Here's my setup, for reference:
- Chest freezer with Ranco tempearture controller, set to 38F and a +/- 2F differential
- Probe insulated and bungee-corded to the bottom of the keg
- Cornelius ball-lock keg, pressure tested before using
- Used keg lube on keg in/out posts and lid o-ring
I kegged for the first time last night and this morning it was down to temperature. I kept a close eye on it to make sure there wasn't a huge temperature swing when I brought the 70F beer down to 38 - when it hit 38 and the freezer kicked off, it did not continue going down.
Anyway, the freezer of course was ice-cold (much lower than 38, obviously). This morning I prepared my gelatin pitch, depressurized my keg, and took the lid off. Crap. The O-ring was frozen to the keg! It came clean off the lid, but remained attached to the keg. I pitched my gelatin and put the lid back on, pressurized it, and squirted it a bunch with star-san. No bubbles, no signs of leakage.
I'll keep an eye on it, and hopefully it will keep pressure for the life of this batch. But in the meantime, I must ponder...
I realize that if I just controlled the refrigerators ambient temperature, the freezer wouldn't have gotten down as low as it was, which may have prevented this from happening. It would've taken longer, but that's not a huge deal to me. However, I do like being able to open the refrigerator and not have the compressor kick on every time. Perhaps a hybrid approach? Bring the beer down to temp by controlling ambient temperature first, and then switching to probe on the side of the keg?
I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!
Submitted November 16, 2014 at 10:22PM by TarzanInAJar http://ift.tt/1wJgwSk Homebrewing
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