Corny keg with CO2 bottle

[Ian_68]

So I’ve carbonated my first brew in my corny keg; a pale ale with about 2.4 volumesof CO2. The question is, once carbonated, do I turn the gas regulator down to pouring pressure and leave it there (about 5-10 psi) or do I isolate the CO2 bottle between usage? I’m thinking if you leave the gas on, say 10psi for pouring, it will over carbonate. Am I right or wrong?
Cheers

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Either/or!
The beer is fully carbonated; the system is in equilibrium. You can safely leave the CO2 connected at serving pressure without affecting the equilibrium. If you isolate the CO2 bottle there is still equilibrium, but as soon as you pull a pint, the pressure in the headspace is lower than the pressure in the beer, reducing the carbonation of the beer, so you will "top up" the keg from the gas bottle.

 

[Honk]

Personally I disconnect and turn off the gas in-between use, that way I don't have to worry about leaks and can switch the gas between cornies and adjust pressure as required depending on what I'm drinking, works well for me but you can also leave gas connected without overcarbonating.

 

[LeeH]

I leave mine on, you can too if you have no leaks which of course you shouldn’t.

Check for leaks with a tin of leak detector ideally. Or StarSan solution/fairy solution.

 

[Hoppyland]

I'm new to this, but I've now got 4 kegs. Three are utterly reliable, the 4th doesn't seem to seal quite perfectly. Almost, but not quite, and not always the same. So, I'd always turn off the cylinder between useage. Not much to lose - if there is a leak, then potentially an awful lot of CO2 could be wasted if you leave the pressure on. But, equally, with a tiny leak then all that will happen with the pressure off is the beer goes a bit flat - no oxygen is going to get in to spoil it. Plus, you'll soon know if you do in fact have a tiny leak!

 

[Dads_Ale]

I turn mine off between serving. Even a small leak can empty a Co2 cylinder. Also seeing if pressure drops (or raises when turned back on) on the main regulator will indicate a leak somewhere

 

[peebee]

The beer will certainly continue to carbonate if served at a pressure that is higher than needed to maintain a level of carbonation. I always serve at the pressure needed to maintain the carbonation (even the "cask-conditioned" stuff) , but to do this, and have beers at different carbonations, you have to have "secondary" regulators and not feed all the kegs the same pressure.

And I'm in the "turn off" camp. In fact I force this policy by needing to turn on the CO2 before serving which then turns itself off after a delay (5-30 minutes, the gas lines have solenoid valves). Not just because an un-noticed gas leak will empty the gas cylinder, but also because an un-noticed beer leak will empty the keg on the floor (the regulator keeps the pressure up if not off).

 

[divrack]

i always leave mine at an absurd pressure untill its past carbonated, then turn it right down and vent the keg, pour some bad pints then go out to turn it back up the pour more bad pints etc etc.
im not advocating this procedure or anything.