Should I turn the gas off

[Nate]

This is my first Kegerator and when I purchased my conversion kit the owner of my local Homebrew shop told me that at night I should turn the regulator to the off postion so that the gas is not still pushing in the keg. He also said that if I was going to leave the keg alone for a few days I should turn the bottle off and disconnect from the keg. Some of what I have read says yes and some say no.

what do you feel I should do? Leave it on all the time, or turn it off when not being used? Also, will either of these ways make the keg go flat quicker

[Jughead]

If your regulator is set to the same pressure that the keg is at, and you have no leaks in your system, then leaving the regulator turned on will have no effect. If your regulator is set higher than the keg pressure, then CO2 will slowly be forced into your beer. Over a few days the beer in the keg will absorb the excess gas until the system is balanced again, and the regulator will stop pushing more gas into the keg. This could cause over carbonated beer, but the solution to this is just to lower the setting at the regulator.
I tend to leave the regulator turned off and just give it a shot of gas every so often to recharge the keg. I do this because one of my kegs leaked and I lost a bunch of gas overnight once. I suggest you just play with it and see what works for you.

[Nate]

I have been turning the regulator off and closing the tap, but not disconnecting. When I open the tap and turn the regulator on I do not hear gas forcing into the keg. This means that I am set at the right pressure?

Does leaving the tap/coupling connected, but in the off position affect the keg/beer?

[Jughead]

If you do not hear gas going into the keg when you turn on the regulator, and you are happy with the way the beer pours, then you are either at the right pressure or below it. You could try to increase the regulator setting until you hear gas flowing, then back it off till it stops.

Leaving the tap connected or in the off/on position should not affect the beer at all.

Cheers

[Nate]

Thanks Jughead

I think that I will leave the keg tapped, but turn the regulator off. As far as being happy with the pouring I am having some problems. I read a previous thread that discussed foamy beer. I tried the suggestions, but it did not make much difference. I get about half beer and half foam. I also read on another website that if you get foamy beer when you first tap the keg, it is not overcarboration, but it is undercarboration. Foam toward the end of the keg is overcarboration. Do you know much about this?

The keg is bud light, I know aweful, and I am running about 12 lbs of pressure. It is still in the top half of the keg and has been in the fridge for several days so that it should be cool enough.

If you have any suggestions as to how to stop all the foam let me know.

Thanks in advance.

[mmmBeer...]

How fast is it coming out of the tap? 12 psi may be too high and you are gettting foam.

12 psi on my system creates a huge head and pours way to fast. I have tried this with several beers and I always have to back the pressure off to about 9 psi.

All you are using the CO2 for at this point is to replace the beer that is being poured and to drive the beer out of the tap.

[Nate]

It is coming out pretty fast. I have turned off the regulator and experimenting to see if as the keg pressure goes down the foam lessens. So far it seems the same, but I have only drawn about 4-5 beers.

[mmmBeer...]

Depending on the size of the keg it could take a while to equalize. If you had it under pressure for a few days at much more then the orignal pressure your beer will be overcarbonated.

You can try and release the pressure through the valve until you get a good pour. Then reattach the CO2 and balance the system.

[Nate]

I originally did that. Once I tapped the keg it was immediate foam and nothing else. I spoke with my local brew shop and he told me to turn the pressure reg off and run the beer until it stops, then apply pressure again. I did this and it did not help. Next, I emptied the release valve and about every hour for a day continued to release the valve. I then applied the pressure and tried it. Not much difference. I left the keg over night and tried it the next morning. It was better, Half beer half foam, instead of the day before of all foam. I turned the pressure off and have been drinking as fast as i can to see if it gets better as the pressure in the keg decreases. Hopefully this will help.

Does it hurt the beer to leave the tap open, but the reg off? The beer has been tasting flat since I tapped it.

Thanks

[toneyc]

Nate just sent me a link that I think may answer his question and maybe DrunkPenguin's, too:

http://www.angelfire.com/ks2/beer/homekeg.html

We, as homebrewers, generally make beer that is more flavorful than Bud Light or Coors Light and therefore requires lower carbonation. According to the link, Coors Light, and I assume Bud Light, requires about 16 psi to maintain it's carbonation level. At that pressure, he would need 10-12 feet of 3/16 beer line to get a good pour. Does that sound about right?

:)
Toney.

[mmmBeer...]

Some great info there...in nice and simple terms!

[thriftynomad]

aargh...

okay, i'm still trying to figure out which problem i have... maybe someone has some insight?

i'm at the end of 1/2 barrel number 2 and i seem to also be out of co2 at the same time. i have a 5 lb. tank and i haven't been able to see any leaks using a soap test on all of the connections. i initially thought i was out of co2 because the beer was pouring slower and my gauges both were at the bottom on the regulator... but then within about 3 pints of noticing that, the keg also was empty... and the keg was shooting out gas and foam, so it's not just a matter of nothing coming out... it was shooting the bottom of a keg just like in a bar setup...

this is really rambling, but my question is whether or not my regulator gauges would read like the co2 is empty simply because they are connected to a now empty beer keg? i'm going to go out and get another 1/2 barrel and connect it... just wondering if anyone has seen this before? maybe the co2 isn't empty?

really sorry for the rambling... it's been a long day, and it's barely 1/2 done!!

cheers all, thanks for your help...

[toneyc]

No, it does indeed sound like your co2 tank is empty, too. The signs you mentioned, the beer pouring slower and slower and the gauges both at empty indicate an empty tank.

:o
Toney.

[thriftynomad]

Hmmm... in that case this is some odd timing...

2 1/2 barrels and each one took exactly a 5 lb. tank at 12.5 psi?

Like I said, I can't find a leak in the system, so I've got one other idea which I'm sure is wrong...

the co2 isn't being transferred into the keg at a higher rate because it is empty? we're just talking about pressure, so as long as nothing changes (i.e. - no beer poured) everything should remain constant?

Thanks Toney for your confirmation... much appreciated.

[brian92]

Nate - If you have the temp set around 38 F, Bud light should be pressurized at 12 psi. So, you want to set the psi at 12 and temp at 38 F and adjust the length of your beer line for a proper flow rate accordingly. That way, your system is always balanced and you are not overcarbonating (too high psi) and you are not undercarbonating and letting co2 break out in the lines (too low psi). Remember that temperature is important, so keep a thermometer near your keg. If the temp goes up, you'll need more pressure or co2 will break out in the lines causing foam.

For a flow rate of 1 gallon / minute, the restriction on 3/16" line is 2.2 lbs. So, you would want about 5 1/2' of line for 12psi. If your line is any shorter than this, your pour rate will be too high. If you line is longer than this, it shouldn't be a problem, you'll just have a slower pour rate (nothing wrong with that).

If you have a balanced system without leaks, you should not turn off the co2 or untap the keg.

[b3s]

i never turn the gas off...but i will tweak the regulator from time to time.

[thriftynomad]

All that sounds exactly like what I'm doing. I'm running 6ft. of line, I've got an external thermostat that keeps the fridge between 34.5 and 38.5 and I only ever tweak the gauge on the regulator... i never turn it off or anything...

hmmm... i'm sure i'll figure it out. the good news is that even though i seem to be eating up a lot of co2, i'm getting great beer consistantly...

cheers all, thanks for the help...

[b3s]

check for leaks on the kegs if you're going through lots of CO2...may need a new seal. i tend to rack the beer to the keg, pressurize to 30 pounds, let it sit until it's time for a new keg or one week, whichever comes last. my regulator tends to sit at 8-12 pounds depending on the beer.

now, if i could just get the space to start brewing again, i might get a regulator for each line out, because the last time my pale ale wasn't carbonated enough and the stout was over carbonated when i was at 10 pounds :(

[aquitana]

12 lbs is way too high a pressure. the lower the better. i keep mine a about 6 lbs and it comes out nice and easy.

just remeber it's suposed to be a sealed system so you should not have to turn the co2 off. sure the co2 will sooner or later leach into the beer, but if you keep the pressure down you should have no problems.

just try not to play with the pressure too much, when i was a draft tech most of my calls were from managers/owners F**KIN' with the pressure all the time. it was the same for the pop guns, they always thought they could adjust it on their own and would end up screwing it all up. most of the time it was fine in the first place, just some drunk at the end of the bar complaining that is drink is flat when he probably couldn't even remember his name at that point of the night!

[Brownbeard]

I just use a 1 foot beer hose with a cobra tap. So for consistent pours, I have to use 4 P.S.I. This works fine and I have not noticed any loss in carbonation.

[brian92]

12 psi is the proper pressure for Bud Light as specified by the brew master. Coors light is 15. Also, too low of pressure will cause co2 to release in the lines and therefore foam. I can see how this wouldn't be a problem if you only have 1 feet of line, but your beer will eventually go flat, it's just a matter of time. You cannot violate gas laws (e.g. Boyle's law, Charle's law, Avogadro's law, etc.) that have been around for centuries.

Take an extreme example... a German hefeweizen. The hefes need 18 - 25 psi since their co2 volumes are 3.2 (6.3 g/l) and above. If you sent the pressure at 12 on a hefe, all hell breaks loose. If you set it at 20 and you don't have enough line for restriction purposes, the beer hits the faucet and glass at such a high rate, all hell breaks loose as well. I learned this the hard way, but I fixed the problem by working with the brewery to balance the system.

If you can get away with not balancing a system, my hats off to you, but imo it wont work in the long run.

[b3s]

Originally posted by aquitana
12 lbs is way too high a pressure. the lower the better. i keep mine a about 6 lbs and it comes out nice and easy.

well, at 6lbs my beer is flat, at 12 my pales and so forth are fine, but my stouts are too foamy, at 10 my pales have no head, but are carbonated and my stouts are fine. there are no leaks in my system.

[Blkandrust]

Originally posted by b3s
well, at 6lbs my beer is flat, at 12 my pales and so forth are fine, but my stouts are too foamy, at 10 my pales have no head, but are carbonated and my stouts are fine. there are no leaks in my system.




How much beer line are you running?

[b3s]

3 feet of beer line

[sbv32]

digging up an old post. My question is this.

If you want to run mult types of beer, lets take boulevard wheat and Miller lite (i know, i know) will you need to run 2 different presures? After all this reading I would assume yes.

[BrewDog]

Depends. To be true to Hefeweizen style, >3.0 atmospheres is necessary. To be true to English Bitter's style, ~2 atmospheres is the limit. That would need separate pressures and hence, a dual regulator.

Most of the time, 1 pressure setting around 2.5 atmospheres is enough. Hefe and Bitter are pretty much the 2 extremes (except for still mead which is uncarbonated).

HTH-