Before filling Cornelius keg, it is important that it has been cleaned and sanitized. We recommend using PBW for
cleaning and Star San or Saniclean sanitizing. Please make it a habit to spray the little Star San solution to the keg
posts before connecting the ball-lock disconnects, and wipe down the keg post after removing a disconnect.
Carbonating
Before filling a keg with beer, purge the keg with CO2 from the cartridge to prevent the oxygen in the air from
oxidizing the beer.
The beer level in the keg should never reach the gas dip tube, and when filled with beer there should remain a
small pocket of gas between the beer level and the gas dip tube. If you overfill the keg there is a risk that beer will
flow back into the gas line and damage the regulator.
After filling with beer, attach and close the lid. Apply CO2 and pull on the safety relief valve ring a couple of times
so that any air in the keg is replaced with CO2. Make sure the lid is on correctly and that it doesn’t leak.
When pressurizing the keg, the gas pocket at the top fills up with gas and the pressure starts to build. Gradually the
CO2 goes into solution and the pressure in the gas pocket slowly falls. The amount of CO2 that dissolves in the
beer depends on the pressure in the pocket and the temperature of the beer. At equilibrium the pressure in the gas
pocket corresponds to the gas pressure in the beer.
Temperature affects how easily the carbon dioxide dissolves in the beer. At lower temperature the carbon dioxide
dissolves more easily, and you can set a lower pressure to get the same carbonation. See the Carbonation table for
appropriate pressures for at a given temperature.
If you leave the CO2 connected at the desired pressure, the beer will be saturated after a couple of days as it
reaches its equilibrium pressure.
Another method for carbonating beer is to apply a higher pressure, release the gas disconnect from the gas post
and wait until the carbon dioxide dissolves in the beer (which might take a couple of hours) and then repeat until
you reach the desired carbonation. This reduces the risk that the gas cylinder is emptied due to leakage. However,
with this method it might be more difficult to exactly control the carbonation level of the beer.
In summary:
● If the pressure above the beer is high, CO2 will go into solution.
● If the pressure above the beer is low, CO2 will go out of solution.
● It takes a while for CO2 to go into solution and for equilibrium pressure to be reached. During this time
CO2 has to be added.
4. How the John Guest connection works
John Guest (or "JG") is a quick connector for rigid tubing and pipes. You connect by pushing the hose into the
fitting until it stops. Coupling locks and seals automatically. To release the lock, press the ring in front of the clutch
and simultaneously pull out the hose. In the event of leakage, the reason is probably that the tube is biased or that
it is not hijacked by a perpendicular and clean cut. The couplings are made of acetal plastic and at room
temperature withstand operating pressures up to 11 bar and at 65 °C maximum of 7 bar.
5. Expansion options
You can easily develop your draft beer equipment based on the equipment you have in front of you.
Some suggestions on how you can further develop your gear:
● Get a BeerGun or counter pressure filler for bottling carbonated beer from the corny keg.
● Connect more corny kegs by supplementing with T-connector (art. No. 876606) and gas disconnects so
you can drive out the beer, combined with Restrictor tubing kits (art. No. 895102).
● With JG 5/8 '' BSP-3/8 '' (art. No. 878530), you can connect 3/8 '' hose to a backboard and thus switch to a
more exclusive tap than the supplied Picnic tap .
● If you want to connect your corny keg a pin towers JG connection. no. 878 014 as the transition between
the pin tower ölslang and JG-connection 3/16 '' - 3/8 '' that you received with this kit.
