Want to get into kegging...

[Dabba]

So I'm thinking of buying 3 5 gal kegs because I'm getting sick of bottling! I have a question on storage and serving. After carbonation, what's the best way for long term storage and then serving? For a party I'd put in a bin of ice and I guess I need to pressurise at 10-12psi. But what if I want to sip at home only pouring a few beers at a time? Just attach the regulator and bleed down to 10-12psi and serve then go back to 30psi for storage? I'm gonna get another fridge to store the kegs in.

 

[probablynotnick]

1) Get another fridge or freezer with temperature control. If you store the keg warm, it's going to age faster and take a long time in the ice bucket to chill again. You don't have to go all out on building a kegerator yet, but consistent cold storage is important.

2) You only ramp up the PSI to 30 if you are trying to rush carbonation. Keeping the keg at 10-12 will carbonate in about 1-2 weeks. You want to store the keg at the same pressure that you serve the keg.

Check this chart for quick reference:
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

 

[divrack]

impress your significant other by bringing fridges and freezers back from the dump until you find one that still works. they will love and respect you more due to your persistence and seeming immunity to filth and horror.
subscribe to my channel for more top relationship advice.

 

[mongoose33]

This is how I started:

Over time, I acquired a 7 cubic foot freezer (that's a great size, btw), and built a keezer with it:

You can also do this with a 5-cubic foot freezer, smaller footprint, but hard to get more than 2 5-gallon kegs in one:



If you want an easy way to build a keezer, try this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/easy-peasy-no-glue-keezer-build-with-lots-of-pics.632550/

 

[Kent88]

impress your significant other by bringing fridges and freezers back from the dump until you find one that still works. they will love and respect you more due to your persistence and seeming immunity to filth and horror.
subscribe to my channel for more top relationship advice.

That was fantastic

Stay tuned every Thursday for Doctor Love....s Homebrew!

 

[Dabba]

Is there any advantage of carbonating over 2 or 3 days vs 1-2 weeks?

So if I carbonate and I leave it in the fridge disconnected from the regulator, what pressure should the keg sit at and how long would it last? And when I want a few I can just attach the hose and regulator, pour then detach everything and store again? I plan to have 3 kegs full at a time so I'd need a decent sized fridge. Is there any differences from storing with the co2 attached or detached assuming no leaks besides confidence when wanting a beer?

 

[probablynotnick]

Is there any advantage of carbonating over 2 or 3 days vs 1-2 weeks?

So if I carbonate and I leave it in the fridge disconnected from the regulator, what pressure should the keg sit at and how long would it last? And when I want a few I can just attach the hose and regulator, pour then detach everything and store again? I plan to have 3 kegs full at a time so I'd need a decent sized fridge. Is there any differences from storing with the co2 attached or detached assuming no leaks besides confidence when wanting a beer?

No advantage other than time saved. It does take a bit of practice to get the carbonation level right, but it balances out over the life of the keg.

If the keg has no air leaks, the carbonation will last just like in a bottle. Many people disconnect kegs when they don't have enough lines to keep all their kegs connected. A standard size fridge will fit 3 easy, as will a 7cft chest freezer. Mongoose33 has a perfect example of simple vs more complex set ups.

 

[Dabba]

Perfect! For the beginner kegger.. think its better to look for a regulator that will connect to 3 (or more) kegs to make my life easy or just go for a single keg simple regulator? Not even sure what the price difference will be. I'll be looking for this stuff second hand, probably from this site tbh

 

[micraftbeer]

I would keep things simple and go for a single regulator and a manifold with 3 (or 4) branches, each with their own shutoff. If you think you need 3, then get 4. Otherwise you'll be kicking yourself in a month. You can go fancier and get multi-regulator so each branch can get its own pressure, but that cost adds up quickly. Single regulator, you set it for 10-15 psi and leave it. Whenever I attempt to dispense a beer at higher pressure that just means a beer with higher amount of foam. Just not worth it in my experience.

The other thing to keep in mind with the connect/disconnect situation is you're fine to store an already-carbonated beer with CO2 not connected (of course filled at serving pressure). But if you're carbonating a keg, you need the CO2 hooked up. You are physically transferring CO2 molecules into your beer, so there will be a flow from your CO2 tank to your beer. If you pressurize the keg and then disconnect your gas for 2 weeks, you won't end up with a carbonated beer like you will if you hook it up and leave it connected for 2 weeks.

 

[probablynotnick]

What Micraftbeer said! The added cost of a manifold with 3 or 4 branches and the extra tubing will be well worth the convenience of not having to connect and disconnect each and every time. You can always expand your system with additional regulators if you feel the need down the road (i.e. Belgians at a higher psi than a pseudo cask ale).

The simple set up you might look for should contain a 5lb or larger CO2 bottle, 1-2 regulators (sistered together), 3 or 4 way manifold, and all the hoses and connections to set it up. Plastic cobra faucets are just fine when you get started.

Like everything else in this hobby, it's a slippery slope that only gets steeper and slicker!

 

[bruboy]

As much as everyone hates added expense if you're in this for the Long Haul spend the money on a chest freezer put the collar on the top feed your taps through the side of the collar at a temperature control and now you're done the only advice I can give you be on this as buy one you can grow into

 

[Dabba]

So... another question!

Say if I wanted to keg before I got a fridge to throw the kegs in. Theoretically.. can I keg them at room temp (~60F) but pressurize them as if they were in the 40s F. That way I could say.. fill a growler then put the growler in the fridge and have the carbonation be just right? Just wondering if theres a way to store the beer at room temp most of the time but make it so I can throw a growler at a time in the fridge.

 

[mongoose33]

Yes, you can keg at room temp. To pressurize them, you'd have to do about....23 psi for a couple weeks at that temp (60 degrees). That would get you 2.5 volumes of CO2.

You can determine that from this chart; read across the 60 degrees line until you get to about 2.5 volumes, and then up to see the corresponding pressure needed.

 

[Dabba]

Yes, you can keg at room temp. To pressurize them, you'd have to do about....23 psi for a couple weeks at that temp (60 degrees). That would get you 2.5 volumes of CO2.

You can determine that from this chart; read across the 60 degrees line until you get to about 2.5 volumes, and then up to see the corresponding pressure needed.

View attachment 571117

But, if I were to fill a growler and throw it in the fridge to cool it.. would I end up with a fizzy mess on a pour after the beer's temp drops?

 

[mongoose33]

But, if I were to fill a growler and throw it in the fridge to cool it.. would I end up with a fizzy mess on a pour after the beer's temp drops?

No, you wouldn't. You'd have beer.

 

[Dabba]

No, you wouldn't. You'd have beer.

Beautiful, thank one. One more question. Would the 23psi also be storage/serving pressure?

If I wanted to rapid/force carb..is there another chart for this?

 

[doug293cz]

But, if I were to fill a growler and throw it in the fridge to cool it.. would I end up with a fizzy mess on a pour after the beer's temp drops?

You are more likely to get the fizzy mess, and under carbed beer, trying to fill a growler from a warm keg. CO2 breaks out of beer much faster at warmer temperatures. When filling a growler you want the beer cold (or low carb level) and preferably the growler cold. If you can't afford a fridge/freezer to store and serve your kegs, you are better off sticking with bottling.

Brew on

 

[doug293cz]

Beautiful, thank one. One more question. Would the 23psi also be storage/serving pressure?

You want to store and serve the beer at the chart pressure for the carb level and temperature at which you are storing and serving.

You can force carb at one temperature, and then store and serve at a different temperature, but the appropriate pressure will be different for carbing and storing/serving.

If I wanted to rapid/force carb..is there another chart for this?

There are no charts for burst/rapid carbonation (using higher pressure CO2 than equilibrium pressure for the temp and desired carb level.) The charts represent an equilibrium situation which is static, so can be measured (or calculated without using differential equations.) Force carbing at the equilibrium pressure for the beer temp insures that you will not over carb, but the time to reach equilibrium (full carbonation) is a dynamic situation, that requires a complete understanding of all variables and the solution of differential equations. Since everyone's variables are different, it is not possible to come up with a "one size fits all" chart for time required to force carb, and especially not for burst carbing at high pressures (where there are even more variables.)

Burst or rapid carbing methods usually represent a situation that will overshoot the desired carb level if any combination of time, pressure and agitation are over done. The only burst carb method that cannot over carb is agitation of the keg at the chart pressure for the current beer temp and desired carb level.

Brew on

 

[Michael Mullins]

Newbie member, longtime bottler, newbie kegger here, first post, hi ya'll. Need some advice - Brewed Belgian Wit, just down to FG. Need it ready to drink on beach trip in 10 days, I know young beer and all bad planning oh well wcis I'm thinking keg now, put in fridge, force carb to 30 for a day, purge and set and forget at 14 (Wit is higher carb) Sound like a plan?

Question - serving temp might be higher than fridge (we will be leaving it outside on a drinkin porch on intercoastal in ice for a day or two while we drink it and New England IPA buddy is bringing so the temp will likely go up and down as we add ice) so does this have much of an impact?

Thanks,

 

[doug293cz]

Newbie member, longtime bottler, newbie kegger here, first post, hi ya'll. Need some advice - Brewed Belgian Wit, just down to FG. Need it ready to drink on beach trip in 10 days, I know young beer and all bad planning oh well wcis I'm thinking keg now, put in fridge, force carb to 30 for a day, purge and set and forget at 14 (Wit is higher carb) Sound like a plan?

Question - serving temp might be higher than fridge (we will be leaving it outside on a drinkin porch on intercoastal in ice for a day or two while we drink it and New England IPA buddy is bringing so the temp will likely go up and down as we add ice) so does this have much of an impact?

Thanks,

If the beer is still warm when you connect to the gas, then 30 psi for 48 hrs (since gas will absorb slower until the beer cools.) If the beer is cold when you connect the gas, then 30 psi for 36 hrs. This is what I do, and haven't over carbed yet. Do not shake the kegs with 30 psi applied, as that can easily overcarb the beer.

If you keep ice in the tub continuously, then the beer shouldn't get above about 35°F, unless the keg tops are in the sun. So, I wouldn't worry about temp variation. If your beer was carbed closer to 40°F, then you probably want to lower the pressure when it's sitting in the ice bath. Consult your carb chart for the appropriate pressure to use for the temperature.

Brew on

 

[Michael Mullins]

If the beer is still warm when you connect to the gas, then 30 psi for 48 hrs (since gas will absorb slower until the beer cools.) If the beer is cold when you connect the gas, then 30 psi for 36 hrs. This is what I do, and haven't over carbed yet. Do not shake the kegs with 30 psi applied, as that can easily overcarb the beer.

If you keep ice in the tub continuously, then the beer shouldn't get above about 35°F, unless the keg tops are in the sun. So, I wouldn't worry about temp variation. If your beer was carbed closer to 40°F, then you probably want to lower the pressure when it's sitting in the ice bath. Consult your carb chart for the appropriate pressure to use for the temperature.

Brew on

Excellent Thanks. Cheers to you!