Corny's...

[Cononthebarber]

So after a recent purchase from a fellow member I am now the proud owner of two corny's fitted with party taps :party:

I have done a fair bit of reading but just wanted to make 100% sure I know what I'm doing before I start putting beer in them...

Carbonation:

I want to force carb my beer after I have dispensed it into my corny...from what I gather I do this by syphoning the beer in and then setting the pressure to 20psi and then leaving the keg for 2-3 days to carbonate it. Do you need to leave the gas connected or disconnect and leave it to do its thing?

Serving:

Once my beer is carbonated I would then drop the pressure (using the pressure release?) to around 5psi for dispensing from the keg. As the beer is drunk and pressure drops do you just connect up the co2 again to increase pressure?

These may be really simple and stupid questions but I just want to get it right rather than wasting precious beer on trial and error (or making silly noob mistakes! :lol:)

 

[markmark]

Basically right Conon.
When you first hook up the gas to the corny I usually set it at 40 psi to seal the lid. I then leave it a few minutes and then release the vent to blow out any air.
Carbonation depends on temperature and the beer style. There are some tables kicking about somewhere to help.
You need to use the temperature you are forcing at along with the pressure you want to use and the table will give you how long to set it for. Or if you have the time frame and pressure you plan to use, it will tell you what temperature the beer needs to be at for the desired result.....hope that makes sense??

Once carbed, drop to serving psi and away you go.
I leave the gas connected and open, so it is automatically topped up as I draw beer. I then close the gas at the end of the session just in case there is any leak that will totally discharge the cylinder.

Have fun

 

[Darcey]

You may find if you are lowering the PSI for dispense that your beer will be come less carbonated. Generally you want to keep the beer at the pressure you are carbonating too.

 

[pittsy]

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php i would set your fridge to 7c , get the beer to temp then gas up to 12 psi and roll it around the floor (while connected ) for 5 mins then leave it in the fridge for a week either connected up or gas to 12psi every day for a week . It will be ideal after 2 weeks , quicker methods are available but you need time to condition the beer anyway (even a hefe is better after 2 weeks) If you gas it up and leave it unconnected for a week it will end up flat ish , it needs to remain on or gas regular because of the beer absorbing the co2 .

 

[Cononthebarber]

Ok thanks guys will let you know how I get on :)

 

[Cononthebarber]

Right so my beer is at 7c and I've carbed up to 12 psi, rolled around on the floor (the keg, not me :)) and will just leave it now for a couple of weeks...is that all I need to do for now?

 

[pittsy]

Yep but you either need to connect every few days or leave connected cuz otherwise that amount of ps1 will be absorbed quickly and will be flat unless is kept at pressure .

 

[Cononthebarber]

Yep I have left it connected :thumb:

 

[joe1002]

Yep I have left it connected :thumb:

Just make sure you don't have any leaks otherwise your co2 bottle will empty very quickly.

Personally, I turn the gas off. Just turn it on once every day or to to maintain the pressure.

 

[Cononthebarber]

Hey there so I force carbed my beer as suggested which was two weeks at 12 psi, I have now dropped the pressure to 5 psi for serving however I am getting 3/4's head. The beer tastes great and seems to be clear and carbonated well but when pouring its creating massive amounts of head. What am I doing wrong, should I drop the pressure, I also read somewhere about extending the length of the tubing to my tap? It's a party tap with approx 50cm of tubing to the corny?

 

[pittsy]

You need more like 4 to 6 ft depending on temp and height from keg

 

[Cononthebarber]

Ok so I need more length then? :)

Will a few metres of THIS do the trick?

 

[Aleman]

What you really need is some 3/16 and a couple of 3/8 -> 3/16 Stem fittings . . . . then 1m of the 3/16 should eliminate most of your issue . . . and you won't need to reduce the pressure to serve. . . . In fact if you start with 6 feet and reduce it down 6" at a time until you get a good pour rate, without excessive foaming, you end up with a balance system . . .until the temperature changes

 

[Cononthebarber]

Ok so keep the existing 50cm or so of 3/8 line and then add a reducer and a meter or so of 3/16 line then another reducer back to 3/8 line to tap?

 

[pittsy]

Yes , that's what I do . Even a hefe at serving of 20 psi I only use around 4 ft using 3/16 .

 

[kev]

I don't use 3/16th line. I just use about 2m of 3/8th and reduce flow at the tap to control foam.

That said, I don't overly carbonate my beers anyway due to personal preference.

I am also in the "switch gas off at night" club. Ideally I'd keep it on but I've emptied cylinders in the past doing that and at £20-£30 a go it's not worth it.

The key to kegs though is temp control. If you can't accurately and consistently keep your kegs at a specific temp, dispensing will be a nightmare and you'll get seemingly random results.

K

 

[Cononthebarber]

Ok cheers guys, ebay has been called upon :) will let you know how I get on when it all arrives...

 

[Aleman]

Ok so keep the existing 50cm or so of 3/8 line and then add a reducer and a meter or so of 3/16 line then another reducer back to 3/8 line to tap?

Or even get rid of the 3/8 entirely . . . Stem reducers are great for that :thumb:

I love 3/16 line as it is so much more flexible than 3/8

 

[Stapsin]

Right just jumping on the band wagon on this thread, but have some very similar questions to Conon.

Have just got myself a couple of corny's which sit in my living room next to the window. I don't have heating in my flat (don't ask) so it is pretty cold at the best of times especially by the window where the cornys sit, around 7 degrees c. So I set the gas at around 30 psi shook the keg, vented the oxygen, did this a few times then set the gas at 25ish and left for 3 days.

Last night I went to pour a pint from it using around 2.5-3 meteres of 3/8 line to a party tap so I took vented some pressure and set it at around 8-10 psi but got around 75% foam to 25% beer ratio. The beer/foam was coming out in bursts and you could actually see the foam and beer alternating in the line. It looked like the beer was fizzy in the line but when it was in the glass it had minimal fizz other than the foam. I am aware that carbonating the beer at 25 psi is quite high but its a hef so I wanted it fizzy.

I have read here and other places about stepping the line down using the stem reducers but due to the size of the barb on the tap it is a struggle to get the 3/8 line to attach so I figure that the 3/16 won't fit at all. I have another more heavy duty tap but the 3/8 line does not fit on that so I will need to get another stem fitting to step the line up if I wish to use that.

I guess my main questions are:

Is there any point in using the stem reducers to try and reduce the foam as if I step it down to 3/16 I will have to step it back up to 3/8 to attach to the tap?
Could there be another reason why the beer is not holding fizz? - Is 7 degrees cold enough, Do I have a leak (unlikely I feel as the beer looks fizzy in the line)
Should I try and step the line up and try using the other tap?

Any help you can give me would be great, THANKS!

 

[kev]

Nothing to do with the diameter or length of your line. You need to understand the relationship between temp and pressure.

30psi at 7c is a VERY carbonated beer. I carb and serve at 12psi and 7c without any problems through 3/8th line.

K