How do you carb your kegs?

[PhillyBrewer]

I believe I found out this past week (thanks BN!) the reason why I haven't been pleased with the flavor of almost all of my beers. It's been an issue I've been scratching my head over for years and I've actually been considering leaving the hobby recently because of it. The issue, described in this thread, is that after force carbing, I've had my kegs at a pressure of 8-10 PSI for serving, instead of 3-5 PSI. This continues to push CO2 into my beers, ultimately accentuating certain flavors too much, making my beers unbalanced and harsh after being on tap for a few weeks. I think the reason I didn't come to this conclusion earlier/myself is that the perceived level of carbonation didn't seem too much. No matter.

I've seen lengthy discussions and articles about carbonation levels, but, since I never thought I had an issue, I didn't pay them too much mind. Now I'd clearly like to put some thought into it.

I'm wondering what others do and ultimately what will be the best carbonation method for me. AFAIK, the three options are the ones I've included in my poll. You can:
- Force carb by setting the pressure to eg. 30 PSI for 2-3 days and then returning the pressure to serving pressure (3-5 PSI). This is the fastest, but the risk of over-carbonation is greater with potentially different results for different beers.
- Setting the pressure to serving pressure (3-5 PSI?) and letting it sit until the pressure of the beer equalizes (how long?).
- Naturally carbonating by priming the keg with sugar and letting it sit at room temp for 2-3 weeks.

What does everyone else do?

[NMWildAles]

3-5psi of CO2 is not going to give you your desired carbonation level. Even if you force carb at a higher pressure, 3-5psi serving pressure will cause you to lose carbonation over the duration of serving that particular keg. You really need to use a carbonation calculator, inputting your desired carbonation level and temperature you are serving your beer at:

For example...
if you desire 2.3 vols of CO2, for a serving temperature of 40F, you will need 10psi CO2 applied
if you desire 2.3 vols of CO2, for a serving temperature of 50F, you will need 12.5psi of CO2 applied

[BDawg]

3-5psi of CO2 is not going to give you your desired carbonation level. Even if you force carb at a higher pressure, 3-5psi serving pressure will cause you to lose carbonation over the duration of serving that particular keg. You really need to use a carbonation calculator, inputting your desired carbonation level and temperature you are serving your beer at:

For example...
if you desire 2.3 vols of CO2, for a serving temperature of 40F, you will need 10psi CO2 applied
if you desire 2.3 vols of CO2, for a serving temperature of 50F, you will need 12.5psi of CO2 applied

+1

Carbonation Chart:
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

Balancing a draft system:
http://kegman.net/balance.html
http://kegman.net/tap_info.htm

[PhillyBrewer]

Assuming my kegerator is set at 40, based on those figures, you're saying that the 8-9 PSI I had my keg at won't overcarbonated my beers? Are those figures for the pressure I should keep my keg at only while force carbing or while serving too?

In the second link provider, I found this:
Pressure should never be set below 12 psi on the gauge in order to have a beer faucet work properly. What?

[Spurtrax]

Some of it depends on what kind of faucet you have also. I have noticed if I use a picnic tap I need to set to 7-8 psi and I get a nice head but if I use a regular draft faucet at that psi it wont give you any head at all.

[PhillyBrewer]

Also, if I have check valves on my manifold, how will I lose carbonation after I've carbonated the beer and then turned down the pressure to serve to 3-5 PSI?

[Whitebeard_Brewer]

I use the set it and forget it method, works for me.

OTOH, I would like to point out that this is an invalid poll......there is not a "No pants" option!! Jus sayin'

[PhillyBrewer]

Whitebeard: What PSI, temp, and for how long?

ps. When my regulator is set to 5 PSI, beer hardly trickles out. Is it possible my regulator or manifold is faulty?