Gas to liquid out post when carbing?

This article states that I should hook my gas up to my liquid out line while carbonating my beer using "the patient method."

This is my first time kegging homebrew and although this makes some sense, I've never heard of doing this (hooking up backwards) and wanted to verify it with some of you.

I conducted a search, but couldn't find anything addressing this precise question.

Thanks Dan

There is little about this. From personal experience I tried it but it causes quite a bit of bubbling in the corny as the gas goes up through the beer.

It's just as easy to hook it up the normal way and wait.

It'll work, but I don't know if it's much faster than the "regular" way.

One issue is that you do NOT want to put a gray (gas) disconnect on the "out" post. Trust me on that. If you get it on, you may never get it off. So, if you want to try this, you have to put a black disconnect on the gas line and hook it up to the "out" post. Then, when you want to serve the beer, you need to take off the black disconnect and put on a gray disconnect on the "in" post. It sounds like more of a hassle than it'd be worth, and may only carb the beer a day or two faster anyway.

Hooking up the gas backwards doesn't do a whole lot. Sure, it'll bubble some, but it'll take just as long as hooking it up to the gas in post.

I can't remember who it was...but someone was telling me about adding a sintered stone to the short gas tube... Hooking up the gas...and adding just a little to get the lid sealed...then flip the keg over...and add gas. The sintered stone will mist the CO2 into the beer. When you're done...flip it back over and serve normally.

I have no experience doing it this way... I usually just put the gas on...leave it all day...then that evening...take it out and roll the keg back and forth on it's side...as I listen to the regulator buzz letting more CO2 in. Then I put it back into the kegerator...and have my first sample. It's usually not perfect...but it gets better every day. This is because I lack the requisite skill of waiting

I have done this when using the shake method. I figure letting the gas bubble up through the beer gives it more contact time, so it should absorb a little faster. I had no problems with getting the disconnect on or off the post. That was when my pipeline was empty and I was desperate for some beer. Now I just set it and forget it.

Thanks for the quick responses. Yooper, that's a good "heads up" for me, but I'm now at work for the next 6 hours, so I'll have to see how that goes when I get home tonight (because I didn't switch the disconnects when hooking up to the "out" post). I hope I'm like masonsjax and don't have a problem with it. I'll let everyone know tomorrow.

The only reason I'm doing this is because the guy at the LHBS made a mistake and gave me enough grain for a 15lb batch of brown ale and I can only brew 10. I wanted to be easy-going about it, so I had him throw in enough hops to make-up for the extra grain and I brewed what might be termed an "Imperial Brown" instead.

I don't think the yeast were up to the task of carbing up this nearly 8% brew (it was in the bottle about 4 weeks and was way below the carb. level that it should be at). With a party looming this Saturday, I decided to transfer to a corny and carb. it this way. I know this is risking some oxidation issues, but I was left with no choice. I'll report on this experiment too.

Thanks!

Update: The gas to liquid post to speed up carbonation worked, but I'm not sure it worked any better than when it was hooked up properly (which I did after the first 10 hours or so). After hooking it up properly, I set the PSI to 20 and gave it some good shaking every now and then for a couple hours and then I put it back down to 10 psi. When I got home from work last night, this beer tasted GREAT and the carbonation level was perfect. Remember, this beer had been in the bottle for about 4 weeks and was hardly carbonated due to what I believe were "tired yeast."

Anyway, this is prove that you can go from bottle to keg and have it turn out.

For the record, I went from bottle to bottling bucket to a gentle siphon into the corny.

This raises the question for me: how long does it take for oxidation to manifest itself as an off flavor? Will it immediately taste like wet cardboard, or would it take a few days/weeks? Like, in this case, could the OP have splashed all he wants and be OK for the weekend party, provided it all gets drank'd?

masonsjax said:

This raises the question for me: how long does it take for oxidation to manifest itself as an off flavor? Will it immediately taste like wet cardboard, or would it take a few days/weeks? Like, in this case, could the OP have splashed all he wants and be OK for the weekend party, provided it all gets drank'd?

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what are you talking about oxidation?
there is not oxygen in the keg. or there should not be its you purdged it right.
and the light carb of the beer should keep oxgen from disolving becase under normal atmospheric pressure its going to be loseing gas not getting more.

on my second regulator i have a bev out QD and thats how i carb
fill the keg with beer useing my vacume pump (you can get them on ebay for $70ish) to pull air out of my keg gas post, the bev post is hooked to a racking cane and carboy cap set just abouve the trub its so easy works great.
then hook regulator with bev Qd to keg and let her rip.. then i keep pulling the releaf value untill i get a tiny bit of foam , at that point all the air is purdge.

then i shake it with the gas bubbleing up, its a lot lot fast not just a little bit
i can fullly carb a new keg filled with cold beer in a bout 15~20 min at 40psi shaking it. of course it need to sit over night to calm down but the carb part is over.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Medline-Vac-Ass...in_0?hash=item3c9e238d60&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

I second what Yooper and others said from personal experience. I didn't switch the gas/beer fittings on the keg and when I tried to connect to the beer out line it leaked beer all over the floor and was really hard to get back off again.

I also read in an article somewhere that blowing gas through the out tube basically does nothing. You'll hear a lot of bubbling, but the bubbles are so big and rise so quickly that they hardly dissolve into the beer at all.

Clayton.. read posts #7 and #8... The OP poured already bottled beer back into a bucket, then siphoned to a keg. I wasn't asking about how you keg/carb your beer.

masonsjax said:

Clayton.. read posts #7 and #8... The OP poured already bottled beer back into a bucket, then siphoned to a keg. I wasn't asking about how you keg/carb your beer.

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Clayton said:

what are you talking about oxidation?
there is not oxygen in the keg. or there should not be its you purdged it right.
and the light carb of the beer should keep oxgen from disolving becase under normal atmospheric pressure its going to be loseing gas not getting more.

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yes i know and i said first thing how is it going to oxy if it has a little co2 in the beer comeing out in the bucket.

Ok.. I get your point. Maybe already carbed beer doesn't run the risk of oxidizing so much when splashed as uncarbed beer would. I just wonder how quickly oxidized beer starts to taste bad. I notice it a day or so later in an opened bottle of wine. I suppose the effect is similar with beer.

I definitely think you run the risk of oxidation by pouring (however gently) into a bucket and then siphoning into a keg. Oxidation can take months to show up though so it seems to have been a good choice in this circumstance.

conpewter said:

I definitely think you run the risk of oxidation by pouring (however gently) into a bucket and then siphoning into a keg. Oxidation can take months to show up though so it seems to have been a good choice in this circumstance.

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One week later and still tastes great (although it's almost gone now). Everyone at the party loved it.