I have kegged my first batch! But need some advice please... :?:

[MikeAdz]

Hi all, I have made a cider and kegged it in a Cornelius, I am not using priming sugar, I am going to force carbonate it in about 4-6 weeks time ready for a party. I need some advice however...

I siphoned it to the keg and then applied 30psi CO2 to the keg and burped it out a few times to remove oxygen. I then disconnected the gas and stored the keg away. Is this the correct way to proceed? Is the pressure in the keg too high to sit there for 4 weeks doing nothing? Is it going to carbonate too early?

Please if you have any advice here to help me it would be amazing, I feel like this is the last piece of my puzzle!

 

[Graz]

Yeah, you have two options essentially, first option being what you've just done. The pressure that is in there will reduce as the CO2 in the head space under pressure will get absorbed by the liquid. Some pressure will remain though and the liquid inside will have a CO2 blanket over it to keep it fresh. Then just carbonate ahead of when you want to start drinking it.

Option 2 is to carbonate it now, once fully carbonated it will stay like that assuming no leaks even after disconnecting the gas. The downside to that is that ideally you want to carbonate it at a low temperature and once you've done so you don't want to bring it out to ambient temperature as the CO2 that is dissolved in the liquid will start to get released and increase the pressure in the keg. If you have room to store it cold then this is fine.

 

[The Baron]

It will not be enough as the headspace will only carry a small amount of co2 which will be absorbed into the cider reasonably very quickly(keep the keg in a cool place so the Co2 is absorbed into the cider better). You have a couple of options you can set the regulator and gas cylinder at the pressure you want it to be at and leave connected and on for a few days to a week in which time it should have absorbed the Co2 to the pressure you want however only do this if you are confident that you do not have any gas leaks as it could empty your cylinder or you can keep adding gas once or twice daily to build up the Co2 absorbtion and disconnect after each gas injection until again it is at the Co2 level you require. If by any chance you over carbonate you can just release the pressure with the safety relief valve and this will allow the Co2 to come out of the cider as it will bring the gas headspace and cider to a equilibrium

 

[Jonnymac]

Despite leak checking, i found that leavng it connected is not the best way. It almost always empties my CO2. I must have leaks somehwere, but damned if I can find them.
My advice is to just top it up with a blast daily. Over time the pressure will increase (you will see this when you push on the fittings. the keg side gauge will register). Once it is at this point, you can just leave it until you are ready. It may take a week or two of charging it daily to get to this point.
I have had great results with my Corny kegs, but I won't leave the gass connected now.
Keeping it cool certainly helps, especially with ciders and lagers. Ales are less fussy.

 

[MikeAdz]

thanks guys, I think I will leave as is and then force carbonate in 4 weeks, ready for drinking in 6 weeks.. how would you recommend I force carbonate the cider?

 

[HarryFlatters]

 

[Rodcx500z]

I don't use cornys yet, but have read a lot about the lid not sealing if there is little pressure in it

 

[MikeAdz]

if i leave it at 30psi for the next 4 weeks, is it not going to overcarbonate? if i take the pressure down to 10psi is that better for storage?

 

[HarryFlatters]

if i leave it at 30psi for the next 4 weeks, is it not going to overcarbonate? if i take the pressure down to 10psi is that better for storage?

Depends on if you're leaving it on the gas or not, and it depends on what temperature you're storing it at.

 

[phildo79]

Best and quickest way I have found to force carb is the following:

1. Chill the keg in a fridge for about a day.
2. Turn the psi up to 30 and connect.
3. Lay the keg on its side and roll back and fourth for 5 mins and then stand upright.
4. While the gas is still connected, SLOWLY reduce the psi to serving pressure (I use about 10 psi).
5. Pour yourself a sample.
6. It will probably be a bit foamy (cider might be different) but should die down in an hour.

Point number 4 is very important. If you try to reduce the pressure too quickly, the contents of the keg will shoot up the beer line and come out of the regulator. Trust me, I've done it. The beer hit the ceiling!

You might be thinking that if you disconnect the gas and then reduce the psi, that will have the same outcome. Perhaps for you it will. But for some reason, I find that once you reconnect the gas, the psi shoots back up to where it was when you disconnected. I'm guessing that's because that is the pressure within the keg.

 

[MikeAdz]

Depends on if you're leaving it on the gas or not, and it depends on what temperature you're storing it at.

storing at 20c and not leaving on the gas.

 

[HarryFlatters]

It'll be fine, 30psi at 18°C is only 2.5 volumes.