First time kegging...quick question

[HOOTER]

When y'all force carb, do you attach the beer lines right away or wait till it's time to drink. I racked two brews to kegs yesterday, force carbed at 30psi and of course, when I attached the beer lines, beer shot about half way up. Anyway, would waiting to hook up the beer lines until drinking time or does it matter?

 

[mightynintendo]

i leave the beer lines hooked up. too much work to hook and unhook all the time. i don't see any harm in this either.

 

[hoppysailor]

It doesn't matter when you hook up the beer lines. I'd be way more concerned about force carbing at 30psi. You can very easily end up with over carbonated beer at that pressure (been there, done that).

 

[shortyjacobs]

I leave them hooked up. Never happened to me, but a friend of mine left his unhooked. Turned out he had a slight leak in the poppet of his beer out post, and came home to find all his beer on the floor, slowly pushed out of the keg by the gas. Leaving them hooked up means no worries.

Also, the beer in the line is under the same pressure, so if you are worried about that 1 oz being undercarbed, don't worry.

 

[samc]

Beer shot halfway up what?

I usually don't have the beer out line hooked up during initial carbing. I've refined my process to do 30psi for 24 hours at serving temp, then reduce to serving pressure and leave it alone for a few days. Then I hook up the beer out line and start testing. Usually not happy with it for at least another week or more.

You need to purge the 30 psi off the keg before hooking up your line!

 

[HOOTER]

Beer shot halfway up what?

I usually don't have the beer out line hooked up during initial carbing. I've refined my process to do 30psi for 24 hours at serving temp, then reduce to serving pressure and leave it alone for a few days. Then I hook up the beer out line and start testing. Usually not happy with it for at least another week or more.

You need to purge the 30 psi off the keg before hooking up your line!

Sorry. Beer shot halfway up the beer line as soon as I attached it to the keg. So tonight I'll be purging the 30 psi and hitting it with around 12-13 psi for a few days. I had the kegs pressurized at 30 psi when I hooked up the beer line. No good?

 

[springer]

Its fine to have them hooked up at 30 psi they are rated for much higher. I do the same I leave it a 28 to 30 for 24 hours then purge and 12 psi for a few days if I want something fast. Most time its 12 or so psi depending on the beer for 10-14 days.

 

[HOOTER]

Cool. I've got another question. I hit the beer with 30 psi when the temp was in the low 50's then immediately refrigerated. Should I go a bit more than 24 hrs. to make up for the lag time while cooling or does that really matter?

 

[BigTexun]

If the beer is cold, you can really speed up the process by cranking it up to 30 psi and shaking the heck out of your keg (with the gas still hooked up). You'll hear that gas sailing into the keg (and into the beer).

After you've done it a couple of times, drop the pressure and vent the keg to see where you are.

It works. I did it last night.

 

[springer]

Cool. I've got another question. I hit the beer with 30 psi when the temp was in the low 50's then immediately refrigerated. Should I go a bit more than 24 hrs. to make up for the lag time while cooling or does that really matter?

I can't tell ya because my beers are cold crashed for the most part .

 

[BigTexun]

Cool. I've got another question. I hit the beer with 30 psi when the temp was in the low 50's then immediately refrigerated. Should I go a bit more than 24 hrs. to make up for the lag time while cooling or does that really matter?

If you give that cold keg a few aggressive shakes with 30 psi on it, you'll have carbed beer in 5 minutes. Shake / vent / test... and repeat until you are happy.

In my opinion, this not only saves you time... it reduces the chances of overcarbing.

 

[shortyjacobs]

Every time I shake my keg, I overcarb the living crap out of it. Also, 90% of the "why is my beer foamy threads" end with, "oh yeah, I shook it".

What I do is throw the warm (60°) keg into the fridge (38°), put it on 30 PSI, and leave it for 48 hours. It's usually about 80% carbed by this point, at which time I vent down to 10-11 PSI and leave it a few days more to finish up. Works 100% of the time, every time. I think I have luck with the 48 hrs, (and sometimes 72, if it's not carbed enough after 48), because it's warmer when it enters, so it has that lag time you speak of.