Dispensing Pressure (confused!)

Heals · Post by **Heals** » Saturday Dec 22, 2007 7:15 am

Maybe someone can clarify this for me...

I have a pale ale that I force carbed the other day and I'm wondering how exactly I should be leaving my setup connected and at what pressure.

I'm using a bronco tap and the brew should be carbed to around about 2.5 (although I don't think it is as the keg was a bit warm when I carbed it up). The keg is in the fridge at a temp of 8 deg.

Anyway, I seem to be pulling relatively decent beers at a VERY low pressure (i.e. 30 - 40kpa) - however if I left the gas connected to the keg at that pressure wouldn't the beer try and equalize and go flat relatively quickly with time?

I'm wondering if I should leave the gas turned up to 100 or so kpa and then adjust it downward to a lower pressure when I pour, turning it back up again when it's not in use. Also, would completely disconnecting the gas from the keg in between uses keep the pressure in the keg stable?

I'm still getting my head around the monstrous amount of carbing and pressure info there is around the net so please forgive me my questions sound silly - I just want to get everything set right so I don't have to worry about it and get on with enjoying it!

KEG · Post by **KEG** » Saturday Dec 22, 2007 8:12 am

in theory, the beer should lose some carbonation if you keep it under something as low as 30-40kpa - but i do the same thing (i have a bronco tap) with no ill-results really. i tend to like my beers lower carbed though - most of mine are ales.

lethaldog · Post by **lethaldog** » Saturday Dec 22, 2007 8:56 am

Its really a personnel preference thing but on a general scale your typical keg would be carbed up and level out around the 60-70 kpa, if you leave your beer sitting around 100 kpa you will probably find that ( depending on how long your kegs last) that your kegs may be a bit over carbed

Heals · Post by **Heals** » Saturday Dec 22, 2007 1:35 pm

Okay - so lets say I set it at 60 - 70kpa and just leave it - is there any harm in lowering the pressure before I pour a beer and then turning it back up again?

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Saturday Dec 22, 2007 2:15 pm

No, should be no harm, other than the fact that the first beer will pour at 60-70 until you've removed enough volume from the keg to lower the pressure. Unless you burp it.