Gas question - about to move ale into corny for first time!

[justink]

Right, so I have purchased a couple of cornys, regulator, and Co2. I have Woodfordes Admirals Reserve ready to transfer.

1 - Am I right in thinking that once cleaned, I need to Vaseline the rubber seals on the corny a-la normal pressure kegs?

2 - I have read about serving at roughly 3-4 PSI but I'm not sure how much gas to put in first off when the beer is put into the corny and sealed? Does 12 PSI sound right? I guess it personal taste but a rough starter for me to try would be good.

3 - This might seem a silly question...but...how do I know when I have reached, say, 12 PSI in the corny? Do I set the regulator to 12 and then leave the gas on until I cant hear it going into the keg anymore?

Question 3 is probably the one I am most confused about! Having pressure tested the cornys when I got my gas I set them to 20 PSI and it seemed like the gas was going into them for a long time so just wanted to be sure I have the right end of the stick...

Thanks in advance! :

 

[31bb3]

firstly are you planning on force carbing the beer ?? if so no need for sugar to prime put the beer in the corny add gas adjust the regulator so it reads around 10psi then turn off gas release some of the gas from the top of corny to purge any air in the keg then shake the corny you will notice the regulator pressure drop then gas again and shake once your ready to serve set gas at about 4 psi to serve remember the coder the keg the more gas you will need to serve

 

[justink]

firstly are you planning on force carbing the beer ??

Er, hadn't thought about that! I was assuming I wouldn't be adding any sugar, so I guess I will be force carbing!

I guess thats the best way of doing it as I will then have minimal sediment....?

 

[Hawks]

Temperature is one of your key things, as it will vary how much CO2 the beer absorbs.

For example, I keep my ales at around 12.5 C and 3 - 4 PSI - this is somewhere around 1.2 vols of CO2

Once you have purged as mentioned ( I use 20PSI for this as some of my kegs need this much to seal correctly ), you have a few choices..

If you only have 1 or 2 kegs and they will always be connected, the best way to do it is to set your regulator to your calculated level and leave it.

I have a few kegs, so they get gassed up and disconnected, for this I use the very unscientific method of 20PSI and disconnect. The beer will start to absorb this, and when I connect it up a few weeks later I generally find that they have dropped to under 5 PSI - so where I want them anyway. :thumb:

For the pressure, you are correct to set the reg and let them gas to that pressure. I am guessing you tested with an empty keg? so it took longer to fill the volume of the whole keg with 20PSI. Once it's full of beer you are pressurising the top inch of space with 20 PSI - this will be a lot lot lot quicker...

Oh and I never put anything on my seals, just make sure they are really clean. I believe some others do though, guess it depends on how well they seal.

 

[justink]

I have a few kegs, so they get gassed up and disconnected, for this I use the very unscientific method of 20PSI and disconnect. The beer will start to absorb this, and when I connect it up a few weeks later I generally find that they have dropped to under 5 PSI - so where I want them anyway. :thumb:

That sounds like its worth a try. I dont really want to leave the gas on for a few weeks, mostly because I dont have the room to store the kegs and gas together if I can help it. I only have 2 kegs currently but they are bound to multiply, so your formula would work for me in the long term if all turns out ok!

Of course, I didnt think about the fact that I was pressurising an entire keg which is why it seemed to be taking a lot of gas

Mine seem to be holding gas fine without any vaseline so maybe I'll be ok....wonder what other think about that point

 

[justink]

Well, that was easy!

Transferred to corny and gassed to 20psi. Gave it a gentle rock back and forth for a minute and then disconnected and put in the garage for a couple of weeks....

Looking forward to drinking it now :drink:

 

[justink]

Do the same rules apply about 'the longer you leave it the better it tastes' when force carbonating in a corny, or is does that only apply to secondary fermented ales?

I ask because I noticed people saying that when they force carb they leave it at Xpsi for a week and then serve at Ypsi which suggests they are drinking it after only a week.

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