Hi I've just started brewing in a 50litre commercial keg. My first keg came out like ice cream and the beer was flat i carbed using sugar?? Not sure if I put too much or not enough. The next keg I forced carbed it by a friend recommendation when I poured it it was great then a few days later I poured it it was flat and had a ice cream head. Any help out there to get me on the right track ??
New brewer 50 ltr keg
- Thread starter mattpmq
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For a 19 litre keg I find the following works well for carbonating.
Chill keg of beer to 4 deg.
Once cold apply 200 kpa of gas for 48 hours which is slightly undercarbed.
Turn gas down to 80 kpa for dispensing, which is enough pressure to top up the carbonation and to keep your desired amount of co2 in solution.
Seeing as a 50 litre keg has more surface area that a 19 litre they are going to absorb co2 faster so you will have to experiment a bit and cut down the pressure and time.
If you start on the low side and undercarb, when you reduce the pressure to serving pressure the carbonation will increase to what you want over a few days but not overcarb.
I would try maybe 200 kpa for 36 hours and see how it goes. If it takes too long to reach carbonation when you turn it down to serving pressure, try a bit higher/longer next time.
Dispensing.
You want to dispense at enough pressure to keep the co2 in solution. 80kpa is generally good for what you are doing.
The trouble is, I would imagine if you poured at this pressure with 1 metre of 6mm line, the beer would hit the bottom of the glass at such speed it could take your eye out. Therefore you need to increase the length and/or decrease the diameter to give enough resistance to slow the beer down so it pours properly. 2 metres of 4mm ID works good. (That's assuming you don't have a flow control tap).
This will give you a balanced system.
CO2 and keg balancing spreadsheets like you find here are a good tool.
Chill keg of beer to 4 deg.
Once cold apply 200 kpa of gas for 48 hours which is slightly undercarbed.
Turn gas down to 80 kpa for dispensing, which is enough pressure to top up the carbonation and to keep your desired amount of co2 in solution.
Seeing as a 50 litre keg has more surface area that a 19 litre they are going to absorb co2 faster so you will have to experiment a bit and cut down the pressure and time.
If you start on the low side and undercarb, when you reduce the pressure to serving pressure the carbonation will increase to what you want over a few days but not overcarb.
I would try maybe 200 kpa for 36 hours and see how it goes. If it takes too long to reach carbonation when you turn it down to serving pressure, try a bit higher/longer next time.
Dispensing.
You want to dispense at enough pressure to keep the co2 in solution. 80kpa is generally good for what you are doing.
The trouble is, I would imagine if you poured at this pressure with 1 metre of 6mm line, the beer would hit the bottom of the glass at such speed it could take your eye out. Therefore you need to increase the length and/or decrease the diameter to give enough resistance to slow the beer down so it pours properly. 2 metres of 4mm ID works good. (That's assuming you don't have a flow control tap).
This will give you a balanced system.
CO2 and keg balancing spreadsheets like you find here are a good tool.
