Re: Kegging
- From: "Wheat" <kotosho@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 15:03:15 -0700
I want to thank everyone for their great advice, comments and links.
I think that this time I will go with setting the psi at the desired level
and let it sit in the refer for about a week.
Next batch I'll try force carbonating.
I live for this! <G>
Bill
--
The Hawke Rides Again!
"Andy McKellar" <mckellar@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:12e9co0c3k78a88@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wheat wrote:
This will be my first attempt at racking and carbonating with a corny
keg. My beer is a fairly mild wheat ale at about 4% alcohol.
If I understand the procedure correctly, it goes something like this:
After racking into the Corny keg and purging the headspace with CO2
before pressurizing, open the pressure-relief valve and set the regulator
to about 30 psi and connect the gas to the IN side of the keg.
Let the gas flow into the keg for about 30 seconds then close the relief
valve.
OK so far. 30 PSI will do a good job of seating the gaskets, which is
what you're after at this point, and also gives you a chance to check
for leaks (use a mildly detergent liquid, BTF solution for example, on
all places where a leak is possible).
When the beer reaches about 50 degrees I would force carbonate by setting
the pressure to 15 psi(??) until I can no longer hear any CO2
gas flow. Then agitate the beer in the keg by gently shaking it several
times a day.
The keg and CO2 will remain in the refer/cooler.
My method is a little different from this point. For one thing, the
right pressure will depend on how cold the beer is and how fizzy you
want it to be (9 PSI works well for me, giving 2 atmospheres at 45F).
The 'recipator' link is good , and there are several charts available in
books and on the web.
Anyway, at this point I start shaking CO2 in. After a few minutes of
shaking, I turn off the gas at the tank and watch the gauges (I have a
2-gauge regulator) as I shake. If the needles drop, I know it's still
absorbing gas, so I turn it back on and keep going. When I get to the
point where, even with the tank turned off, the high pressure side stays
up (about 700 PSI), I know I'm done. This normally takes about 20-30
minutes, depending on how hard I shake.
If you're careful, you can speed the process up considerably by
over-pressurizing about 50% (15 PSI, in my case). The "careful" part is
that you need to check the pressure more frequently, and let the low
side gauge settle (to see just where you are) before turning the gas
back on. When you're getting close to your target pressure, drop the
gauge pressure back down for the last little bit. Using this method,
I'm usually done in 15 minute or less.
Then when the beer is at serving temperature and no more gas is heard
to flow, the beer is ready to drink!
Question: How long will this take to have the beer ready to drink?
Keep in mind that, even though the beer is now pressurized, the flavor
will still benefit from aging; forced carbonation doesn't change this.
The "right" temperature is a personal choice, but in my (limited)
And how can you be sure of the temperature of the beer without dispensing
some of it? What is the best serving temperature of beer?
experience most people prefer light, crisp beers at near freezing and
full-bodied beers at around 45-50 F. The easiest way to check this is
to keep a thermometer in the fridge with your beer. You can find a
reasonably inexpensive, accurate, and sturdy fridge thermometer in the
kitchen department of most department stores.
--
-- Andy McKellar
Dallas, TX
.
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