First time force carbonating!!!

[jrc64]

OK, tomorrow is the big day. I will be moving the beer into the keg tomorrow and beginning force carbonation. Here's my plan. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG ON ANY STEPS:

1. Carboy will go into fridge tonight to get cold.
2. Tomorrow, I will clean and sanitize keg.
3. Remove carboy from fridge and transfer to keg.
4. Put 15 lbs pressure on keg, leave attached to CO2 tank, and leave in fridge for 7 days.
5. After 7 days, test it, and if good turn pressure down to around 7-10 psi for serving.

How's that? Just still confused about when to bleed the presure from the keg and how much pressure to let out.

Thank you all ahead of time!

 

[JDGator]

OK, tomorrow is the big day. I will be moving the beer into the keg tomorrow and beginning force carbonation. Here's my plan. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG ON ANY STEPS:

1. Carboy will go into fridge tonight to get cold.
2. Tomorrow, I will clean and sanitize keg.
3. Remove carboy from fridge and transfer to keg.
4. Put 15 lbs pressure on keg, leave attached to CO2 tank, and leave in fridge for 7 days.
5. After 7 days, test it, and if good turn pressure down to around 7-10 psi for serving.

How's that? Just still confused about when to bleed the presure from the keg and how much pressure to let out.

Thank you all ahead of time!

you want to bleed the keg once you put gas on it for the first time to purge out any oxygen. only need to pull the relief 3-4 times for just short bursts.

Then once your beer is carbed, you want to bleed off some pressure before you turn down your regulator to serving pressure. this way you don't push beer back up your line and into your regulator.

 

[BigFloyd]

you want to bleed the keg once you put gas on it for the first time to purge out any oxygen. only need to pull the relief 3-4 times for just short bursts.

Then once your beer is carbed, you want to bleed off some pressure before you turn down your regulator to serving pressure. this way you don't push beer back up your line and into your regulator.

This^^^.

I'd suggest simply setting the reg at 12psi and then check it in a week. You may overcarb at 15psi for 7 days.

What length are your lines that you are planning to run 7-10psi? Let me guess----5ft? One of the best changes I ever made to my 3-tap keezer setup was to increase line length from 5ft to 12ft.

If you don't mind waiting a few extra days, leave the carboy in the fridge 4-5 days before racking to the keg. You'll get more clear beer.

 

[anthropod]

I 2nd the 12psi and the 4-5 days cold crash. But it will settle out in the keg too. The first time I forced carbonated I did the crank and shake. That was not good. I ended up with over carbed beer and a ton of foam. Now I do 10-12 psi for a week or two and it's just right.

 

[brent77]

Temperature is crucial.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AkP_mGfyrwA/T7rKacRjJaI/AAAAAAAAAJA/QW_3GOAEa4s/s1600/chart.jpg

This chart will let you know the appropriate temp for a specific level of carbonation. Low and Slow seems to give a better overall carb.

OK, tomorrow is the big day. I will be moving the beer into the keg tomorrow and beginning force carbonation. Here's my plan. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG ON ANY STEPS:

1. Carboy will go into fridge tonight to get cold.
2. Tomorrow, I will clean and sanitize keg.
3. Remove carboy from fridge and transfer to keg.
4. Put 15 lbs pressure on keg, leave attached to CO2 tank, and leave in fridge for 7 days.
5. After 7 days, test it, and if good turn pressure down to around 7-10 psi for serving.

How's that? Just still confused about when to bleed the presure from the keg and how much pressure to let out.

Thank you all ahead of time!

 

[jro238]

Nothing at all wrong with setting your pressures where you want them and just letting the keg carb.

I generally rack room temp beer into the keg, put it in the keezer and leave it there for about 24-36hrs at 30 PSI (gets the beer close to target volumes without overshooting), then turn it down to my desired PSI and bleed off the extra pressure in the head space. This leaves my beer nicely carbonated in about 4-5 days. I will say that the carbonation becomes a bit more delicate by day 7 though.

 

[Begin2Brew]

If you force carb at 15psi and turn it down to 7-10 psi to serve your beer will eventually loose that carbonation and equalize out at 7-10 psi. if you want 15psi carb level then you need to keep it on 15psi and lengthen your serving lines.

Check this out.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f84/beer-line-length-pressure-calculator-35369/


I have spent a lot of time getting this part down. The time is well worth it.

 

[jrc64]

Nothing at all wrong with setting your pressures where you want them and just letting the keg carb.

I generally rack room temp beer into the keg, put it in the keezer and leave it there for about 24-36hrs at 30 PSI (gets the beer close to target volumes without overshooting), then turn it down to my desired PSI and bleed off the extra pressure in the head space. This leaves my beer nicely carbonated in about 4-5 days. I will say that the carbonation becomes a bit more delicate by day 7 though.

I actually may go this route. I'll rack today at room temp, throw 30psi on keg and put it in fridge for 24 hours, then turn down to 10psi for 4 or 5 days. Is there much difference between this and simply putting it on 10psi right from the start for around 7 days?

 

[hey4q2pal]

I keg and then put 35psi on it, roll keg on the garage floor still hooked up until I hear no more gas going in, then set in the fridge at 40* for 24 hrs. Bleed all pressure off and set to serving pressure (I run 9psi) It is a little foamy the first few pours, but in a day its right as rain.

 

[jro238]

I actually may go this route. I'll rack today at room temp, throw 30psi on keg and put it in fridge for 24 hours, then turn down to 10psi for 4 or 5 days. Is there much difference between this and simply putting it on 10psi right from the start for around 7 days?

It'll get your beer to a pretty good carbonation level a few days sooner, but that's about it. I should add that my keezer temp is 36F and that my serving/normal carbonation pressure is usually 10-12PSI (~2.5-~2.7vols). When I'm carbing a new beer and don't know exactly how I'm going to like it, i'll usually pour a sip after 24 hours on 30PSI and then again every 12 hours or so as long as I leave it on 30 just to make sure I don't overdo it. Also (probably doesn't even need to be said), I only do this for beers that will actually be ready to drink in 4-5 days after kegging. If I have a beer that needs to condition some, then I'll just leave it on serving pressure for a couple of weeks to carb up.

 

[BansheeRider]

- rack beer to keg and purge with co2
- 30 psi for 24 hours
- purge keg all the way down then reset to serving pressure (never have problems serving at 10-12 psi with my 5ft lines)
- enjoy beer in 3-5 days, sometimes 2 days depending on beer style

I don't cold crash before kegging. When my beer is room temp I leave it at 30psi for 36 hours vs 24. I normally have perfectly carbed beer in 3 days using this method.