shortyjacobs
Well-Known Member
Bah, this is semantics and circular logic.
If you hook up to the liquid tube right after transferring the beer to the keg, there isn't much CO2 to knock out of solution, since it isn't carbonated, and carbonation will happen slightly faster due to increased surface area as the bubbles work their way up.
If you hook up to the liquid tube once the beer is carbonated, there's no effect, since the beer is carbonated, and the headspace/beer is already at the carbonation pressure, so no CO2 will flow.
If, for some reason, your beer is carbonated but your headspace is not pressurized, it means you just vented the headspace and it hasn't re-equilibrated yet...I don't know why you'd do this.
Hooking up Gas to the liquid post immediately after transferring will knock a BIT of the CO2 from fermentation out of the beer....but your headspace is only .25 gallons, and you already have 4+ gallons of CO2 in the beer from natural fermentation at room temp/atmospheric pressure, and the rate of gas flow is high enough to pressurize the headspace in a very short time. In the end, you'll quickly pressurize the headspace, at which point for each mL of CO2 absorbed by the beer, another mL will leak out the liquid tube and carbonate on it's way up. The increased surface area WILL increase carbonation rate, (it will carbonate faster). HOW much faster is up for debate, but at best you are looking at 0+ faster, (at worst, it carbonates at the same rate, at best it carbonates much faster).
In no way will hooking up to the liquid tube carbonate slower...although the speed gain in carbonation may be minimal to none at all.
Hooking up to the liquid tube if the beer is overcarbonated IS a way of decarbonating the beer, but only because you prop the gas valve OPEN in this case, thus reducing headspace pressure to 0 PSIG, and letting the bubbling CO2 knock CO2 out of suspension.
If you hook up to the liquid tube right after transferring the beer to the keg, there isn't much CO2 to knock out of solution, since it isn't carbonated, and carbonation will happen slightly faster due to increased surface area as the bubbles work their way up.
If you hook up to the liquid tube once the beer is carbonated, there's no effect, since the beer is carbonated, and the headspace/beer is already at the carbonation pressure, so no CO2 will flow.
If, for some reason, your beer is carbonated but your headspace is not pressurized, it means you just vented the headspace and it hasn't re-equilibrated yet...I don't know why you'd do this.
Hooking up Gas to the liquid post immediately after transferring will knock a BIT of the CO2 from fermentation out of the beer....but your headspace is only .25 gallons, and you already have 4+ gallons of CO2 in the beer from natural fermentation at room temp/atmospheric pressure, and the rate of gas flow is high enough to pressurize the headspace in a very short time. In the end, you'll quickly pressurize the headspace, at which point for each mL of CO2 absorbed by the beer, another mL will leak out the liquid tube and carbonate on it's way up. The increased surface area WILL increase carbonation rate, (it will carbonate faster). HOW much faster is up for debate, but at best you are looking at 0+ faster, (at worst, it carbonates at the same rate, at best it carbonates much faster).
In no way will hooking up to the liquid tube carbonate slower...although the speed gain in carbonation may be minimal to none at all.
Hooking up to the liquid tube if the beer is overcarbonated IS a way of decarbonating the beer, but only because you prop the gas valve OPEN in this case, thus reducing headspace pressure to 0 PSIG, and letting the bubbling CO2 knock CO2 out of suspension.
