Rookie Kegger

Kegging
1

Hi all,

Just bought a keg setup recently and I’m trying to iron things out with it. Happen to have a spare full size fridge laying around so I’m moving that into the utility room tomorrow and throwing my recently kegged homebrew original recipe into it; hopeful that it will be ready for a tailgating party with the outlaws in 8 days. I have a few questions:

  1. I am planning on filling growlers for transport. I am a little nervous about the growlers staying carbed for about a day and a half, 2 days at the longest. Is this possible to achieve?

  2. I flushed the keg with CO2 prior to filling it, siphoned the beer into it, then released the pressure valve and ran another 12 PSI into the keg until it stopped moving gas into the keg. I then disconnected the gas. It has been sitting around 65ish deg F. Will this be a problem?

  3. I will be putting the keg into the fridge and reconnecting the gas at that point to carb it up. Planning on rolling the keg 2-3 times a day until the final 2 days (to allow the beer to settle). Can I expect the beer to be carbed up within that timeframe? (Assuming I follow the temperature/pressure tables appropriately)

Thanks for the help!

2

  1. Shouldn’t be a problem. It depends on the integrity of the lids. I would fill them as late as possible

  2. no.

  3. If you shake the keg a couple times a day while it is at the serving pressure you should be carbonated. You could start carbonating it while it is sitting at 65*. Just reference the carbonation chart for the numbers.

3

If you use the white metal growler caps with the caulk like bead of sealant around the perimeter of the cap, they will stay carbed for a month or more. The black plastic caps with the plastic insert suck and sometimes only last a day or two.

4

I have also had very good luck using the white metal growler caps. While I’ve never had one setting around for a month, I’ve had no issues with carbonation for well over a week.

5

So, how long did you actually leave it hooked up at 12 psi? I find that my kegs take a couple weeks to carbonate at 12 psi. I don’t shake or roll them though.

6

El Capitan - It was only hooked up at 12 PSI basically to keep the keg pressurized and then I removed the gas. It sat that way for about a week.

7

So the fridge got real cold literally overnight. I had hooked up the keg to the gas, and noticed that when I set the PSI to 12, the gauge showed that there was 12 PSI to the keg, but in the cylinder, the amount was 0.

I turned up the pressure a bit (to 15 PSI) and heard gas moving into keg for about 15 seconds and then it stopped. I’m guessing this is because the pressure equalized.

Since I heard the gas actually moving and then stop, I am assuming 2 things:

  1. there is actually gas in the cylinder
  2. there is no leak because I couldn’t hear any gas moving after the 15 seconds (so the pressure should be equalized, I would guess)

Here are the questions (and concerns):

  1. Is this a valid assumption?
  2. How can I tell when my CO2 tank is empty - if the gauge shows 0? (I do realize that the PSI would go down in the tank due to the temp of the gas)

Thanks for the help!

8

Sounds like you may have a faulty gauge on the high side. Yes if you turn up the pressure and you hear gas going into the keg, there is gas in the tank.

You could still have a leak. A very small one will let enough gas escape to drain the tank but not enough to hear it. It may take several days for the tank to go dry. Other than spraying down all connections with starsan and looking for bubbles, you can close the valve on the tank and watch the low side gauge overnight to see if it drops.

The high pressure gauge will remain at the same reading until right before the tank is empty.

To tell when it’s getting close to empty you can: 1) weigh the tank. 2) take the tank out of the fridge and look for the condensation line or if out side the fridge, spray some hot water on the tank to see the level.