dicko
Boston Bay Brewery
- Joined
- 11/1/04
- Messages
- 3,393
- Reaction score
- 578
Hi John,
This is a post I put on Grumpys the other night in answer to a similar question,
The method I use is as follows;
I use PSI as I am from the "old school".
1. Refrigerate keg with beer inside - COLDER THE BETTER.
2. Apply pressure from co2 reg, I usually go somewhere between 15 and 20 psi and burp the keg with the pressure relief valve. This pressure could be higher if your fridge does not get really cold or you have long or restricted serving lines. For example, my son in law with the same set up as mine gets his best result gassing at a pressure between 20 and 25 psi. This is more than likely due to my fridge being a bit colder than his.
3. Turn the keg on its side and roll the keg backwards and forwards until you can not hear or feel any more CO2 going into the keg. I do this by rolling the keg on a bar stool close to the fridge door.
4.Remove the ball lock fitting from the "in" post of the keg, stand the keg upright and vent the pressure relief valve to let the pressure out of the keg. ( This is important )
5.Put the keg into the fridge and fit both the "in" and the "out" lines and serve your beer.
( Don't touch the pressure on the guage )
This whole procedure with an 18 litre keg usually takes about 15 minutes.
Each system is slightly different and you need to get the feel for your system.
The main variables from each system are usually the temperature of the fridge and the beer in the keg at gassing and the size and length of the beer line from the keg to the beer tap.
THE IDEA OF A BALANCED SYSTEM IS TO HAVE THE SERVING PRESSURE EQUAL TO THE CARBONATION PRESSURE THAT EXISTS INSIDE THE KEG.
You may find that if you leave the keg sit under pressure during periods when you are not drinking or serving, then the keg may gain a little extra carbonation.
If this occurrs you can let a bit of pressure from the pressure relief valve or just turn the pressure off to the keg and continue serving until it balances again.
I try to turn the pressure off if I am not using or serving and this helps to prevent the beer over-carbonating and also stops you losing all the CO2 if you have a leak.
If you use the above method and you find that the beer is either under or over carbonated for your liking, just adjust the initial gassing pressure accordingly to achieve the desired result.
As I said, each system varies and it is only with trial and error that you will get it to your requirements.
I hoped this has helped you to gas and enjoy your first draught home brew.
Cheers.
B B B.
To follow on;
John I assume that you are working the beer tap correctly and that you are tilting the glass etc as you serve and if so the info below may help as well.
I made some major improvement to my system by changing the beer tap line to 3.2mm ID.
By doing this it means that you can serve at a higher pressure to compensate for the correct carbonation in lagers and light ales and you dont have to have many metres of line to compensate for the pressure in the keg.
My serving line would only be 4 to 5 feet long.
What I found with the 5mm line that was originally supplied with my first keg that it constantly got gas build up in the line and the only way to compensate for this was to turn the pressure up. Most people try to turn the pressure down when they have trouble and it will not fix the problem.
Unfortunately when you turn the pressure up with a 5mm line that is not long enough to balance the system then you can't serve properly because the beer comes out too fast.
Now the next thing I am going to say may cause some posts of dissagreement but this is what I have found and it works for me, so here goes.
Shaking the keg for a number of times does not, unless you are absolutely lucky,
carbonate the keg at the serving pressure, but if you set the pressure on the regulator and then carbonate the keg the way I described above and that is carbonate and serve without changing the regulator then the carbonation must equal the serving pressure.
If you choose to try the above method you will note that when you start rolling the keg from side to side you can actually feel and hear the CO2 going into the keg and when all feeling and noise like bubbles stop then you have carbonated the beer to the pressure that you have chosen on the regulator.
If you try my method I would be inclined to start at say 18 PSI and see how it all goes. If you still have problem with foaming after the first glass then you need to pay attention to the line size or length of the beer line as it will not have enough restriction for serving correctly.
Beer will continue to absorb CO2 as it sits in the keg if you are not serving for a long period so note what I said earlier about turning the gas off when not in use.
Like wise if the beer is slightly under carbonated you can turn the pressure up by say two PSI and leave it overnight and the beer will absorb the extra CO2.
Small amounts are good!!
Each system needs to have the correct balance and I achieved a good result with mine by fitting that smaller beer line, I have seen others put a long 5 mm line in the fridge but metres of line in the fridge is a real pain particularly once you have more than one tap and keg.
Remember also that different beer styles have different levels of carbonation and with this method you can serve it how it should be served.
I feel the method I use is quick, easy and accurate and works well.
I hope this helps you John so if you try it let us know how it goes!
Cheers
This is a post I put on Grumpys the other night in answer to a similar question,
The method I use is as follows;
I use PSI as I am from the "old school".
1. Refrigerate keg with beer inside - COLDER THE BETTER.
2. Apply pressure from co2 reg, I usually go somewhere between 15 and 20 psi and burp the keg with the pressure relief valve. This pressure could be higher if your fridge does not get really cold or you have long or restricted serving lines. For example, my son in law with the same set up as mine gets his best result gassing at a pressure between 20 and 25 psi. This is more than likely due to my fridge being a bit colder than his.
3. Turn the keg on its side and roll the keg backwards and forwards until you can not hear or feel any more CO2 going into the keg. I do this by rolling the keg on a bar stool close to the fridge door.
4.Remove the ball lock fitting from the "in" post of the keg, stand the keg upright and vent the pressure relief valve to let the pressure out of the keg. ( This is important )
5.Put the keg into the fridge and fit both the "in" and the "out" lines and serve your beer.
( Don't touch the pressure on the guage )
This whole procedure with an 18 litre keg usually takes about 15 minutes.
Each system is slightly different and you need to get the feel for your system.
The main variables from each system are usually the temperature of the fridge and the beer in the keg at gassing and the size and length of the beer line from the keg to the beer tap.
THE IDEA OF A BALANCED SYSTEM IS TO HAVE THE SERVING PRESSURE EQUAL TO THE CARBONATION PRESSURE THAT EXISTS INSIDE THE KEG.
You may find that if you leave the keg sit under pressure during periods when you are not drinking or serving, then the keg may gain a little extra carbonation.
If this occurrs you can let a bit of pressure from the pressure relief valve or just turn the pressure off to the keg and continue serving until it balances again.
I try to turn the pressure off if I am not using or serving and this helps to prevent the beer over-carbonating and also stops you losing all the CO2 if you have a leak.
If you use the above method and you find that the beer is either under or over carbonated for your liking, just adjust the initial gassing pressure accordingly to achieve the desired result.
As I said, each system varies and it is only with trial and error that you will get it to your requirements.
I hoped this has helped you to gas and enjoy your first draught home brew.
Cheers.
B B B.
To follow on;
John I assume that you are working the beer tap correctly and that you are tilting the glass etc as you serve and if so the info below may help as well.
I made some major improvement to my system by changing the beer tap line to 3.2mm ID.
By doing this it means that you can serve at a higher pressure to compensate for the correct carbonation in lagers and light ales and you dont have to have many metres of line to compensate for the pressure in the keg.
My serving line would only be 4 to 5 feet long.
What I found with the 5mm line that was originally supplied with my first keg that it constantly got gas build up in the line and the only way to compensate for this was to turn the pressure up. Most people try to turn the pressure down when they have trouble and it will not fix the problem.
Unfortunately when you turn the pressure up with a 5mm line that is not long enough to balance the system then you can't serve properly because the beer comes out too fast.
Now the next thing I am going to say may cause some posts of dissagreement but this is what I have found and it works for me, so here goes.
Shaking the keg for a number of times does not, unless you are absolutely lucky,
carbonate the keg at the serving pressure, but if you set the pressure on the regulator and then carbonate the keg the way I described above and that is carbonate and serve without changing the regulator then the carbonation must equal the serving pressure.
If you choose to try the above method you will note that when you start rolling the keg from side to side you can actually feel and hear the CO2 going into the keg and when all feeling and noise like bubbles stop then you have carbonated the beer to the pressure that you have chosen on the regulator.
If you try my method I would be inclined to start at say 18 PSI and see how it all goes. If you still have problem with foaming after the first glass then you need to pay attention to the line size or length of the beer line as it will not have enough restriction for serving correctly.
Beer will continue to absorb CO2 as it sits in the keg if you are not serving for a long period so note what I said earlier about turning the gas off when not in use.
Like wise if the beer is slightly under carbonated you can turn the pressure up by say two PSI and leave it overnight and the beer will absorb the extra CO2.
Small amounts are good!!
Each system needs to have the correct balance and I achieved a good result with mine by fitting that smaller beer line, I have seen others put a long 5 mm line in the fridge but metres of line in the fridge is a real pain particularly once you have more than one tap and keg.
Remember also that different beer styles have different levels of carbonation and with this method you can serve it how it should be served.
I feel the method I use is quick, easy and accurate and works well.
I hope this helps you John so if you try it let us know how it goes!
Cheers
