Carbonation level of an Irish stout

Kegging
1

Whats the best Carbonation level for an Irish stout? Not too low and definitely not too high. This will be the 2nd beer Ive kegged. The 1st was well over carbonated and put off an off flavor. I am kegging tomorrow and want to have it finished by next thursday. I have researched the Carbonation chart but I dont understand the 1.5-2.2 volumes of co2. My fridge is at 34 degrees. does this mean i need to set the psi level at 2 psi for a week?

2

I’ve been using this chart to figure out my volumes. Nice table…

http://www.pjmuth.org/beerstuff/Carbonation_Table.xls
3

cheers[quote=“mejtkt”] My fridge is at 34 degrees. does this mean i need to set the psi level at 2 psi for a week?[/quote]

most charts are like the one above. temp on one side and vols of CO2 across the top or bottom.
pick your temp. (34)
pic your vols desired (2)
see where they intersect if you draw a line across from temp and down from co2. that intersection is the pressure you need to set your regulator to.

So if you want 2 vols, in the chart above, the intersection of 34F and 2 Vols is at 4.3 psi.

Personnally, I’ve found 2 vols is a little too flat for my tastes with stouts, so I shoot for more 2.2-2.4. But, it’s a personal choice.

cheers.

4

Thanks Guys. that was a lot of help. I understand the chart now. THe local brew shop told me to carb all beer the same. 30psi for 2 days. Purge, set at 15 for 3 days. purge. set at 10 and serve. I tried that and a brown ale came out overcarbonated and off flavored. The chart and psi levels make better sense.

5

If your beer is overcarbed, you can purge it every so often for a few days to get it back to the right level. Warming it up a few degrees speeds up the process.

6

That sounds like a lot of work. I’m much lazier than that :lol:
After I’ve kegged up my beer, I throw it in the fridge for a while to cold crash and then set the regulator for my desired carb level and hook up the gas to the keg. On average, it’s typically carbed up properly within a week to 10 days (which isn’t far off the time schedule that your LHBS gave you and much less work).
I would also agree with StormyBrew–I like my stouts a little more carbonated, somewhere in the 2.4-2.6 range.