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force carbing a keg
I wasn't sure if this should go in bottling or equipment, there isn't a keg section...
anyway, I'm getting ready to keg my second batch, and I'd really like this one to come out better than my last one. That batch came out all foam. I've messed around and gotten it to give me 50-60 percent beer now, instead of 100 percent foam, but I'd like to get it right this time. so any helpful hints?
Hogarthe wrote:
I wasn't sure if this should go in bottling or equipment, there isn't a keg section...
anyway, I'm getting ready to keg my second batch, and I'd really like this one to come out better than my last one. That batch came out all foam. I've messed around and gotten it to give me 50-60 percent beer now, instead of 100 percent foam, but I'd like to get it right this time. so any helpful hints?
Without knowing a lot about your equipment, if you just have a co2 tank hooked up to a corny keg you should first put in in the fridge over night then I would attach the c02 and crank it up to about 30 psi to make sure everything seals. Then bring it back down to 10 psi and leave it for a week and you should be ready to serve then.
The other method I use is to hook the c02 line up to the liquid out line so co2 is being forced down the dip tube. Turn it up to 30 PSI. Sit down, pick the keg up and shake it and roll it around on my lap for 3 - 5 minutes until I can't hear any more bubbling. Then I try to adjust the PSI back down to 10 PSI which has been difficult for me to dial in. Last time i just left the c02 off the keg for a day or so and then came back and hooked it back up.
If you're getting too much head on your beer try pouring with the c02 line unhooked. There is enough pressure in the keg to pour several pints without need c02 hooked up. Good luck!
Your going to have problems with your foam if your trying to force carb for an event that takes place the next day, no matter what. You can get it carbed, but it's almost like the co2 doesn't want to stay in suspension.
Thankfully the rush of summer and holiday beer brewing for events is over, and you can just carb normally. Put it in your kegerator at 10psi, or whatever your serving pressure is, and it will carb nicely in a week or so.
Bruguru, do I need to hit it with 30 psi at all? Will the lid get sealed up correctly just going at 10, and leaving it?
Hogarthe wrote:
Bruguru, do I need to hit it with 30 psi at all? Will the lid get sealed up correctly just going at 10, and leaving it?
I know you didn't ask me specifically, and I might have said earlier, but I usually have to hit mine with 20 - 30 for a few seconds to seal it and then bring it down to what I plan on serving it at.
Everyone does somthing different. My kegs carb, and dispense nicely at 10psi. What I do is drop my primary into the keg, put the lid on, then connect the gas. I disconnect the gas, then release the co2 inside. I do this 3 or 4 times. Then I hit it with the gas again, turn the keg upside down to make sure there are no leaks, then put it in the kegerator with the gas line on. That simple, usually after a week it is good to go.
Now some beers do better with aging, and they age better at room temp, so instead of hooking them up, I'll leave them out of the kegerator with top pressure on the keg. I have a vanilla burbon porter that will not be hooked up to the gas for a month, then with two weeks to the unveil, i'll hook it up to the gas in my kegerator, and it will be perfect for the Super bowl.
Some people have the 30psi thing shaky, shaky, gas line in the liquid line down to a science. I can't be bothered, not that i havn't done it, and i've made unbelievable IPA's in a week. If you have the time it's always better to set it and forget it. You know how to force carb quickly, but you also know everyones equipment is different so if you really want to force carb in 1 to 3 days just tinker with your system until you get it down.
I've always had problems getting the pressure to equalize after I crank it up to 30, so I just don't do it anymore.
ok, so heres what I did. filled the keg with what I hope is a very excellent cali common, put the lid on, set the co2 to 10 psi, attached it to the keg. after a minute I took off the co2 line and released the pressure. I have pin lock kegs, so you need to use a special tool on the gas valve to release the pressure, that's why I unhooked the line. then I repeated that, and finally hooked it back up and left it sitting at 10 psi. I'll pour a glass next saturday, and hopefully it will all work out.
If you haven't already, do a search for balancing a draft system, sometimes foam is just from the way your lines are set up. Lenght, diameter, that sort of thing. You might try chilling your beer before you carb also, I seem to get those tight little bubbles faster that way.
Should be fine Hogarthe. if the carbonation isn't to your liking, I would jack it up by about 2 or 3 psi. don't go overboard on the psi, because it's a pain in the ass to equalize it.
Everyone is an expert at their own system, that's the key, if we switched kegerator's I'd be having all sorts of problems. Just find what works for you, keep the co2 tank lower than your corny in ports, have about 5 feet of beer line to your taps, and you will be fine. let us know how it works out
the co2 tank has to be lower than the valve on the keg? I did not know that... I've been sitting the tank on the hump of the freezer...
That's a good question, I can't find it now, but when I was setting up my kegerator, I read that the co2 tank needed to be lower than the inpost on the kegs, or at least lower than the co2 distribution bar if you are using one. I'm assuming it's because you want the right amount of pressure comming out of the co2, if it's higher than the bar, you might get a few psi over pressure. Someone what to chime in on this?
If your co2 distributor is higher than the ports, it should be ok, just don't lay the co2 tank on it's side.
this batch came out much better. not as much foam and the carb stays in the beer... will be doing it this way from now on.
Where the CO2 tank is has nothing to do with how the beer carbs up? Its pressure being controlled by a regulator the position of the tank effects nothing.
The only reason you may see or hear of a recommendation to keep the tank above the out post is the rare occasion that you hook up to the out post and get some back flow, you want to keep the beer from backing up the line and getting into the regulator.
To carb a little faster (and I mean a little, its not worth doing this in my opinion) you can put the gas connector onto the out post. It will fit just fine. And apply pressure to the keg that way. The CO2 travels down the long dip tube and bubbles up from the bottom. I can't really say that speeds things up any so I don't do that anymore.
But in that scenario keeping the regulator above the tank may keep beer out of the regulator.
Thanks Brewchez, i'm sure if I ever had a back up problem, I would have remembered that. Now if you jack your pressure up to 30psi in the keg, then disconnect your co2 tak without shutting off the valve on your CO2 distributor, you might get the beer comming through your gas line. This has never happned to me, but I hear it's an awful mess, and ruins everything. (tough to clean a regulator).
The best way is to leave it for a week at dispensing pressure and it comes out beautifuly, some people like a nice head, but I wouldn't go above 15psi for this. I've always had a tough time getting it back down, (sometimes upwards of about 2weeks). Looks like you got it nailed now though, I like my beers at 40F, some like them much colder, but 10 psi, at 40f works great for me.
Just tapped my first keg last night. I carbonated in the keg, had to release the pressure to get the lines on the posts. The first couple quarts were a bit foamy, but the beer hadn't quite cooled down. When I got home from work this morning I pulled a pint, well, a couple actually. 
The beer had cooled down and with about 10 psi it poured beautifully. A perfect pint with a perfect head.
I thought I might have a bit of yeast in the first few pints, but the S-04 must be stuck tight to the bottom of the keg.
Looks as if I am going to have to buy some more kegs now. Then I guess next it will be a kegerator, and then the wife will want a sparkling water system in the kitchen. There's just no light at the end of this tunnel, is there? 
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