Kegs and gas

[Rodcx500z]

i have kegged my first beer, bear in mind i have no fridge yet, the main dial is showing 50 bar and i set the psi at 20 am i in the right ball park, when i come to serve i will turn it down to 5psi, also the beer line is 3/16th i think will i need to up this to 3/8th all this is new to me and i am learning as i go

 

[chrisb8]

Hi @Rodcx500z, glad to hear you've taken the plunge into kegging. I would say it's one of the best things I've done in taking my brewing forward. I think you will get a mix of answers because of course carbonation is down to style and personal preference.

I give mine 30psi for 24hrs, then 20psi for 24hrs and then I reduce it to around 8-10psi for 5 days more and then I dispense at around 8psi. This works for me to give a perfectly carbonated beer in a week every time.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

As @chrisb8 says, you'll get a range of answers.

I personally use the "set and forget" method with balanced beer line.
Essentially, I work out the pressure using a carbonation chart (I like the one half way down this page as it's degrees C and pressure in PSI: Force Carbonation Charts | Mike Birdgeneau) and leave it for 10 days or so.
I then calculate the length of beer line from something like this: Beer Line Length Calculator and I use 3/16 to reduce foaming.
The reason I do all that is that I want to hook up my gas to the keg and then not have to do anything with it until the keg is empty. This also works well for me as I generally have the same types of beer, thus same serving temp and carbonation, therefore I don't need to keep changing the beer line length. If you plan to go, say, from an ale to a lager, the beer line will need swapping out to suit the beer in the keg. There are flow control taps, but I have no experience with them, so cannot comment.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Thanks guys, looks like a learning curve then, first thing i need to do is get a fridge as i believe use less gas this way, i found kegging it a doddle and i have no gas leaks i gave everything a good spray with soapy water hope i have not spoken to soon will i sleep tonight

 

[chrisb8]

I probably should add that I was talking about carbonating my pale ale styles in the previous post and I use a flow control tap to help with dispensing with the right amount of foam.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I will check them out cheers

 

[foxbat]

i have kegged my first beer, bear in mind i have no fridge yet, the main dial is showing 50 bar and i set the psi at 20 am i in the right ball park, when i come to serve i will turn it down to 5psi, also the beer line is 3/16th i think will i need to up this to 3/8th all this is new to me and i am learning as i go

You're going to need to experiment but to get you started if you've brewed an ale then maybe set it at 10psi and leave it there until the keg's empty (set and forget). You'll have reasonable carbonation after a week and properly done in 2 weeks which ought to tally with when it's conditioned enough that you'd want to start drinking it anyway.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

My tuppence worth, I have two kegs on tap so can’t set and forget another so when I keg it I purge the headspace then gas to 40 psi rocking the keg backwards and forwards for a few minutes then take it off the gas and leave it in the shed at that pressure. I usually get to it a few weeks later and find it at around 8-10 psi having absorbed the rest. I then set it to the correct pressure according to style and it’s ready to go in a day or so.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Cheers Foxbat, i think this is a case of find your own happy medium that doesn't mean i am not taking on board what people are saying, i am lucky that all through my life i have been a quick learner some just wander along if you know what i mean, i always do my homework and listen to what people say, thanks for the advice

 

[Gerryjo]

Cheers Foxbat, i think this is a case of find your own happy medium that doesn't mean i am not taking on board what people are saying, i am lucky that all through my life i have been a quick learner some just wander along if you know what i mean, i always do my homework and listen to what people say, thanks for the advice

I have done set and forget/rock and roll and both have worked but I use 5/16 line of around 6ft but have flow control on my taps which are a great advantage but again it's down to personal preference as you embrace kegging.Good luck.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I'm just messing about with my first home made keg setup and unfortunately producing nothing but foam and not sure what to do. Got my pressure set to 12psi at 5 degrees C (41 F) and 10ft/3m of beer line which is what I got from a beer line balancing chart. OK I wasn't super accurate in measuring out the beer line so might be + or - half an inch. I gave it a good week to ten days to carbonate before drawing the first glass and basically was all foam. I've since messed around with different pressures and no improvement. Only thing is I've got 3/8 beer line reduced to 3/16 as it goes into the faucet tower but assumed it would be restricted by the smallest diameter section. Will be replacing the lines with 3/16 from faucet to keg this week but other than that I'm out of ideas. I have a flow control ball lock fitting (not flow control tap and that doesn't seem to have any effect on production of foam.

Pressure is from a soda stream bottle and regulator currently inside the fridge. Have no idea what I've done wrong.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Hoppy i wish i could help but i new to this, all i can say is i went with the line supplied and party tap, i set it at 40psi for one day then 20psi today i i took it down to 10psi and pulled a pint it was all good i am not sure but i think the tap has a 3/8th short line into a reducer to 5/16th i have not cut any off the 5/16th is 2 meters if i go above 10psi i get foam lots off it, hope you sort it soon

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@hoppyscotty
I'd say you will be pouring a lot of foam.
According to beer line calculator Beer Line Length Calculator
you are going to need a really long beer line with those figures. I use this
Beer Carbonation Calculator
to work out the pressure I'm aiming for in the keg.
For 2.3 vols and your temp suggests 10.59 psi.
But with your large diameter beer line suggests you are going to need a 400foot+ beer line for a 15 second pint.

Flow down a tube is related to the 4th power of the diameter. So if you double the diameter the flow increases 16 times hence the problem.

I use the evabarrier tube with 4mm internal diameter and pour fine with 4-5.5 foot of line ( but my kegs are on different levels in the keg fridge so it's complicated.

Even with flow control ball lock ( i have one and it's not great ) or a flow control tap you are going to struggle with that big pipe.

Your other option would be to put the keg 26.1 feet below the tap and then increase the tube length to 27.43 foot. Not a practical option unless you want to get into complex line chilling and long line sytems.

I suggest dial the pressure back to the correct vols you want and use jug, let the foam settle and decant. Await the arrival of the narrow tube in the post ( and connectors ).

 

[hoppyscotty]

Thanks rod and room with a brew. To be fair I’ve not tried significantly lower pressure so will give that a try but got some 3/16 line on order so will replace with that before trying again. But if I’m having to go down to 10 psi then won’t that affect my carbonation or will I have to lower the fridge temp to achieve my desired carbonation at the lower delivery pressure? I’d rather balance the system and have a fit and forget setup rather than dropping pressure whenever I want to serve. Thanks

 

[Rodcx500z]

Like i said i am new to kegging and learning, good luck and let us know how you go on

 

[foxbat]

got some 3/16 line on order so will replace with that before trying again.

That will fix it. The vast majority, if not all of your beer line should be 3/16" - around 2-3 metres will cover most carbonation styles. Stem reducers can be used to step back up to 3/8" to mate with the keg disconnects and tap fittings. 3/8" hardly slows the flow at all and you end up with a fire hose. It's different in pubs where the keg can be far away downstairs in a cellar.

I’d rather balance the system and have a fit and forget setup rather than dropping pressure whenever I want to serve.

That's the way to do it and I'm sure your 3/16" line will see to it.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Thanks foxbat, I hope you're right. I had assumed that because the line reduced to 3/16 going into the faucet the system would be limited by the smallest restriction, but it seems the length of the line at 3/16 matters so hopefully in a few days I'll be drawing off a glass of beer with some actual beer in it!

 

[BarnBrian]

I carb for a couple of days at 20 psi, shake the keg a few times. I then reduce to around 4 psi. That works fine for me.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@hoppyscotty
You need to use this calculator to work out the CO2 pressure

https://drhansbrewery.com/beercarbonationcalculator/
Depending on your beer style the amount of CO2 needed changes as well. This calculator will take account of the temperature.

I use it when fermenting under pressure as well so that by the end of ferment the beer is carbed to the pressure I want. You will see that the pressure is high when the beer is warm but the pressure falls as the beer is cold crashed. You don't need to let CO2 out because the CO2 goes into beer as it chills.

Narrow line that you have ordered ( and hopefully some connectors ) will see you in a much better state.

 

[hoppyscotty]

My 3/16 line came through today. How on earth do you get it over the barb of the tap/faucet? Do I need a fitting to open up to 5/16 for a short run? I've tried warming up in hot water and though it softens there is no way its getting over the tap barb. Thanks.