My head is spinning! Basic kegging question....

[sclabrl]

My head is spinning trying to find an answer...

Kegged for the first time (Red Ale) and following the "set and forget" instructions.

Once I purged the oxygen from the corny, I set the pressure to 30PSI, left the gas on, temperature at 40 degress. It's been left like this with gas on for 5 days.

Was I supposed to drop the pressure down from 30PSI? or can I leave it and try it now? I'm pretty patient and will wait as long as I need for a great beer. (Not really-can't wait to try it!)

Also, when I do pour my first glass, do I relieve the pressure in the keg THEN pressurize it to lower PSI (10-12PSI)?


Any comments would help, thanks and have a great holiday.

 

[WileECoyote]

Also, when I do pour my first glass, do I relieve the pressure in the keg THEN pressurize it to lower PSI (10-12PSI)?

YES to the above question.

How long have you conditioned your beer for? after kegging brews still need to be conditioned to be good, some beers take longer than others, best guess on your IRA, I would let it sit 3 weeks if it were me, then taste it, if it taste good then have some, just remember most of the time longer = better beer, and the first 3 or 4 oz or so out of the keg will be yeasty.

Cheers and enjoy

 

[sclabrl]

So did I screw up?? Transfered my beer from the carboy to the keg and then started the carbonation process. No conditioning done so to speak.

Can I just leave it on gas at 30PSI and taste in a week or two or three as recommended?

Thanks again.

 

[chickypad]

You are not doing the set and forget method, unless you were meaning to carb to 4.1 vols of CO2 which is what you will get according to this chart. Set and forget means you figure out the pressure you need at your given temp to get the volume of CO2 you want (which at 40* would usually be something more like 10-14 PSI) then leave it at that pressure for about 10-14 days for perfect carb. Burst carbing is setting it high like 30 PSI for 24 hrs or so then turning it down.

You're likely overcarbed at 5 days and will need to vent the keg for a while. I would turn off the gas ASAP.

 

[sclabrl]

ok. guess I should pull off a glass now and see if overcarbed?

 

[carltjones]

You'll likely be pouring foam until your ale settles back to a lower pressure. It's an easy fix but may take several days to settle back.

 

[WileECoyote]

So did I screw up?? Transfered my beer from the carboy to the keg and then started the carbonation process. No conditioning done so to speak.

Can I just leave it on gas at 30PSI and taste in a week or two or three as recommended?

Thanks again.

Your beer will condition in the keg on the gas just fine, getting it cold before it conditions might make it take longer to finish out, but it will still in time.

Like chiclypad said vent the pressure out of the keg, you will most likely need to do this a few times over a few days till the carb levels come down in your brew, then hook up the gas again, to serving pressure and serve.

It will all be ok and waiting for everything to equalize is also allowing your brew to condition a bit too.

FYI, what I do is I sanitize keg then purge keg with co2 then transfer beer to keg, purge with co2 again, let brew condition in keg @ 65 to 70 deg (ale's) for 2 to 4 weeks depending on the brew, then put in kegerator over night to get beer cold, then attach the gas and let sit at 12psi for 8 to 10 days before I start drinking.

If I need one carbbed up quick, its over night to get brew cold then 30 psi and roll keg back and forth real quick with my foot for 10 to 12 min, then back into the kegerator for 1 hr at 12 psi, then try a glass, if its not carbbed enough I roll it again for 1 to 3 min depending on how much more carbonation it needs.

Cheers