Filled keg only half full, will it carb twice as fast?

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brevity

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Forgive the silly question.. But say I usually put 5 gallons in my keg and it takes 4 days to carb at 25psi. If I only put in 2 gallons of the same beer with the same psi, will it take less time to carbonate?
 
No,I prefer the tried and true 2-3 weeks at serving pressure, burst carbing is always hit or miss in my opinion. A liquid absorbs Co2 at a rate determined by temp and pressure.
 
It's absorbing from the interface, so the diffusion front will reach the bottom of the keg more quickly if the keg is less full. In your particular instance however, with the 25psi, once the beer is pouring with the correct CO2 concentration, it will become overcarbonated over time, even if you turn the pressure down once the correct concentration is reached. If you want to ensure a faster carbonation with the correct CO2 level, my best advice is to agitate the keg while the pressure is set to the correct level for the temp of the beer.
 
it will become overcarbonated over time, even if you turn the pressure down once the correct concentration is reached.

I don't understand this. Couldn't I just vent the keg and lower the pressure?
 
Don't worry about it, that wasn't correct to begin with.

If you determined the beer had reached a proper carbonation level and turned down the regulator from the "burst carb" pressure (in this case, 25 psi) to the appropriate pressure vs beer temperature to maintain that carbonation level (refer to this chart), it would not over-carbonate...

Cheers!
 
Don't worry about it, that wasn't correct to begin with.

If you determined the beer had reached a proper carbonation level and turned down the regulator from the "burst carb" pressure (in this case, 25 psi) to the appropriate pressure vs beer temperature to maintain that carbonation level (refer to this chart), it would not over-carbonate...

Cheers!

It would. Once the carbonation was correct at the bottom, all the beer throughout the rest of the keg would have more than the correct amount. After some time, the beer would approach having a CO2 level in between that of the top and bottom. This average would be higher than the bottom, and thus too carbonated. Simple application of Fick's Law of Diffusion.
 
It would. Once the carbonation was correct at the bottom, all the beer throughout the rest of the keg would have more than the correct amount. After some time, the beer would approach having a CO2 level in between that of the top and bottom. This average would be higher than the bottom, and thus too carbonated. Simple application of Fick's Law of Diffusion.

This would be the case regardless of how much beer is in the keg, no?
Although, I usually end my force carbing at 25 psi a couple days before it would actually hit the correct carbonation anyway.
 
It's all about surface area. Lay the half full keg on its side and it'll carb faster.

For any given pressure and temperature, this is the best way to carb faster.
Just be sure you've purged the O2.
 
It would. Once the carbonation was correct at the bottom, all the beer throughout the rest of the keg would have more than the correct amount. After some time, the beer would approach having a CO2 level in between that of the top and bottom. This average would be higher than the bottom, and thus too carbonated. Simple application of Fick's Law of Diffusion.

Which would be the case if we were dealing with a static liquid interface. it could be argued that in as low temperature environment with minimal vibration, you could get uneven diffusion, but in practical terms, this is very unlikely.


Simply disconnect the gas line, roll it around a bit, wait an hour and check the carb level.

want it even easier? disconnect or turn off the gas source, vent the keg for 10-15 seconds to allow carbonation to form and agitate the liquid (random turbulence) and then reapply the same pressure. Do this a few times and the carbonation already in the beer will mix it evenly for you.
 
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