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New to kegging

Occor

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I read all the articles on force carbonation.  I plan on force carbonating my keg (2.5 gal with a pilsner) for 3 days at 13 psi.  My question is twofold:
Should I leave the regulator set at 13 psi once its done or do I lower to say 9-10 psi to serve?    Second question is do you leave the valve to the keg open or do you shut if off when you're not pouring from the keg?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Lastly, are there any rules on whether the tank/regulator should be in the fridge or outside of the fridge?
 
I plan on force carbonating my keg (2.5 gal with a pilsner) for 3 days at 13 psi.

It may take longer than that, especially at that pressure. Many people force carbonate at 20 psi or more.

Should I leave the regulator set at 13 psi once its done or do I lower to say 9-10 psi to serve?

Generally you store it at the pressure required to maintain the desired level of carbonation.

Second question is do you leave the valve to the keg open or do you shut if off when you're not pouring from the keg?

I don't trust the seals in my system, so I close everything up when not in use. If you are confident that you have no gas leaks, leave it open.

Lastly, are there any rules on whether the tank/regulator should be in the fridge or outside of the fridge?

My regulator doesn't regulate anymore because I left it in the fridge and allowed water to condense in and on it, which then oxidized the metal.  I would definitely say to keep it outside. Then again if you live in an arid area that may not matter.
 
I keep mine pressurized all the time so I do not shut the valve. I have a 4 keg setup so I do close the valve to any empty stations. I used to keep the CO2 bottle inside the keggar, but it would make it difficult to adjust pressure so I moved it to the outside and I'm happier with it there.
 
Slobrew said:
I keep mine pressurized all the time so I do not shut the valve. I have a 4 keg setup so I do close the valve to any empty stations. I used to keep the CO2 bottle inside the keggar, but it would make it difficult to adjust pressure so I moved it to the outside and I'm happier with it there.
This is exactly my situation also.  With the keezer "collar", I just drilled a hole in the collar to run the gas line thru.
 
You didn't mention how many volumes you want to carbonate to or what temperature you are carbonating at. A lager by style has 2.3 volumes of CO2. You can find this information on the Fermentation Tab on Beersmith. I use a Forced Carbonation Chart to determine the CO2 psi to use. I leave the keg at the determined psi for one week. You have to watch it for the first few days because as the CO2 is absorbed the pressure drops and you have to tweek it a little. I have attached the chart I use.
 

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