Help me force some bubbles

I'm getting my regulator and other goodies this week. I have a Kolsch that's been sitting in a cold (45 degree) keg for about a week (following 2 weeks in a 2ndary).

I'd love to try and force carbonate this keg using the liquid "out" tube since I have MFL connections. (I heard that bubbling the CO2 up using the liquid tube is more effective)

Can anyone give me the ABC's of force carbonating?...PSI, how long, shake-don't shake...?

If this were your keg of Kolsch and you wanted to serve in 48 hours...what would you do?

THanks.

I guess it depends on how sensitive to the amount of CO2 you want in your brew - do you need to get it exact, or just get some fizz going?

I am fairly impatient, so I chill the keg (as you have) crank the co2 up to 15PSI, connect my ball-lock to the gas in, and rock the keg back and forth on my lap a few times, holding the keg for several seconds at a "down angle" so the gas bubbles up through the beer - you can hear when the gas and bubbling slows down, then I rock it several more times, and the bubbling picks up speed again. after doing that for about 5 minutes, I up the pressure again to 25 or so, and repeat the process again and again over 3 or 4 minutes. Total rocking time, just under 10 minutes.

Now the beer is charged - I disconnect the ball valve, re-set the regulator, and hook up the beer line - pour a glass of sweet foam and let it settle for a minute or two before I can sample any of the brew. I have no idea how much CO2 was dissoved, but over the next several pours (over several days) I can usually adjust it to my taste. Oh, and I don't hook the gas up to the beverage out qd becuase I figure if I am rocking the keg anyway, what difference does it make if the co2 goes in the top or bottom?? After several pours and the keg has settled, I will re-hookup the co2 to the gas in for dispensing pressure.

It is certainly not an exact science, but it works for me. Try to do this with as much time before the party as possible, as you will have quite a bit of foam over the first 24 hours or so.

This technique is also known as "putting it where it don't belong" and is frowned upon, particularly when forced.

HA!!! That was good

MA_Brewer said:

...crank the co2 up to 15PSI...rock the keg back and forth a few times...when the gas and bubbling slows down...rock it several more times...after doing that for about 5 minutes...up the pressure again to 25 or so, and repeat the process over 3 or 4 minutes. Total rocking time, just under 10 minutes.

...Try to do this with as much time before the party as possible, as you will have quite a bit of foam over the first 24 hours or so.

Click to expand...

Thanks, two questons:

Did you go through trial and error to find this routine?
After the 24 hours do you find the "pours" to be what you want?

To be honest, I notice a bit of a carbonic 'bite' when I try and force carbonate by rocking/shaking the keg. I prefer to hook it up at a fairly high pressure and leave it be for a couple of days.

I have only the one regulator for my kegerator, so any carbing I need done must be done with the force carb mode or I lose space for one of my tapped kegs. I leave my kegs for a month or so before getting to tap them so any bite from the co2 goes unnoticed.

Bubbling through the out poppit may result in your QD being stuck on the ouitlet (and throwing a bucket of cold water on it won't help) and co2 is disolved just as quick in solution if it is on the proper post anyway.

KalvinEddie said:

Thanks, two questons:

Did you go through trial and error to find this routine?
After the 24 hours do you find the "pours" to be what you want?

Click to expand...

Yes, I got to this point mostly by trial and error. This works for me, I am not a nut about making sure the exact perfect amount of CO2 is absorbed into the brew - I do it my way, and make adjustments as needed.

After 24 hours things settle out, but no, it is not perfect. It takes some time for the keg and presssures to settle out. Certainly usable though.

In my experience, I've found that when you crank up the pressure on a keg and just let it sit there, it takes forever to come up to descent carbonation - but again, that is just me. I think I am also going to try to prime a keg to see how well that works - kind of like priming a bottle, only on a bigger scale.