Brand spanking new to kegging

[808brew]

Found a catalog online that is pretty comprehensive in draft parts and pieces to give you ideas on potential kegging setups.

http://www.foxxequipment.com/cart/pic/beerbook.pdf

BCMaui
Nice inventory of stuff. Have you bought anything from the to know how the pricing is?

[Bugeater]

It is my understanding that Fox equipment is a wholesale place. You will need to have your LHBS order for you.

Wayne

[Spurtrax]

Ok, so let me get this straight.

I keg my beer at 40 degrees and want 2.5 volumes of CO2 and set my regulator at 12 psi.

How long should I leave it? Will the keg equalize its preasure when it is full or will it overcarbonate the longer I leave the tank on?

Can I unhook my CO2 tank? Will the keg stay at 2.5 volumes or do I need to keep it hooked up? Can I unhook it for awhile and every so often give it another dose of CO2 to fill the headspace?

[Bugeater]

How long do you leave it? It will take a week to 10 days to carbonate fully like that. There are a number of ways to shorten that and I am sure a bunch of folks will chime in with their method. Some methods are good and others are suspect.

When the beer gets to the target carbonation level it will stay there until you change the temperature or pressure. When that happens it will equalize at a carbonation level determined by the new temp/pressure. It won't over carbonate if you leave it hooked up. I hook mine up and leave it until the keg is empty. If all your gas connections are good, this won't give you any problems.

If you unhook the CO2, the carbonation level will remain constant unless you pour some beer from the keg. This effectively lowers the pressure and the beer will equalize at a lower carbonation level. If you get into the habit of disconnecting the gas and then hooking it back up when the pour slows, your carbonation level will be constantly changing. When the pour slows, CO2 is coming out of solution and you are losing carbonation. When you hit it with a shot of CO2, you are filling the head space with gas, but it takes some time to dissolve back into the beer. Thus you get a good pour, but your beer is flat. Leaving it hooked up guarantees a good glass of beer every time.

You can leave the keg unhooked as long as you want as long as you are not pouring with the gas unhooked. Once you have the beer carbonated to the proper level, you can even store the keg at or near room temperature for a while if needed with no ill effects. Just make sure you don't try to pour from it until you have chilled it back down to the correct temperature.

Wayne

[Spurtrax]

Thanks for the clarificaton Bugeater.

Does anyone know how to make a CO2 distribution manifold cheaper than $40?

[Bugeater]

Thanks for the clarificaton Bugeater.

Does anyone know how to make a CO2 distribution manifold cheaper than $40?

http://morebeer.com/view_product/16400/ ... id_Plastic

You can also get the same thing in brass at almost any hardware store.

Wayne

[Nyakavt]

As for cheap CO2 manifolds, look for air tool couplers/manifolds/splitters. Harbor freight used to carry a 4 port manifold for $1.99, but that appears to be discontinued (still available on amazon but for nearly $4). They also have this manifold for $10, which comes with some quick connect air fittings that can be removed and replaced with 1/4" flare check valves (about $2.50 each at NB), or shutoff valves with intergrated check valves if you want to get spendy (which may drive the price back up to the $40 range).

Another good alternative are air manifolds for aquariums, which are nothing more than a tube with a bunch of valves in it. For these you'd need inline check valves to prevent gas mixing or liquid backup. You could also just buy a large piece of copper or steel pipe and a set of pipe taps from harbor freight for $14 if you wanted to build your own from scratch.

[bufordsbest]

ok so i'm picking up my kegging system tonight so here's a couple more newbie questions:

1) what causes the beer to be sucked up the gas line? if i have CO2 tank pressurizing the keg at all times can this happen?

2) i'm using picnic taps to start while i convert my bar fridge to a tower tap system at some point. should i be disconnecting from the out port on the keg when not in use? if i do leave it on all the time with beer in the line, will the beer in the line be ok or will i have to get in the routine of pouring a bit out at the beginning of each pour?

i'm sure i'll have more once i get into it.

tks,

tg