg, since 1) that will slow the process down, 2) you're throwing away CO2 and aroma. Once the kegs are just below your desired serving pressure (10 psi isn), connect the regulator at 10 psi to top them up and keep them there. Alternate which keg the regulator is hooked up to.