Kegging question

[Xavier Joseph]

I kegged for the first time( tried the Belgian Tripel). Carbonated at 12 psi. The flavors(smell) seemed in line, but the taste does not linger on... it goes away quickly giving a watery feel... I read thru forums and gathered that some of the fermentation steps might be off ( yeast quality/qty, temp , aeration..... i had pitched 2 packs of liquid yeast around 70F...but fermentation started after 48 hrs...)
I did secondary fermentation prior to keggin). The beer tastes ok, but nothing close to the real one!! I also read that the Belgian beer gets better with age... probably after 3 months
So my question is , if its ok to disconnect the CO2 and leave the keg in refrigerator for a while ?

I am a newbie and appreciate any feedback/comments ..Thanks you

 

[sikkingj]

You may have Kegged your beer too soon. The yeast may still have needed to eat some of the sugars.

Does the beer have a “sweet” taste?

Another possibility is your mash temperature being too high (if you did all grain) if you did an extract batch then this is not a problem.

Finally, did you use a secondary fermenter? If so, don’t. You are removing the beer from the yeast cake to soon. In general, you don’t need to use a secondary ever.

I hope this helps.

 

[Hammy71]

Yes you can disconnect the gas and beer line if you wish. The keg is just a big bottle if it is sealed correctly. I doubt aging will help with the watery mouth feel though.

 

[Xavier Joseph]

You may have Kegged your beer too soon. The yeast may still have needed to eat some of the sugars.

Does the beer have a “sweet” taste?

Another possibility is your mash temperature being too high (if you did all grain) if you did an extract batch then this is not a problem.

Finally, did you use a secondary fermenter? If so, don’t. You are removing the beer from the yeast cake to soon. In general, you don’t need to use a secondary ever.

I hope this helps.

I had it the primary for 2 weeks, then secondary for 2 weeks..and then kegged it... .it was extract batch..
i think your point on secondary fermenter might be valid.

Thanks for your comments

 

[Xavier Joseph]

Yes you can disconnect the gas and beer line if you wish. The keg is just a big bottle if it is sealed correctly. I doubt aging will help with the watery mouth feel though.

i just disconnected
Thanks for your comments

 

[brewdude88]

Reconnect at a higher pressure! If your fridge is around 40, you need to be up around 20-24psi for a while to even get to the 3-3.5 volume range that some consider minimum for trippels. Some commercial trippels even go to 5 volumes, this is why the bottles are so thick.

This is vital to mouth feel in this style!

Get a carbonation chart and go for 3.5ish volumest see what that does for the beers body.

 

[Xavier Joseph]

Reconnect at a higher pressure! If your fridge is around 40, you need to be up around 20-24psi for a while to even get to the 3-3.5 volume range that some consider minimum for trippels. Some commercial trippels even go to 5 volumes, this is why the bottles are so thick.

This is vital to mouth feel in this style!

Get a carbonation chart and go for 3.5ish volumest see what that does for the beers body.

Thanks. Will give this a try and report back !

 

[MikeCo]

Don’t pour the beer at the high pressure unless your lines are really long or you will get a lot of foam.

 

[Snuffy]

"Finally, did you use a secondary fermenter? If so, don’t. You are removing the beer from the yeast cake to soon. In general, you don’t need to use a secondary ever."

A secondary isnt technically necessary for most ales that you aren't oaking or dry hopping or something, and I understand the risks of transferring beer to a second vessel are probably more serious than the possibility of off flavors from contact with trub for the full fermentation.. but my secondary is a glass carboy and I like to look at the beer thru the glass as it winds down and clears up. I could stare at that thing for hours. It's friggin fascinating. Like watching an aquarium but without the fish and the little bubbly scuba diver.

 

[Xavier Joseph]

I reconnected to about 22 psi. There is some improvement in the taste.
Should I just leave it like this for a couple of more days?

As MikeCo mentioned, I'm getting a lot of foam when i tried a sample.

should I disconnect CO2? sorry, I'm confused..

 

[MikeCo]

To fully carbonate the beer at 22 psi from 12 psi will take several days. Let it go a week or so to get to that level and then turn the pressure down to a normal serving pressure like 10 or 12 psi. It should maintain the higher carbonation for a while, but you may have to recharge it at 22 psi once in a while if it seems like it's losing carbonation. But you will have foaming problems trying to keep it at 22 psi for pouring unless your beer line is 20 feet long or so. I bottle my Belgian beers for this reason - I like them highly carbonated to style, and it's difficult in a kegerator without really long beer lines.

 

[Xavier Joseph]

To fully carbonate the beer at 22 psi from 12 psi will take several days. Let it go a week or so to get to that level and then turn the pressure down to a normal serving pressure like 10 or 12 psi. It should maintain the higher carbonation for a while, but you may have to recharge it at 22 psi once in a while if it seems like it's losing carbonation. But you will have foaming problems trying to keep it at 22 psi for pouring unless your beer line is 20 feet long or so. I bottle my Belgian beers for this reason - I like them highly carbonated to style, and it's difficult in a kegerator without really long beer lines.

Thanks. I'll update in a few days

 

[Xavier Joseph]

To fully carbonate the beer at 22 psi from 12 psi will take several days. Let it go a week or so to get to that level and then turn the pressure down to a normal serving pressure like 10 or 12 psi. It should maintain the higher carbonation for a while, but you may have to recharge it at 22 psi once in a while if it seems like it's losing carbonation. But you will have foaming problems trying to keep it at 22 psi for pouring unless your beer line is 20 feet long or so. I bottle my Belgian beers for this reason - I like them highly carbonated to style, and it's difficult in a kegerator without really long beer lines.

just an update.. the beer tastes fine...significant improvement..but I am having a big issue with foaming...I just have the basic faucet attached to the keg... i dropped the psi to less than 10 ..but its foaming.. chose the wrong beer to keg for the first time... . MikeCo thanks for your inputs..

 

[Redpappy]

Did you relieve the keg of the excess pressure before pouring?

such as drop your pressure to 12, then pull on the pressure relief valve ( depending on keg lid style). I would do that 3-4 times, then serve.

 

[MikeCo]

You can also reduce the serving pressure even more to reduce foaming. How long are your beer lines? Another way to reduce foaming is to use longer lines. My kegerator tower kit came with 5-foot long 3/16 ID lines. After having foaming problems when serving at 12 psi, I replaced them with 10-foot lines which made for a slightly slower pour, but reduced foaming significantly.

 

[Snuffy]

Anybody know the science on why longer lines reduce foaming? I know that works but I've never spent a lot of time figuring out why.
Has it got something to do with pressure drop over the length of tube? <cue Toots & the Maytalls>