Carbonation Question

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RetAF

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OK. I am a home-brewer, who really enjoys the hobby. (That puts me in the majority, I'm sure!) I do have a question, though.

I keg nearly all my beer. Have a three-keg refrigerator, with in-door taps. I'm basically lazy, and like to have the beer available without opening the fridge.

My question has to do with forced-carbonation. I use Brew-Smith software to hep me with my whole brewing process, and it gives me a suggested pressure to charge the kegs with. Usually in the neighborhood of 21-25 psig. I know to chill the keg before carbonation, then lay it down, with the higher pressure, and roll it back and forth for 5-10 mintues. I have done all that, then waited overnight, and tried the beer. It has some carbonation, but certainly not very much, and no real head to speak of.

I do not want to over-carbonate. I presently have a cream ale that was over-carbonated. That keg is nearly empty, and still comes out the tap as pure foam, even with the keg now charged with only 6-7 psig. I have to let the glass sit for 7-8 minutes, let the foam settle out, then I have some wonderful beer to enjoy. But the wait...

What am I missing? Do I need to let the keg sit with higher pressure for a longer period of time? I'd really appreciate any advice I can get for this.

Thanks in advance.
 
I'm not a "keg shaker" or roller. In my system, everything goes into the kegerator and stays at 12 psi for the duration. I never have foam or overcarbonation, but it takes about 7-14 days for the carbonation to be perfect doing it that way.

If I'm in a huge hurry, I can stick a keg in there and set it at 30 psi for 36 hours, then purge and reset it for 12 psi and it'll be pretty darn good in 48 hours. No rocking/shaking/rolling at all, but certainly no foaming issues.
 
After you do the shake method, are you turning the PSI down? Because at serving temp, 21-25 PSI is waaaaaaay too much. Once you overcarbonate a keg, it takes some effort to get it back to proper levels... you have to constantly relieve the pressure in the headspace to allow CO2 to leave the liquid.

I like to have my beers quickly drinkable as well, but I try to meet in the middle between the two methods. I give it about 5 minutes heavy shaking at 20PSI, let it rest for a couple hours, relieve the pressure, and then set to a normal serving pressure. I usually like the amount of carbonation after 3 days.
 
Of course I turn down the pressure when ready to serve. I don't want the beer to shoot across the room!

I guess the bottom line here is that I need to be more patient. After shaking the keg, then let it sit for another 36 hours or so at higher pressure, to drive more CO2 into solution. Then, when ready, turn down the pressure and vent off the excess, set it for serving pressure, and go for it.

Guess I am just impatient. I want to be able to enjoy the homebrew -- sooner.
 
Hey, the worst thing that happens is you have to taste your beer to see if it's ready yet. If you're going to do anything with the regulator set high, I'd be doing frequent testing to make sure it doesn't go over.
 
Well, I checked the results this evening, and I am quite pleased. It's not overcarbonated, it is actually quite pleasing. One of those things I just have to learn. Quite an enjoyable hobby!
 
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