Carbonating my first batch since I upgraded to CO2

Carbonating my first batch today with my new Co2 Kegerator system i built last month!! Im so fin excited i want to skip work ROFL.. im going to carbonate it this morning and it should be ready to drink when i get home from work this evening!! to celebrate im going to make the wife and kids some root beer tonight too!! mmmhmmm Double chocolate Oatmeal Stout here I come!!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you just started carbing this morning, it won't be ready when you get off work.

If you're using the 30psi shake method, I highly suggest stopping it. 9 times out of 10 you'll end up with overcarbed beer. I'm not sure why that method ever became such a big thing or why people still suggest it. It's going to take at least 2-3 weeks before your beer hits peak flavors anyways. I'd suggest setting your regulator at 10-12 psi and leaving it for a few weeks.

You've already allowed your beer to ferment for 2-3 weeks (hopefully), what's the point in rushing it now?

If you can't wait 2-3 weeks set to 30psi for 48hours then purge and set to 12psi (serving pressure). beer is good in 3 days and will be perfect in 5-7 days...just remember carbed beer does not mean conditioned beer that being said the first keg has a tendency of tasting great right about when the keg blows air

cheers

This is one of those funny forum things - one guy says don't quick carb and the next guy says quick carb
Ive only kegged 6 batches but Ive used the method described by goose with huge success each time In fact I can't understand why some guys say it doesn't work - there must be a technique difference or something.

Quick carb works to get you there faster under 2 conditions
1- You condition the beer prior to carbing
2- You don't try to quick carb too much. Use quick carb to get it halfway there only.

I "quick carb" at 30psi for 48hrs but do not shack keg or lay it on its side. I have never overcarbed this way.

I pressure keg to 30psi, then rock keg back and forth with CO2 line attached for two minutes, then leave (with CO2 attached) for 36hrs, then disconnect CO2, purge keg and pressurise to 12psi (keg is chilled and conditioned first).

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you just started carbing this morning, it won't be ready when you get off work.

If you're using the 30psi shake method, I highly suggest stopping it. 9 times out of 10 you'll end up with overcarbed beer. I'm not sure why that method ever became such a big thing or why people still suggest it. It's going to take at least 2-3 weeks before your beer hits peak flavors anyways. I'd suggest setting your regulator at 10-12 psi and leaving it for a few weeks.

You've already allowed your beer to ferment for 2-3 weeks (hopefully), what's the point in rushing it now?

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The great thing about kegging is you can adjust your co2 volumes at any time. Over-carbed.. No hooked up co2, then burp the head space, shake then burp again.

Secondly your asking a newbie kegger to sit and wait for another two to three weeks before drinking the beer. That's like asking a kid to wait until new years to open up his x-mas presents!

Thirdly the faster you get the beer carbonated, the faster it starts conditioning.

If you use the "in" side to carbonate, you only are exposing the wort to head pressure with co2. If you reverse the fittings so you carbonate thru the "out" side, the co2 goes to the bottom of the keg then bubbles up through the solution. Real cold wort, high pressure co2 with shaking to force carbonate, I've had carbed beer in 45 minutes.

Later when you get a bunch of kegs and the newness wears off, then you can see if you can wait until the brew matures. Until then there is nothing wrong with sampling a good semi-green beer

I disagree with a lot of stuff in this thread.

The bottom line is that your kegging experience is going to be dampened if you overcarb. If you hit 3+ volumes of CO2. You'll have to purge the headspace a few times over the course of a few days to drop it.

Cue the post about full glasses of foam.

Thank you Bobby. I've carbed with 30psi just like the rest of you. I've actually tested it with a 10 gallon batch to see which method works best. There's a thread somewhere on here about someone else doing so. Bottom line was that the one that I used 30psi and shook....it needed to be burped and I basically started over with it. They both tasted about the same at 2-3 weeks and before that, the 30psi keg wasn't good enough for me to want to drink. Drinking half a keg of "semi-green" good beer is a waste. Why not wait the extra few weeks and drink a full keg of great beer.

It's obvious that a new kegger is going to listen to the guys who tell him to rush through it. But, as Bobby said...cue the foam thread. Don't come complaining on the forum about foam and your beer not tasting right if you don't listen to solid proven advice.

Bobby_M said:

I disagree with a lot of stuff in this thread.

The bottom line is that your kegging experience is going to be dampened if you overcarb. If you hit 3+ volumes of CO2. You'll have to purge the headspace a few times over the course of a few days to drop it.

Cue the post about full glasses of foam.

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Foam can come from warm beer or not enough pressure while serving also cold wort doesn't produce a lot of foam when force carbonatng a full keg. doesn't take that much time to drop your co2 levels

Some beers are normally carbed over 4 volumes, so that just threw your logic out the window.
30 psi overnight or all day, isn't going to put that much volume into the solution. We are talking co2 into the solution not headspace. This guy doesn't even say if he has been cold conditioning this brew for a while already, or at what temperature the wort is at?

http://tastybrew.com/calculators/carbonation.html

Nobody (above) mentions the temperature at which they slow carb or fast carb....

fridge temp...4C or 39F is standard but colder the beer is the better it absorbs co2

Likewise - my keezer is set to 3C.
Ive never had overcarbed beer from my method - its perfectly carbed within 48hrs.
Green beer and overcarbed are unrelated. If your beer needs aging I agree you may as well carb at lower pressures.
What I don't understand is why some guys warn against force carbing. There must be a difference somewhere - temperature etc.

There's no difference in the process Bru. The reason I suggest not doing it is that half the time when people put beer into their keg, it hasn't been properly aged yet. It's usually fresh out of primary where it sat for probably 2 weeks if they're lucky. I may be somewhat synical, but looking at my own habits when I started kegging is what does it. I started kegging because I wanted to drink my beer faster. I hadn't yet realized that aging makes a ton of difference in the beer and it really doesn't matter how fast I carbonate if the beer is still green when it's done carbing. I also realize that when new keggers put a beer at 30psi, most of the time they go overboard. It ends up overcarbed and then they have to start over anyways. Why not prevent the headaches by allow it to sit at the right psi for 2-3 weeks?

I've always said that the number one thing that makes better beers with most styles is patience. If you can't wait at least 6 weeks to drink your beer....go buy commercial or make a wheat beer.

I agree with you regarding aging (read my last post). But the technique difference Im referring to is the force carbonating technique - why do some guys get overcarbed beer when (supposedly) following the same procedure as other guys (like myself and goose et al) whos beer turns out perfectly carbbed ?
They must be doing something different.

because they SHAKE the keg!! 48hrs at 30psi is not going to overcarb (if you leave the keg alone)...It will just get you 80% there and the next 3-5 days at serving pressure will stabilize and bring up the co2 to near-perfect concentration...

in a nut shell, they shake/lie down and we do not...There is no doubt that 3 weeks at 12psi works too...but I like IPA's and the fresher the better. If I primary 4 weeks then dryhop 10-14days it goes into the keg at 6 weeks and 5 days later I am tipping them back...

If the beer is conditioned to your liking...it works very well.

All the nuance differences in technique aside, the LAST thing to recommend to a new kegger is a process that MAY (and probably will) result in overcarbed beer. Even if they nail the carbonation by some chance, it's encouraging the drinking of green beer. Oh, wait, maybe they aged the beer in secondary for 2 months already. I'm going to er on the side of unlikely there.

Yes, you can get technical and tell me that some beers should be at 4 volumes. I guarantee that new kegger does not have that beer and absolutely doesn't have a system balance that can deal with dispensing a 4 volume beer.

Let's not perpetuate the myth that a CO2 based kegging system is a magic bullet to serving 2 week old beer. The next thing you know, a lot more "bottle conditioned beer is better than kegged" threads will crop up.

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While I'm blabbing though, I'll say that IF your beer is well aged already and you absolutely must start drinking sooner than later, elevating the pressure to about 2 times the chart pressure for the volumes you're looking for 48 hours WITHOUT shaking the keg is a reasonable way to shave about a week off the normal 2-3 week set and forget method. I'd still recommend giving it about 5-7 days after resetting down to the chart pressure to allow for carbonic acid dissipation and clearing.

goose1873 said:

because they SHAKE the keg!! 48hrs at 30psi is not going to overcarb (if you leave the keg alone)...It will just get you 80% there and the next 3-5 days at serving pressure will stabilize and bring up the co2 to near-perfect concentration...

in a nut shell, they shake/lie down and we do not...There is no doubt that 3 weeks at 12psi works too...but I like IPA's and the fresher the better. If I primary 4 weeks then dryhop 10-14days it goes into the keg at 6 weeks and 5 days later I am tipping them back...

If the beer is conditioned to your liking...it works very well.

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The problem I always see with all posts related to carbonation is no-one ever specifies temperature or any of the other "lurking variables" that can vary the carbonation process and cause foaming. Variables like:

- 48 hrs. at 30 psi at 32 degrees(vs. 44 degrees, for example)
- alot of head space(more CO2 exposure)
- jostled it around to get it on the CO2 and then back to its resting space
- jostled it more "checking" it in first 2 days
- regulator is inaccurate
- wort still gassy (not in primary/secondary long enough)
- leaving in just a bit more than 48 hours(3 days, for example)
- temperature control off on keezer
- started out cold due to cold crashing vs. room temp.
- not bleeding it all off when reducing to 12 psi
- and others I have no clue about.

Still, I have a Pale Ale ready for kegging that is heavily dry hopped and will be following your schedule, almost exactly, shooting for perfect carbonation in a week(vs. 3 weeks) Love that fresh hop flavor and aroma! But I control all the variables I know about, and surely you have them under control as well, so that "80%" carbed isn't "130%".

So all of you are correct, IMHO, just arguing different sides of the coin. New brewers often don't have a handle on processes and can get into trouble not taking the safest path. Those that understand the process well and have experience are more likely to control it and not have trouble.

Rich

I agree with you Rich. I'm not saying either method is wrong. If you're an experienced kegger, then I'm sure you can make the decisions of when to stop carbing at high pressures. But, to recommend that a new kegger use the 30psi method...I'm just not a fan.

I'll admit that I do carbonate the fast way when carbing a wheat or an IPA because of freshness, but that's something I learned how to do along the way.

With the set it and forget it method, I can have a carbonated keg in 5-7 days, but I don't concider it drinkable until around 3 weeks.

ok so to stop the flame brewing here. I have 2 taps and 2 kegs.. I split the batch into both of them and i did what everyone said to do sorta. keg 1.. I put up to 3 volumes of CO2 @ 39 degrees and let it sit for 24 hours. i then purged it reset it to 13 psi and let it sit for one more day and bam good partially green beer ( i really couldnt wait to use my taps for the first time).. tap 2.. I set it to 13 psi and havent touched it. constant flow of 13 psi into the tank. im going to hit it up in a few days but i know it will be a much better beer. in fact i am going to dump whats left of tap 1 and make root beer for the kids to go in that keg until my next batch is done. Oh and Bobby i usually let my beer sit in secondary for about a month and a half. but in this case you are right i did no such thing. was to excited to jump the gun and use the homemade kegerator i built. as far as over carbonated beer.. it wasnt to over carbed. but i didnt shake my keg at all.

So, if I am patient can I put 12 psi on the keg at 38 degrees ... the beer will eventually be around 2.5 volumes.

How long, though? 2 weeks? 3 weeks?

How can I tell when equilibrium is reached?

Dave46382 said:

So, if I am patient can I put 12 psi on the keg at 38 degrees ... the beer will eventually be around 2.5 volumes.

How long, though? 2 weeks? 3 weeks?

How can I tell when equilibrium is reached?

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I would suggest tasting it a few times over the first 1-2 weeks. You'll know when it's ready. The flavor will change from an odd acidic (only way I can think of to describe it) flavor to a great flavor. I usually allow mine to carbonate for 3 weeks before I start drinking it.