CO2/Keg question

[ScubaDiver]

First off, would like to say hello and cheers. My buddy and I just brewed our first 'batch' yesterday. fun fun it was.....

We opted for the keg/CO2 rather than bottling method. My question is, Once we keg the beer in 3 weeks or so, do I need to store the kegged beer in the fridge while CO2'ing it? If yes, will the cooler temps of the fridge have any effect on the CO2 system? I dont have a keg fridge where I can run lines to it, i have a climate controlled frig in the garage that we were going to use.

Any helpful advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers to all
Vincenzo

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yes you can place your Co2 system in the fridge with the keg and carbonate at serving pressure, roughly 10-12 psi for 2-3 weeks. Or if you want your beer to carb faster, try 30 psi for 36 hours on cold beer and then reduce to serving pressure.

You can also force carb warm beer but it will take more pressure, about 20 psi at room temp IIRC.

 

[Pie_Man]

CO2 pressure depends on temperature. Check out a chart like this: http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php. A climate controlled fridge and a picnic tap on the keg will serve you just fine.

Personally, I prefer to carbonate at serving temperature that way my volumes of CO2 are consistent the entire time. I can also drink the beer right away once it is carbed since it is already cooled

 

[ballsy]

CO2 pressure depends on temperature. Check out a chart like this: http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php. A climate controlled fridge and a picnic tap on the keg will serve you just fine.

Personally, I prefer to carbonate at serving temperature that way my volumes of CO2 are consistent the entire time. I can also drink the beer right away once it is carbed since it is already cooled

+1...warmer it is, the more psi u will need to get co2 into solution.
Go to kegging section of the forums and you will see two methods, set at serving psi and wait until carb is right (usually b/w 1-2 weeks) vs force carbing at high psi for 24-48hrs then backing off. IMO it just matters how eager you are to drink it. In your case, this being your first beer, I would imagine you will want to force carb at high psi to get her carb'd up and ready to drink w/in a few days. But someone with multiple beers on tap wouldn't be in such a rush and prob just "set it and forget it" at serving psi from the start.

 

[ScubaDiver]

Thx for the input. Even though we're anxious to drink it, we want to do it right (not saying force-carbing is wrong). 1 or 2 extra weeks isnt gonna kill us (well maybe)

Pie Man, thx for the chart, already helped a bunch

Cheers
Vincenzo

 

[fosaisu]

Thx for the input. Even though we're anxious to drink it, we want to do it right (not saying force-carbing is wrong). 1 or 2 extra weeks isnt gonna kill us (well maybe)

Pie Man, thx for the chart, already helped a bunch

Cheers
Vincenzo

For what it's worth, some people say they detect a difference in the carbonation b/w force-carbing and set-and-forget. I don't really understand how that could be, and I've always had good results setting 38 degree (my serving temp) beer at 30 PSI for ~ 24 hours, and then dropping to the maintenance PSI (I like to use the carbonation table linked to above to set the exact level of carbonation I want for the specific style of beer in the keg). The only risk here is forgetting to drop the PSI, and admittedly once you've over-carbed a beer it'it can be a pain to get it back to the desired level of carb.

 

[Pie_Man]

I prefer the set it and forget method because I usually bottle a few beers from my keg. I know with this method, given a set temperature of my kegerator and PSI setting on my regulator, that I cannot over carbonate my beer.

In the past when I attempted to speed up the carbonation process, I over carbed my beer. Despite my best efforts, I lost carbontation when bottling and the bottled beers lost their liveliness. I am sure I could learn to address this issue, but I am fine waiting two weeks for carbonation. As fosaisu mentions, over carbonating is a pain to fix.

 

[ScubaDiver]

Just another reason for me to 'set and forget'...we're already taken in a bunch of info and since its our 1st shot at it, dont want to really have to deal with the possibility of over-carb'ing. Again, thx for the insite

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

For what it's worth, some people say they detect a difference in the carbonation b/w force-carbing and set-and-forget. I don't really understand how that could be, and I've always had good results setting 38 degree (my serving temp) beer at 30 PSI for ~ 24 hours, and then dropping to the maintenance PSI (I like to use the carbonation table linked to above to set the exact level of carbonation I want for the specific style of beer in the keg). The only risk here is forgetting to drop the PSI, and admittedly once you've over-carbed a beer it'it can be a pain to get it back to the desired level of carb.

I think most people interchange what your describing and the "set it to 30PSI and shake the **** out of it and serve 10 minutes later" method that is prevalent on the internet if you look up fast carbing....

Force carbing that way by shaking the crap out of it definately produces a subpar carbonation and off flavor from all of the carbonic acid you just forced into solution....i carb like you and have no issues. Well mostly like you, i put 30PSI in my keg then lower it to 10PSI...that initial 30PSI still gets absorbed and then eventually equalizes at 10PSI where the regulator is set.

This way i get the benefit of the higher pressure to get a bit faster carbonation, but dont have to risk forgetting to lower it. Of course dont do this if you dont have check valves or your going to shoot beer up your gas lines into your regulator from the pressure differential.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I think the main taste difference between set and forget and force carbng is the additional cold storage time more than anything.

Btw.. how long is your picnic tap beer line?

 

[ballsy]

Just another reason for me to 'set and forget'...we're already taken in a bunch of info and since its our 1st shot at it, dont want to really have to deal with the possibility of over-carb'ing. Again, thx for the insite

You tube easy over carbonated keg fix...you simply hook gas line up to liquid connect of keg, put about 10-15 psi in & listen to the bubbles of the co2 rising through solution till stops, purge, and repeat process 3 or so more times. Then reconnect at serving psi and u have a easily fixed properly carb'd beer. Nothing painful about it. Biggest benefit of waiting is the beers flavor matures more prior to drinking.