I am going to put my dead ringer in the keg this Saturday. Looking at all the charts … It looks like I should carb to about 2.3… But if I wanted to carb at that level AND maintain a serving pressure of 10-12 psi assuming I have a 5 ft picnic tap… The freezer temp / serving temp would be 40- 42 deg.
How do you guys typically juggle this stuff? I like my beer cold, I guess I could just bump the regulator up and down based on if I am serving or it’s going to just sit? Or maybe the diff in carb from 2.3 to 2.5 is not a big deal?
I’m not even sure 2.3 is the ideal yet, just looking at suggested ranges for different beers. 2.3 is on the high side for an IPA which makes it even more challenging to have my beer cold if I want a carb of 2.0.
I keep my serving fridge at 36F because I like my IPAs and lagers cold when served. I have 9 feet of beer line on each keg and two regs split to 4 kegs. Both regs tend to stay around 9-10psi. I just found the level of carbonation that I like and left it there. If I want a different level of carbonation on a keg I’ll shut off the gas to it when it gets to the preferred level and just give it a bump occasionally after pulling a few.
Balance your system based on pressure, temperature and line length but do it for your preference in carbonation and temperature. It will just take some trial and error.
Thanks for all the help. So in the interim…while experimenting, is it ok to dial back the pressure while serving and then if I detect the carb level getting lower than I like, bump it up and let it sit for a while?
I am not so concerned about my IPA, but at the same time I am kegging this, I am setting my older son up with a keg system and his batch is a Saison that has a recommendation for carbing to 3.2. He will also be using the standard picnic tap to start off. His beer is calling for about 18-20 psi to carb at serving temp. It seems like sitting at higher pressure all the time just increases the chances of a gas leak. I don’t have a feel for how quickly a beer would lose its carb at a lower pressure. Maybe it would consumed fast enough it would not be an issue.
Serving pressure on your system is simply the amount of pressure needed to pour a beer through your lines and out your tap. The CO2 dissolved into your beer gives you your volumes of CO2 number you are looking at. I have found that once a beer reaches a carb level that I like, I turn my regulator down to my serving pressure for my system which is roughly 8-9 psi and I’ve never had one lose it’s carbonation level once it’s absorbed into the beer.
You will need to force CO2 into solution with either the set it and forget it method over the course of 2+ weeks at serving pressure or force carb it more quickly then setting it back to serving pressure. I set mine at 30 psi for 24ish hours when I first put it in the kegerator and then drop it to 20 psi for 2-3 additional days. Then I check the carbonation level, once it’s where I like it, I drop the regulator to serving pressure and let it ride. I have two kegs running off of one regulator but I have a dual shutoff valve so I can shut off gas to one or both kegs. I keep my kegerator set right around 38.
Perfect ! That is what I was hoping to hear. I am sure I can find a good serving pressure, i just did not want to end up with different length hoses for different types of beer.
Here is a nice vid from Greg who used to frequent the site on how a properly poured pint should come out. If the serving pressure is too high, the beer will pour too fast resulting in a lot of foam as a result of CO2 being knocked out of solution. The only way you should lose carb once it’s absorbed is if you have your serving pressure set too low and your system gets out of balance.
