Will this over carb a keg?

Tilldeath · 02-02-2010, 01:36 AM

If I look at the set it and forget it chart for kegging my beer and it says set to 10psi. If I set it to 10 psi and shake it, it shouldn't matter how long I shake it for, it should never be able to overcarb past the 10psi, correct??

scinerd3000 · 02-02-2010, 01:40 AM

yes your correct however if your doing a fast carb, generally you will shake at a higher psi for a bit, then vent and off gas until you get down to serving preasure which in this case is 10psi. Shaking at a lower preasure should work in theory but it may take longer.

Tilldeath · 02-02-2010, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scinerd3000

yes your correct however if your doing a fast carb, generally you will shake at a higher psi for a bit, then vent and off gas until you get down to serving preasure which in this case is 10psi. Shaking at a lower preasure should work in theory but it may take longer.

Any idea how long? I'm wanting it ready by like Saturday and started this Monday night. I just would rather it be under carbed than over carbed so don't even want to risk the whole 30psi thing.

scinerd3000 · 02-02-2010, 07:29 PM

no clue for the lower preasure but leaving it slightly higher than serving preasure may work since you have another 4 days.
Or try this: http://www.brew-monkey.com/brewschool/forcecarb.php

Like i said i have never used lower pressure but the 30psi thing will work. Maybe try 15-20 psi and just shake longer. Its done when its done

maida7 · 02-02-2010, 07:36 PM

I do the set it and forget it + shaking method and it works great. The shaking really speeds things up. If you want it ready to drink by Saturday, Go ahead and set it to 10 PSI and shake it once or twice a day for the next few days. Shake it for about 60 seconds at a time. Or do a big shake down session for several minutes till it feels like your arms are gonna fall off.

I don't think there is any risk of over doing it. With lots of shaking it could be fully carbed in a 1-3 days.

The only downside to shaking is that it can stir up the yeast at the bottom and make the beer cloudy.

**Bobby_M** · 02-02-2010, 07:53 PM

You could put the keg in a paint shaking machine and run it for 30 days straight at the chart pressure and it would never overcarb.

There's no harm in doing a little shaking at 20psi for 3-5 minutes or so, or until you can't hear any more gas bubbling in as you rock it towards "upside down". In my estimation, it shaves off about a week off of the set and forget time of 16-18 days.

mosquitocontrol · 02-02-2010, 07:57 PM

This is the advice I got from Guntr on my similar thread a few days ago. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/how-force-burst-carb-without-overcarbing-160253/

This was my plan:
1. Cool keg to serving temp, 38F.
2. Hook up CO2 at 12 psi, and keep hooked up.
3. Rock keg for 15 minutes.
4. Put keg back in keezer for 2 hours to cool.
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until desired carbonation level is reached.

We did a 30 minute shake session last night then returned to the fridge overnight. A taster this morning and its starting to get carbed, but still under. Its very cloudy but I expect to settle down and clarify after a few days. Another shake session for about 20 minutes tonight then I'll check where we are tomorrow. I expect it will be pretty close.

Yes, it shouldn't overcarb.

maida7 · 02-02-2010, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mosquitocontrol

Its very cloudy but I expect to settle down and clarify after a few days.

In my experience it never really clears up after it's been shaken to carbonate. The last few pints in the keg will pour clear but the bottom 9/10th of the keg stay cloudy. For me, this is the downside of shaking to carb the keg.

**Bobby_M** · 02-02-2010, 08:10 PM

Why do you suspect a shaken keg will never clear? Do you kill kegs in two days? My beer goes into the keg clear so every drop that pours out is clear too.

maida7 · 02-02-2010, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby_M

Why do you suspect a shaken keg will never clear? Do you kill kegs in two days? My beer goes into the keg clear so every drop that pours out is clear too.

It takes me about 2 weeks to a month to kill a keg. Perhaps I'm not as careful when siphoning but I always get yeast in my keg. When the keg is done there is a good pile of yeast sludge left at the bottom of the keg. I have used the shaking method many times to carb. Every time I use the shake method I get cloudy beer. That is until the last few pints. Those last few pour crystal clear. In fact I can tell the keg is almost kicked when the beer starts coming out clear.

That's simply my personal experience.