Diffusion Stone help

I'm looking into ordering a diffusion stine to use in the keg to carbonate my beer. I just noticed that when I carbonate in the keg the carbonation seems different, and less pleasant than when i bottle condition. I'm hoping the stone will help by introducing finer bubbles? I need advice on wether to use the .5 micron stone, or the 2 micron. Any suggestions?

I think that using a diffusion stone will help speed up carbonation, by increasing the surface area of contact between beer and co2. Im not sure that it will help with the pleasant issue...you may need to describe how it tastes/feels different than bottle co2
Are you waiting long enough for the co2 to fully be absorbed by the beer?

yea it's fully carbonated...it just feels like a more coarse carbonation, where the bottle conditioned feels more like finer bubbles. It's difficult to explain.

I would think that how CO2 comes out of beer would be unaffected by how it got in there. I'm guessing that the characteristics of the beer itself define the mouthfeel of the carbonation.

I have the same feeling sometimes like I get finner bubbles and better integrated carbonic with bottle conditioned beer don´t know why or if I´m loosing it

yea i have no idea whats causing it, but thought maybe the stone would be a decent place to start. Maybe someone will chime in who knows what the deal is.

blawjr said:

yea it's fully carbonated...it just feels like a more coarse carbonation, where the bottle conditioned feels more like finer bubbles. It's difficult to explain.

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I gave up kegging for a while because I didn't like that harsh taste you're describing. Finer carbonation bubbles probably won't help - the CO2 is dissolving into the liquid and comes out when pressure/temperature changes. It will carb your beer faster though.

You're going to get a slightly more bitter, acidic carbonation by force carbing then by doing it organically. Force carbing creates some carbonic acid, which is that "manufactured" taste thats different then bottle conditioning. Additionally you may also be over carbed or your beer could be green still (just because it is carbonated doesn't make it ready to drink). For over carbed, take the keg off pressure in the kegorator, bleed off the CO2, let it sit for a few days, and check the difference after the carbonation equalizes. You may find the beer tastes better. If it's too flat, you can always put it back on CO2.

Finally, if you force the process less (e.g. carb more slowly/less pressure) you'll get less of that harshness. Check the BJCP standards for your beer style and use a carb chart to target the right levels.

If you're doing the high pressure level (30psi) for a day then dropping it, or the shaky shake method, go for the 2-3 weeks at serving temperature and pressure method instead. Doing a rushed, forced carbonation, will give more carbonic bite IF you've not given the brew enough time to equalize. By that time, you would have been better off with the slow method. I've had zero flavor difference between the slow method and bottle carbonating. Which is why I use that method exclusively. I did try speeding up the process for a keg, or two, but didn't like the results, so I went back to the slower method.

I dont think its that, I let it age appropriately. I dont force carb, I set it at about 11 psi and leave it be for a few weeks. It just feels like a different type of carbonation or something. Like I said, very difficult to describe.

blawjr said:

I dont think its that, I let it age appropriately. I dont force carb, I set it at about 11 psi and leave it be for a few weeks. It just feels like a different type of carbonation or something. Like I said, very difficult to describe.

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Temperature of the beer? Tap make/model/style? Beer line length and ID? There are several variables to the system that could contribute to the 'issue'. Don't just assume a carbonation stone will fix it. Unless you only serve (and carbonate) from a single keg, it can create more problems than it solves. It would also help to know what you've been brewing and serving up on the system.

Also, what regulator are you using? I would test to make sure it's actually pushing out the CO2 pressure it says it is.

I keep temp around 37 or 38f, and i just have a set of picnic taps with a few feet of hose. And i mostly brew pale ales and ipas.

blawjr said:

I keep temp around 37 or 38f, and i just have a set of picnic taps with a few feet of hose. And i mostly brew pale ales and ipas.

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At 37-38F, 11psi puts you in the 2.5 CO2 volumes range/area. IMO, too high for a brown, but can be ok for an IPA. Try either increasing the temperature to 39-40F, or lower the pressure to 8-9 psi.

Handy-dandy super-simple carbonation chart for set and forget method.

BTW, I have a copy of this printed out and taped to the side of my brew fridge.

Thanks for the chart

Takes a lot of the guesswork out of the mix...

Golddiggie said:

Takes a lot of the guesswork out of the mix...

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Yea - I did the set-it and forget it (15 PSI @ 37) approach my IPA last Sunday and then went away for a week. At the time I was thinking "I want to make sure this is drinkable when I get home - it's definitely overcarbed. Pulled the keg off CO2 and purged it - should be fine to drink tomorrow. Life would be so much easier if I just followed my own advice

brewguyver said:

Yea - I did the set-it and forget it (15 PSI @ 37) approach my IPA last Sunday and then went away for a week. At the time I was thinking "I want to make sure this is drinkable when I get home - it's definitely overcarbed. Pulled the keg off CO2 and purged it - should be fine to drink tomorrow. Life would be so much easier if I just followed my own advice

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The chart really helps... You went to 2.90 CO2 volumes???



I usually aim for about 2.5 for my pale ales/IPA's... Having to purge sucks a bit since you do it 2-3 times over 2-3 days to get it back to 'normal' levels. Then you could be a few more days to get it back to where you actually wanted it to be (if you purged too much )...

Golddiggie said:

The chart really helps... You went to 2.90 CO2 volumes???

I usually aim for about 2.5 for my pale ales/IPA's... Having to purge sucks a bit since you do it 2-3 times over 2-3 days to get it back to 'normal' levels. Then you could be a few more days to get it back to where you actually wanted it to be (if you purged too much )...

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Yea ... I used to have a lot of trouble getting beer to carbonate and the bad habits persist . Right now it's too bubbly to drink in a glass, but ok if I'm filling a growler. Next time I'll be more patient!

If I can chime in with another option, if you are used to bottling and you want to test how much of an issue force carbing is, you could naturally carb the beer in the keg. This would theoretically create same size bubbles as bottling.

However you may have issues when you pour if the bubbles are still bigger than out of the bottle, due to beer lines serving pressure and whatnot. But I do not have experience in this department, just making a suggestion.

DuckiesRevenge said:

If I can chime in with another option, if you are used to bottling and you want to test how much of an issue force carbing is, you could naturally carb the beer in the keg. This would theoretically create same size bubbles as bottling.

However you may have issues when you pour if the bubbles are still bigger than out of the bottle, due to beer lines serving pressure and whatnot. But I do not have experience in this department, just making a suggestion.

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Big issue I see with carbonating in keg is that you MUST leave it at 70F for 2-3 weeks in order for it to carbonate (for normal beers, bigger ones will take longer). You then need to chill it down for 3-7 days in order to get the CO2 into solution. I can be drinking my brew while you're still carbonating in your keg. :rockin: I also get extremely little sediment in the bottom of my keg. With 'naturally' carbonating, you'll have significantly more sediment/trub in your keg. IMO, not worth it. Part of the benefits of kegging is very little sediment, or none to glass.

IMO, better to figure out where you went sideways on the kegging setup than go the other direction.