Few newbie kegging questions

[TimG]

So have my first kegged beer on tap and have a few questions. The general setup is as follows:

- Keezer with temp controller (sitting at a nice steady 4deg C). Highly reccomend the simple $25 ebay aquarium temp controllers, really simple to wire up and they work great.
- Couple of 19L kegs
- 20# CO2 tank with regulator
- ~4-5' of 3/16" line and picnic tap (have a tower but don't have that hooked up yet)

Questions:

(1) From the net I know I want to carb the beer around 11 psi. Chilled the keg overnight and let it sit @ 11 psi for 2-3 days but it wasn't carbing up, so I got impatient (wanted my beer!) and did the 30 psi + rolling back and forth method. I think I over carb'ed it now, because having trouble dispensing without a bunch of foam (reg back to 11 psi and fully opening tap right away). Reccomended procedure to fix my screw up?

(2) The gas in ball lock connector on my keg leaks a bit with ~10 psi of pressure on it (holds some pressure though). Guessing the little seal on the poppet valve inside is bad. Where can I get a replacement seal?

Any other tips/suggestions for this newbie kegger are more than welcome.

Cheers

Tim

[Garak]

Try Dropping your serving pressure down to 5-7psi.

[Jmac00]

1. After you force carbed it at 30psi, did you disconnect the gas line and purge your keg? you need to purge first, drop your reg pressure down, then re-attach. If its still overcarbed, keep purging small amounts or dispense at lower psi. Also, lengthing your line will help as well, i usually use at least 10'...but for ppl using shorter lines like your's, they use those mixer tubes from mcmaster-carr as they go inside the diptube and add resistance to cut down on the foaming.....adding longer lines though sort of do the same thing.

2. You'll need a new poppet. If you have a good seal on the post o-ring (keg lube would help too) it should hold pressure...or even using some lube on the poppet itself should help as well, that's what i usually do.

[Jmac00]

Highly reccomend the simple $25 ebay aquarium temp controllers, really simple to wire up and they work great.

Been thinking of pulling the trigger on one of those....which seller did you go with? the guy in ONT or the one overseas?

[NASH]

Try Dropping your serving pressure down to 5-7psi.

Dropping line pressure will cause MORE gas breakout in the line with over carbonated beer.

You need to de-carb my friend. Relieve all pressure from the keg, leave sealed, shake, test pour. Repeat as needed.

Fyi this also scrubs volatiles from the beer, generally not something you want to do.

You'll be a pro at carb'ing in no time I'm sure. Also, under 11 psi head pressure you're prolly looking at a good week for the CO2 to dissolve down to the bottom of the keg.


Sent from the hop-phone.

[TimG]

Ok, so when I relieve all pressure might I potentially have oxygen sitting above my beer? So I should be setting the reg at 11 psi for the test pour and just repeat this process (removing gas line when not doing test pour)?

Will my 5' of 3/16" beer line work at 11 psi (and 4C)?

Scrubbing the volatiles is a bit over my head.. but I take it this isn't 'ruining' my beer?

Reccomended carb'ing procedure next time is just 11 psi and wait a week or more?

Thanks guys.

TIm

[TimG]

Highly reccomend the simple $25 ebay aquarium temp controllers, really simple to wire up and they work great.

Been thinking of pulling the trigger on one of those....which seller did you go with? the guy in ONT or the one overseas?

Hong Kong guy, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0653320710" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Landmart.

Shipping took over 3 weeks I think.. but works as advertised.

Tim

[Jmac00]

Hong Kong guy, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0653320710" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Landmart.

Shipping took over 3 weeks I think.. but works as advertised.

Tim

What was the total cost to your door? i'm not in a rush so i can wait 3 weeks no prob....just wondering if any hidden fees with the oversees shipping? one in ONT is $25+$11 for shipping.

[CorneliusAlphonse]

I also just finished setting up one of the aquarium controllers. it was a breeze, and works great. cost about 27 total from a guy in hong kong. dis take a while to ship, 3-4 weeks.

[TimG]

Yup, about $27 (no hidden fees).

Tim

[Jmac00]

Sweet!! will ordering one soon i think.

[NASH]

Ok, so when I relieve all pressure might I potentially have oxygen sitting above my beer? So I should be setting the reg at 11 psi for the test pour and just repeat this process (removing gas line when not doing test pour)?

Will my 5' of 3/16" beer line work at 11 psi (and 4C)?

Scrubbing the volatiles is a bit over my head.. but I take it this isn't 'ruining' my beer?

Reccomended carb'ing procedure next time is just 11 psi and wait a week or more?

Thanks guys.

TIm

I forgot to mention that I agree with J on the longer choker (3/16") line, 8 or 10 feet will serve you better on a thumb-tap

You're not ruining your beer, but removing some of the delicate aromas.

Nothing wrong with force carb'ing, just don't over do it! FYI, the fuller the keg is the longer force carb'ing will take, it can happen real fast with some good head space in there.

[NASH]

Ok, so when I relieve all pressure might I potentially have oxygen sitting above my beer? So I should be setting the reg at 11 psi for the test pour and just repeat this process (removing gas line when not doing test pour)?

No O2 will be on your beer, Molecular weight of CO2 is 44 and only 32 for O2 so you'd literally need to blow the blanket of CO2 out of the head space with air/O2 to remove it. or leave it open to the air for a good length of time, like days, gases will always equalize over time.

And yes, pressurize back to the 11psi for the test pour, remove the gas line to depressurize. You may need to degas via prv valve after a shake, a few times. Look at it sort of like a bottle of pop, if you shake the pop then release the pressure and recap then shake again...... It really all depends on how much beer/head space is in the keg. If there isn't much head space you may run into problems with foam coming out when you try to release pressure after a shake. You'll get a feel for it over time if you over carbonate as many times as I have

[TimG]

Roger that on the CO2, makes lots of sense (and I sorta clue'd in when I did the purging a bit last night/this morning). No worries about head space, I have served myself up a few (more than a couple) foamy pints already.

Thanks again folks

[RubberToe]

Hong Kong guy, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0653320710" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Landmart.

Shipping took over 3 weeks I think.. but works as advertised.

Tim

What was the total cost to your door? i'm not in a rush so i can wait 3 weeks no prob....just wondering if any hidden fees with the oversees shipping? one in ONT is $25+$11 for shipping.

BTW, I have one of these also and it works great. I have another on the way for a fermentation chamber. They're two stage as well. My first one cost me $30 to the door last year, this one was $27 as well. I purchased both of mine from a seller named quality_link_2000 http://myworld.ebay.ca/quality_link2000 ... 4340.l2559" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

-Rob

[TimG]

I forgot to mention that I agree with J on the longer choker (3/16") line, 8 or 10 feet will serve you better on a thumb-tap

Ok guys, I'm going to make a trek to Burnside to get some more hose. I have two taps:

(1) Above mentioned thumb-tap, from advice above I should be shooting for 10' of hose for this one.

(2) Single tower tap, not sure of the details but looks like a pretty typical tap size.. what length of hose should I get for this one (currently it only has 4' or so and is terrible.. comes out WAY too fast)

Also, just ask for food grade 3/16" line (I'll tell them I'm using it for a home kegging setup).

Thanks

[LiverDance]

If your serving them from the same pressure they should be the same lenght. Rule of thumb is 1 ft of hose for every 2psi

[TimG]

Oh ok, for some reason I was under the impression that I should treat a thumb-tap different than a tower tap.

Thanks

[mr x]

I'd buy 12 feet at that price and hack it down if needed.

[TimG]

You're suggesting start with 12 feet per tap (24' total) and trim as required to get them where I want them?

Or did you mean start with 6' each..?

Nash, anything these guys have I might want to pick up while I'm over there.. that'd be handy for future brewing/kegging.. just all around useful shit?

Tim

[mr x]

12' per tap.

[RubberToe]

Yeah 12' or so. I did 13' for 12-13 psi with my picnic thumb taps and now I'm doing the same with the perlicks. I think I could go a bit shorter now but I get a good pour and no foaming (nor did I then).

[ratchet]

you can always shorten the lines and add a bayonette (the mixer tube from McMaster) in the diptubes... that's what I did, it works perfectly fine for me (I'm using thumb-taps as well, with ~5' of line)

[RubberToe]

you can always shorten the lines and add a bayonette (the mixer tube from McMaster) in the diptubes... that's what I did, it works perfectly fine for me (I'm using thumb-taps as well, with ~5' of line)

Cool, I saw the HBT thread on that and I might try it sometime.

[mr x]

We picked up some on a group order. I have one or two extra you can try if you like.