Just ordered a carbonation stone. Carbonation in 20 minutes??? Any good? - Page 2

TurboBrew · 03-06-2009, 02:46 PM

Did a search and this came up. Seems like no one ever answered the question. Does anyone have any experience with a carbonation stone?

I just ordered the .5 micron one from midwest and tried it last night. Set it at 15 psi, came back in the morning and nothing. So I bumped up the pressure to 25 this morning and could hear the stone diffusing in the keg. Came back downstairs after about 30min and there was a significant amount of carbonation. Not quite done but definitly significant for 30 min. I'm thinking I'm going to have to put a lot of pressure behind it since the holes are so small. I set it at 20 before I left for work. See what happens when I get home..

Anyone else ever messed with one of these?

Edit: Just realized that this thread should probably be in the kegging section. Any way a moderator could move it for me?

T-Hops · 03-07-2009, 01:03 AM

I did this myself a couple of years ago. I did not think that it was worth the cost. If you have several kegs you need one for each keg. I took mine out and use it for oxygenating my wort now. It did make a difference in how fast you're beer would be carbonated, but I still believe that it take a week for the carbonation levels to stablize.

TurboBrew · 03-10-2009, 05:58 PM

Not my experience at all. Beer is carbonated in a few hours and has maintained consistant carbonation throughout the life of the keg.

JamieT · 03-10-2009, 09:57 PM

Never used one but to me it sounds like an unnecessary piece of equipment.. It is simple tof orce carb a keg in 10 minutes or less without a diffusion stone.. I cool my keg and contents to ~36degF.. Pump 25psi into the "out" side to allow it to bubble through the beer.. Shake vigorously for about 20 seconds then turn off the main CO2 valve leaving the regulator to read the pressure in the keg.. continue shaking until the pressure stops falling, this is your carb pressure for the given temp.. repeat as necessary to achieve desired carb levels.

bkov · 03-11-2009, 02:19 AM

whats the difference between these and the $2 air stones they sell at pet stores?

TurboBrew · 03-11-2009, 02:45 PM

The only thing different that I can see is that the holes are much, much smaller.

And $18

T-Hops · 03-12-2009, 01:01 AM

Stainless steel vs plastic, ceramic or wood, food grade, duarbility, stainless can be boiled to sanitize as porus materials are hard to sanitize using liquid sanitizers.

Mad_Milo · 03-16-2009, 02:40 AM

I have one, and used it for my first keg a couple months ago. I chose to leave it attached, but when I checked the level of beer a week ago, I removed it. It pushes the CO2 through the beer from the bottom, causing it to foam. There was some interesting junk formations along the keg walls.

Next keg to be carbed will be in a couple weeks, but I'm debating whether to use it again and remove it after a few pints are pulled, or to just be patient and let equilibrium do it's job.

I would really reconsider using it for a hoppy beer, as the CO2 would probably scrub the hop aromas right out. CO2 from above would be much gentler on it.