Kegging

Hi there,

Just bought my first cornelius keg and i understand that i have to keep in in fridge at 39f with a co2 pressure of 13psi for few weeks in order to carbonate properly my homebrew....
My question is i have to purge the co2 and lower to serving pressure (5psi) in order to acheive a good poor without to much foam now once im done my "drinking" do i bump my pressure back up to 13 or i leave it at 5psi ??
I know for some it must be a dumb question but i dont want to end up with a flat beer  or undercarbonated in few months....

Thanks

I pour at 5-10 PSI.  It doesn't take a few weeks to carbonate a beer with forced CO2.  I cold crash over night and then roll/shake like a baby at 40 PSI for 1 minute.  Drop it to 25-30 psi for a few hours, vent and pressurize to pouring pressure and try it. 

IMO.

Mark

Sounds like you may want to look into balancing your system. What I mean by that is the length of your beer line, along with the keg pressure and temperature of the system components all have an impact on how well your beer stays carbonated, and how well it serves.

I run a kegerator with two taps, and it stays right around 38-40 F. My cornies are held at right around 12-14 psi for my average ales, and my lines are 10 feet long which, for me, provides just enough resistance to properly serve my beer AND keep it properly carbonated until the keg is empty.

There are plenty of documents on the web about balancing your system and what it all means. There you will learn about line resistance and pressures, temperatures, and why - when all is perfectly balanced - your first pint still foams like crazy (it could be because your tap is at room temperature, and the rest of the system, line-keg-beer, is at 38 F - such a change in temperature can cause the CO2 to come out of solution).

Force carbonating can take as little as an hour or two, or can take as long as a week or two - it all depends on how you choose to do it. Me? I take a little more time than Mark, but his method is very popular among those that can't wait to tap into that fresh brew, and works just as well as any other. After I rack to the keg, I'll put it on 35 psi for two days at 38-40 F, then I'll drop to 12-15 psi, burp the kegs, and only then do I hook up the dispense lines (I don't like my chances leaving the taps sitting at 35 psi...)

Read up, play with the line length and temperatuers, and see what works for your system. There shouldn't be any reason to change the pressure in your keg for serving vs. where it normally sits.

Thanks a lot, now i need to get few more feet of beer line and try again

I'm with Phil, I often serve at above 10 psi without issues. 

Every once in a while, if a batch starts to get a bit over carbonated, I'll just close the shutoff valve on that keg and pour glasses off the pressure in the keg for a few days until it gets back to where I want it to be, then open the valve back up again.

I get sick of reading about how to keg beer. This is my 23 year old method and it has never, ever, failed me. It is simple and it works every time. Take a look.
 
http://freakbrothershomebrew.blogspot.com/2007/10/dont-believe-al-gore-co2-is-good-thing.html

Just fill your kegs, hook up the CO2 tank, hit it with 50psi, pull the pop-it to displace the oxygen, stand it cross ways on another empty keg (keep it at 50psi, turned on the whole time), rock it back and forth about 30-40 times (60-80 if you count left and right), throw it in the fridge and drink the damn thing tomorrow. If you have too much pressure, pull the pop-it and drain some. If not enough, hit it at 50 psi for a second or 2. If it is too flat, pull it out and give it a couple more rocks. I never have to do that because 30-40 rocks is always perfect.

Whatever you do, don't leave the gas on 24/7. Pour a beer and if the pressure gets a bit low, hit it a second or 2 with 50 psi. I never leave my gas on. If you have a leak it will all drain out and you are screwed. Captain of controversy.

My brewing partner is a total beer geek (like me) and, he has studied this stuff until the end of time. This guy is a freaking engineer. He has no idea why my method works better than his does (he comes over to brew and I send him home with one of the 3 kegs we make). He does his thing, I do mine. He always says my beer (same batch) is much better carbonated than his. Call me a simpleton or an idiot. My method works better than his. His method is just like all the other ones you hear about on here. This is homebrew, not micro brew or, commercial brew. We don't have long beer lines wrapped in glycol running all over a building. It runs from inside your fridge to outside your fridge. About a foot and a half at best. Just keep it simple. 23 years. Never fails.

One more question regarding kegging, i set my pressure on my warm co2 tank but once I put it in fridge and the gas cools down the pressure drops... so should I bump it up or leave it at a pressure that was perfect when my co2 was warm..??

Water condenses onto metal in a fridge. I keep my tank and regulator outside.

The regulator will control the pressure no matter hot or cold but you are better off plumbing the tank out of the kegerator.I crank it to 40psi shake it once in a while ready in a day or so ,blow it off ,I leave it at about 4 psi set it and forget it leave the has on check for leaks with a dishwashing liquid water solution And forget it.Keep it simplest