keg carbonation question

[izumidai]

I currently have a setup for one keg. (I have all of the parts to expand this to a 3 keg system, but wont be doing that for a little while). My question is, if I have a keg that is carbed to a level that I am happy with, can I simply unhook the line from it to put a different keg on for carbonation. Assuming that I have no leaks, will the first keg remain carbed at the level (or something close) that it was at when unhooked? How long will it stay carbed at this level?

Thanks,
Kevin

[DannyW]

If you have no leaks and the beer is truly at equilibrium, it will maintain that level pretty much forever.

[Bugeater]

Amen to that. I always try to have a spare keg or two already carbed and ready to go into the kegerator. It's an affront to the Goddess Ninkasi to have an empty tap!

One thing to watch out for, though. When you stick the carbonated keg back into the kegerator, DO NOT hook the gas up until the keg has cooled down to serving temperature. When a keg gets warm, CO2 will come out of solution, raising the pressure in the headspace well above what you want. If you hook up the gas while it is still warm, you may get beer backing up into your gas line since your head space pressure is greater than the pressure from your regulator. If you don't have a check valve in line, you could even get beer into the regulator itself.

Wayne

[atomicpunk]

This is slightly off-topic but close enough for me to ask.

When lagering in a keg, I hit it initially with some CO2 to set the seals. But as the CO2 is absorbed and the pressure drops will I lose my seal? Do I need to hit it every once in a while?

My guess is no. As long as there is no negative pressure inside there would be no reason to lose the seal and have air being pulled in.

Correct?

[mordantly]

make sure the keg, lid, and o-rings are in good shape. if it can't hold pressure, it definitely will be able to become contaminated at the temps fall. with lube on the o-rings, i have never had an issue purging with 30psi a number of times then say 60 seconds of gas. months later they contain pressure. if the temp does NOT drop, and you don't draw beer, it will remain that pressure for as long as you want.