Post
by chalmers » Sat Jun 08, 2013 11:00 am
Welcome to the wonderful world of kegging!
Filling: Fill the keg to just below the gas-in diptube level, to reduce the chance of beer getting into that line, and back into your regulator (messy stuff, has happened to me previously). Some folks will trim that tube to increase the volume the keg can hold, or ignore it, and just get the keg as full as possible.
Purge the headspace of air: Put on the top, then pressurize the keg to 30psi. Pull the pressure relief pin for 0.5sec to allow the air/CO2 mixture to escape. Repeat this a couple of times so that the headspace is now all* CO2.
Carbonating: There are a few schools of thought here: (a) carbonate like you would in bottles, by adding priming sugar to the keg, and allow the suspended yeast do the work for you at room temperature, (b) force carbonate quickly, by setting the regulator to 30psi (or so, depending on beer style and temperature), and rocking and rolling the keg around for 5min to assist with the CO2 dissolution (really should be chilled to do this), (c) set the regulator to the serving pressure (maybe 12psi, again depending on beer style and temperature, and length/diameter of beer line), and leave it for a week or so. I use option (c).
Serving: Set the pressure to ~12psi (see above), and serve!
A fridge is not strictly required, however the cold temp will increase CO2 dissolution into your beer (and clarity, as suspended yeast will drop out), and speed up the carbonation process.
Kegged beer, with CO2 in the headspace, can last for months. The yeast will still be active (room temperature, remember), so you need to be prepared for what that might do to your beer.
