Need some advise force carb

[Elvish]

Hey folks, I am new to kegging and today all my parts have arrived and will be kegging my first batch just after some advise. I have racked the beer into my 50lt keg and connected the spear, circlip, coupler and gassline connected to my Co2 bottle through the mk2 reg. I am force carbonating it at room temp so the liquid is roughly 27degrees celsius. At this tempreture using a carbonation chart I will need to apply 33 psi.
How do I accurately set the regulator to 33 psi? And how can I tell what the pressure is inside the keg to indicate when its finished carbonating? Are you supposed to turn the gas on at the bottle and set the regulator to the required psi, turn the gas bottle on and then just walk away? It seems to me if I have the keg taped and beer line assembled with a picnic tap on the end the pressure on the regulator just goes up and up until it go's over 50 psi and goes out it's pin. I might be doing something wrong but this is the first time I've done this isn't really making sense. Another note why are there two gauges on the regulator? Thanks in advance

 

[Darkman]

Hey folks, I am new to kegging and today all my parts have arrived and will be kegging my first batch just after some advise. I have racked the beer into my 50lt keg and connected the spear, circlip, coupler and gassline connected to my Co2 bottle through the mk2 reg. I am force carbonating it at room temp so the liquid is roughly 27degrees celsius. At this tempreture using a carbonation chart I will need to apply 33 psi.
How do I accurately set the regulator to 33 psi? And how can I tell what the pressure is inside the keg to indicate when its finished carbonating? Are you supposed to turn the gas on at the bottle and set the regulator to the required psi, turn the gas bottle on and then just walk away? It seems to me if I have the keg taped and beer line assembled with a picnic tap on the end the pressure on the regulator just goes up and up until it go's over 50 psi and goes out it's pin. I might be doing something wrong but this is the first time I've done this isn't really making sense. Another note why are there two gauges on the regulator? Thanks in advance

You can control the PSI going into your keg by adjusting the dial on you reg. As for for carbing the beer it best to cool down the beer first since c02 will absorb into the beer easier this way. The process I follow is to stick the keg(20L) into the fridge overnight then attach the gas at 40psi and rock the keg for about 1 minute then turn the gas off and rock for another min or so. You may need to adjust the times since you are carbing 50L. I think Keg King have posted the proceedure on their website also.

 

[Wortgames]

I assume you are using an inline chiller, I really can't comment on appropriate pressures but I can explain how to use a regulator.

First make sure you aren't going to push keg pressure back into the regulator (you should have a one way valve in the line, if not, vent the keg). Now back the regulator right off (anticlockwise) and hook it up, turn up the dial a bit and wait for the needle to stop moving. Turn it up a bit more, and so on. The gauge will always read low while the keg is taking gas, the needle is only accurate when the pressure has stabilised. Creep it up to your target pressure a bit at a time so you don't overshoot.

The second gauge is the high side, it will stay the same as long as there is liquid CO2 in the cylinder. When it starts to drop, you are on vapour and need a refill.

 

[Elvish]

How can i tell the pressure that is already in the keg? And when its done? That is what I pretty much I have been doing wortgames but it doesnt seem to stabalise, like the needle stops swaying but then starts just slowly increasing. Am i supposed to leave the gas on once I reach the target or turn the gass bottle off and let it sit at the right pressure?

 

[Elvish]

And wortgames when you explained how to use a regulator you said turn it right off (anticlockwise) then hook it up, do i have to turn the gas on or can i just connect it to the bottle and select a pressure with the gas still been off?

 

[Wortgames]

Aah, if you already have pressure in the keg then all bets are off. If it's already higher than you want then you need to vent some gas out to get it below your target.

BTW I assume you have a proper beer regulator, not a cheap flow regulator from eBay or an aquarium shop etc?

With the knob turned all the way to the left, little or no gas will come out. As you turn it clockwise it will increase the pressure. You can do this with or without the keg connected, as long as it 'sees' the back-pressure the needle will tell you what pressure the reg is set to. The gas bottle needs to be connected and turned on, otherwise the reg will have no pressure to read. Your inline valve should prevent the gauge reading the keg pressure.

Generally you leave the regulator hooked up. No gas flows once the target pressure is reached. When you draw some beer off, the pressure drops slightly, and the reg allows gas to flow to make up the difference.

'Force carbing' is a technique for speeding the process with flat beer - you crank the pressure really high and shake the keg for a few minutes to get some fizz into the beer then you back it off to your normal pressure. Otherwise it can take a few days for a keg to carbonate properly.

 

[fcmcg]

Elvish....
Do some research on the Ross method....
It's here and its good reading...
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/8535-ross-method-of-forced-carbonation-of-kegs/


oh...and its called ADVICE

 

[thedragon]

Elvish, have a look at the keg king web site. They have published a step by step guide to force carbing which should tell you all you need to know.

Actually, here's a link:

Http://www.kegking.com.au/Force%20Carbonating%20Your%20Beer.html

The info provided by KK helped me when I started out. But now I just use the set and forget method where I attach a full keg at serving pressure for about a week or two prior to drinking.

 

[Wortgames]

Elvish, I just read your OP again. Can you give us a bit more info about your setup? You should only be looking at pressure charts for your beer storage temperature. If you are planning to chill the whole keg, don't be looking at charts yet. If you are using an inline chiller like a temprite then use your chart.

I think maybe you are getting confused between balancing and force carbing?

 

[Elvish]

Yes I am using a keg king mk2 multi gas regulator.

"With the knob turned all the way to the left, little or no gas will come out. As you turn it clockwise it will increase the pressure. You can do this with or without the keg connected, as long as it 'sees' the back-pressure the needle will tell you what pressure the reg is set to. The gas bottle needs to be connected and turned on, otherwise the reg will have no pressure to read." - I have tried this but screwing the regulator nob up or down does not change pressure or the needle.. could I have a broken reg or leak?

 

[Elvish]

I want to carbonate my beer and then store it temporally (in room temperature) because I don't have room in a fridge. It will only become chilled on ice and all be consumed at an event.

 

[Wortgames]

Can you get the reg to display zero pressure at all?

 

[Elvish]

Ok im starting again this morning and am following your directions Wortgames, I connect it all up to the keg and set the regulator to 36 psi and tap the keg. Now do I just leave it? What indicated that it has finished force carbonating? Will the pressure drop? or should I just roll the keg around for a set amount of time at this pressure and call it done, if its not fizzy enough adjust the time for next keg. Thanks

 

[Elvish]

I feel as though it might be very overcarbonated haha because after doing that rolling it around vigorously for a minute or so and then turning the gas off the pressure is not dropping at all. I used the release pin on the keg to lower the pressure on the reg to about 10 psi, but it still just pours foam, will it resolve itself after sitting for an hour or so?

 

[Wortgames]

Hi Elvish, you still haven't answered whether 27 degrees is your intended storage temperature or if you are planning to chill the keg. This stuff matters.

Have a look at this article. I actually wrote it a few years ago for the AHB wiki, which is currently offline, but fortunately some kind soul on the interwebs had copied it verbatim:

http://nick.nsjtmw.net/2011/04/balancing-a-draught-system/

Let me know if you still have any questions afterwards and I'll try to help you out.

 

[Elvish]

Sorry that is my intended storing temp which is just room temp at the moment in my garage 24-28.

 

[maldridge]

People should not be recommending any sort of force carbing techniques if this guy can't read or operate his freakin' regulator properly. Honestly it took me a while to figure out my kegerator when I first got it from Keg King, but before I attempted any force carb methods I first made sure I understood how things worked properly.