baer19d

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What's the proper technique for force carbonating? I've tried to carbonate with the recommended volumes of Co2 and the beers flat. Next I crank up the pressure to 20-30psi and shake the keg. Sometimes it will carbonate and sometimes it won't. I always place the kegs in the frig to get them nice and cold first. What am I doing wrong? How long should it take to carbonate? Thanks, Mike

Yooper

Recipes 

Generally speaking, I keep my kegs at about 11-12 psi and 39 degrees. It takes about 10 days to 2 weeks to carbonate them like that.

Sometimes, if I'm in a hurry, I set it for 30 psi for a couple of days and then purge the keg and reset at 12 psi. It's carbed up in 4-5 days like that.

I've heard that some people shake the keg to get it to absorb the co2 faster, but I've also read about a lot of people who have foamy beer that way. It would work, though, if you really wanted the beer carbed up fast.

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Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

skatensx

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i have the same problem. i have two kegs that have been sitting at 12psi for almost 8 weeks. i only have a few bubbles and they disappear too quickly, and the beer tastes mostly flat. i don't believe i have any leaks.

Yooper

Recipes 

What's the temperature of the kegs?

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Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

boogyman

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i keep my kegs at 39 degrees and 10-12 psi. When carbing, I just set them at 10-12 psi and give them a quick shake whenever i walk by. it takes maybe a week to carb them, and i haven't had any foaming issues yet.. at least, not like i did when boosting the psi to 30+ trying to carb.

GermanBlood

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Hmmm... perhaps that's why I've always had a problem with serious foam / head... someone I bought my keg equipment told me to run it at 30 psi, rock the keg back and forth on your knee like a baby, until gas stops chumming up into the tank, then come back 1 hr later, repeat and you're set. But like I said, I have some serious foam issues for the first 20 or so pours because of this. I keep my keg at around 35 degrees btw...

Dr_Deathweed

Recipes 

I set mine in the fridge at 30psi for 2 1/2 days, then re-set to serving pressure. This usually gets me close enough to the carbonation level that I want to drink immedeatly (if I need to ) but it will even out to where I want in about a week.

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Cpt_Kirks

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I carb at 30psi for 2-3 days, then drop the pressure to about 18 for the rest of the week. The beer is drinkable then, but gets better a week or two later. The beer carbonates fairly quickly, but it takes a while for the carbonic acid to build up. I like that "bite".

MoRoToRiUm

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+1, but I have my system balanced at 8-12 PSI depending on the beer. Make sure you bleed the excess pressure when you drop it to your serving PSI.

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Mad_Milo

Recipes 

All your answers are here.

Be methodical, but always aim to undershoot regardless of how you wish to accelerate your force carb. Then it can equalize over the next few days after. It will still get better over a couple weeks regardless of method.