Need to force carbonate w/o a fridge...

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Stevorino

Stevorino

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In two weeks I'm going to take and leave my kegging system at a vacation home where I spend way too much time during the summer. However, this upcoming weekend I'm going elsewhere w/ my keg and will be hosting the event's beer supplies w/ my homebrew.

That being said, I need to force carbonate my beer and serve it without a spare fridge for one week-- after this week it'll sit around for a week until it has a dedicated fridge....forever.

Any suggestions on what I can do to get my keg to carbonated before and served during this upcoming weekend? I'm starting to believe buying a giant cooler is my only option...

Thanks guys!
 
I needed to do this exact thing last summer. I hit two kegs with 50psi, shook them for 30 min or so, hit them again and left them overnight in the garage. The next day we took them to a camping weekend.

I had a large Rubbermaid bin that I stood the two of them up in, then filled with ice. I bled off the pressure in the kegs, then repressured to about 5psi. Three days later there was still ice in the bin, but I'd run out of beer.

This summer: 4 kegs!
 
So if I carbonate at room temperature w/ a higher pressure, what happens when I cool them down? Won't they be overcarbonated when the temperature decreases?
 
no, when you cool the keg down it will accept the excess co2 into solution and the carb level will become closer to normal. Like they said if you use a chart like this one:
http://hbd.org/clubs/franklin/public_html/docs/balance.html

If you're going for 2.5 volumes of co2 you can do it at 50F with 17.6psi or at 35F at 9.7psi. If you fully carb the keg at 50 and 17.6 then drop the temp to 35F there will still be 2.5 volumes in solution, but you'd want to drop the pressure after dropping the temp since 17.6 @ 35 would be overcarbed.


So if you're going for 2.5 at 72F you have P=-16.6999 - 0.0101059 * 72 + 0.00116512 * 72^2 + 0.173354 * 72 * 2.5 + 4.24267 * 2.5 - 0.0684226 * 2.5^2

P=29.995psi
That's if your not shaking it, but letting it sit on gas to carb.
 
Thanks for spelling it out-- very interesting website you linked up. So if I just let it sit here in my living room for a week at 30psi, it'll carbonate. How do I adjust if I want to shake it and hurry up the process? Lower it a couple PSI to something like 28?

Then I assume I drop it to like 15 before chilling down to somewhere in the 30's for serving...?
 
To force carb by shaking, you need to go even higher. I chill mine to around 40F and then shake at around 30psi if I want to carbonate fast. So if your at 70, I'd go as high as 50psi.

Once carbonated to the desired volumes of co2 and you drop the temp, serve at the pressure that works out for the same volume of co2 at the new temp. So 2.5 at 72 = 30psi, when you chill to 40F serve it at 12.3psi.

Now you will have to account for the psi in the length of your beer line and height of your tower to keep it balanced and not foaming/blasting out of your faucet. Ideally you want the pressure out of the faucet to be 1 after fighting gravity and resistance of the line.
 
Well, while I seem to have your attention...is fast carbonating better than just letting it sit at 30psi for a week? If I do it fast at 50psi, how long do i have to shake for it to become fully carbonated?
 
Here's my technique for quick carbing. Recently since it has been cold, I would sit the keg outside to chill it quickest then bring it in when it's around 40F, hit it with 30psi, lay it sideways on my legs while I sit in a chair and rock it for a count to 100. It'd be carbonated and ready to go for the most part.

Things I don't like about carbing it fast like that is 1) you get a lot of head for the first day or so and 2) it's got this carbonic acid bite that isn't normal. Normally it isn't harsh like that when you let it sit. Now that also goes away with time, but then why didn't you just let it sit on gas and age for a week anyways.

So if you really need it now, yeah it works, but like everything with this hobby, I think it's best to let it sit.
 
I am currently without a kegorator, so I serve all my ales at cellar temp (well, basement temperature, anyhow). At 62F, I pressurize the keg to about 30-35 PSI and let it sit. To serve, I bleed down until it pours without too much foam, usually under 5 PSI, then set my regulator accordingly. It's not ideal, but it beats bottling. I use the BMBF and fliptops to store a few beers in the fridge for cold ones.

Yes, a kegorator or keg freezer is in the works. I just have to convince SWMBO, who is not a beer drinker.
 
jds said:
Yes, a kegorator or keg freezer is in the works. I just have to convince SWMBO, who is not a beer drinker.
Click to expand...

Samething here...I told mine that I would be able to get rid of all the glass bottles and she was happy. Now it's just a matter of justifing the $$... I'm actually building my own.
 
z987k said:
Here's my technique for quick carbing. Recently since it has been cold, I would sit the keg outside to chill it quickest then bring it in when it's around 40F, hit it with 30psi, lay it sideways on my legs while I sit in a chair and rock it for a count to 100. It'd be carbonated and ready to go for the most part.

Things I don't like about carbing it fast like that is 1) you get a lot of head for the first day or so and 2) it's got this carbonic acid bite that isn't normal. Normally it isn't harsh like that when you let it sit. Now that also goes away with time, but then why didn't you just let it sit on gas and age for a week anyways.

So if you really need it now, yeah it works, but like everything with this hobby, I think it's best to let it sit.
Click to expand...

So if I'm not serving it until Friday night...you'd suggest hitting it w/ 30 psi tonight...and let it rest at 30 until I put it in a cooler Friday evening...at which I drop it to serving temp? No shaking or anything and it'll absorb?
 
It might not be fully carbed by friday... usually takes a full week. I'd go ahead and force carb(shake+high psi) it now if you need it for friday and then let it sit to settle out and then chill and serve on Friday.

Once you do shake it at a high psi, leave it on 30psi at room temp until Friday, which is when you'll drop the temp and press.
 
z987k said:
It might not be fully carbed by friday... usually takes a full week. I'd go ahead and force carb(shake+high psi) it now if you need it for friday and then let it sit to settle out and then chill and serve on Friday.

Once you do shake it at a high psi, leave it on 30psi at room temp until Friday, which is when you'll drop the temp and press.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks for all your help! I'll PM you after the weekend to let you know how your advice turned out!
 

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