Purging force carb

[SeabeeSon]

Good day homebrewers!
New to homebrewing, learning from a neighbor. Have 6 batches under my belt, all grain. Have a question, searched the forum, and there are many threads. Wanted to add a thread myself, to be able to check one, rather than sift through pages. Wanted to get some opinions on purging (or not) the co2 after force carb, then dialing down to serve pressure. I have done it this way, which my neighbor suggested, force carb at 30 for 24-48 hours and then just dial down to 10-12 for serving, no purge. I did this my first two batches, but fought with my regulator the entire time until keg was empty. Regulator jumped up and down the dial, down to 5, I adjusted to 10, jumped up to 20, I adjusted to 10, back down to 3, and so on. I have since changed to doing this, force carb at 30 for 24-48 hours, purge to no pressure, then set at serving at 12. No problems, reg stays at 12 until keg is empty. Neighbor stopped by and we talked, he said, don't purge, just dial down to serving pressure from force carb pressure. Looking for some thoughts. All I can ask is, why? Does it matter which way? Just preference? Sorry for the disertation. Thanks for the advice.

 

[dawgmatic]

I usually dial down the pressure (to around 12) a day or 2 afterward and then purge by taking samples. For a full keg there's not much headspace for all the CO2 so the preexisting pressure is pretty negligible

 

[BansheeRider]

If your last method worked then who cares what your neighbor said. If you like the beer and the carbonation is to your liking then you did right IMO. I a newb and have about the same amount of batches under my belt as you. I'm trying to figure this out as well.

 

[SeabeeSon]

Just revisiting again for some more opinions. To purge and redial at serving pressure, or just turn dial to serving pressure. And also, if purging, would this disrupt the lid seal that was set at 30 PSI, or would the seal set itself again with only 10-12 serving PSI? Thanks!

 

[wiggybrewer]

I usually do the set and forget method, but when I force carbonate I purge and reset to 12 psi. to serve. works everytime.

 

[chickypad]

If you want more opinions to confirm what you have already proven yourself: do the purge and forget what your neighbor says. When you reset the regulator to 12 but don't purge the keg is still at 30, assuming you have a check valve in place. If not you may have a bigger problem with backflow into the regulator if your keg is pretty full (ask me how I know). The pressure will eventually come down as you pour off beer as was mentioned, but no reason to play around with it. I also usually do set and forget but in a pinch do the burst and purge, I've never had issues losing the seal.