Carbonating questions...

I kegged my honey pale ale last night and put enough pressure in it to seat the o-ring. I left it in my fridge all night at about 40*. Somewhere in the mid 40's will end up being my serving temperature. I want to make sure I understand the correct method to carbonate it. BTW, I'd like to have it ready to drink in about 1 week as I have a guest coming to town. I couldn't plan ahead for this. Also, I just have a picnic tap. I'd appreciate any corrections, feedback, etc. So here it goes the way I understand it:

Chill the keg to serving temp.

Attach the CO2 with the the reg. set to 20-30 psi.

Shake the keg pretty vigerously for about 1 minute with the CO2 on.

Let this sit for 24 hours or so and then bleed off all the gas.

Set the reg. for 10-12 psi and reattach the CO2 and let it fill the keg.

Is this it? One question I have is when I bleed off the gas after the first 24 hrs. won't this cause a ton of foaming inside the keg?


thanks fellas!

It's all pretty much preference, but there a few good rules of thumb to go by. Steps 1 and 2 in your post are right on. Step 3 is debatable...some people shake for a minute or so and some shake for 20 minutes. It all depends on the volume of CO2 required for that particular style of beer and the temp at which it is being carbed. That being said...it's really hard to gauge when force carbing whether or not you are even close to the volume of CO2 you desire. I like to shake (or more of a rolling motion) for about 7-10 minutes and usually come out with desirable carbonation. The first couple of minutes you will actually hear gas going into the keg as the CO2 is being dissolved into the beer and your regulator is letting more in to maintain whatever psi is set. Some people simply shake until the gas noise is gone and some go way past that point. The idea is to get as much gas dissolved in the shortest possible time, hence shaking the keg!!! Step 4 is good but you really don't have to wait that long after shaking it. Just disconnect the gas after shaking making sure to leave the keg at 20-30psi while it settles down. I've shaken and served well carbed beer in about 3 hours. Hook the gas back up and just release the pressure down to your desired serving pressure...no need to release all the CO2. Tap and enjoy!!! I've gotten the best results following the above steps but waiting like you said 24 hours before releasing the pressure down to serving pressure and waiting about a week before tapping. My best answer to your last question would be a result similar to opening a 2 liter of coke that hasn't been shaken up in 24 hours. Quite different than shaking and immediately opening. Also if you release down to just serving pressure instead of all the way down to ambient pressure, this should reduce some of the foaming effect as well. Hope it helps and good luck!!!! It's pretty hard to screw up