Force Carbonate

I just got my keggs I would like to force carbonate a batch of scottish ale, When I force carbonate it says to get it as cold as you can without freezing. Is this a learning process where you just remove the lid and take the temp until you learn how long its gonna take. Otherwise how do you know when its cold enough?

If you can get the temp down into the 30's before you rack into the kegs it will help clarify your beer and it will absorb the co2 easier. Once you get it down in temp for a day or so rack into your keg put about 30 psi on and roll it around a couple of times, that will help the co2 to disolve into your beer, after that just start backing off on your pressure until it's at serving pressure and pours the way you want it to. It may take a few days to get it just right. RDWHAHB...

A Scottish ale should have .75-1.3 volumes of CO2 (they're pretty low on the CO2 in general). At 68°, pressurize your kegs @ approx 4.4 psi. Purge your kegs 2-3 times to remove O2 from head space. Rock your kegs until you can't hear any gas going into them. Disconnect and store. I usually refrigerate to get gas to dissolve quickly into beer so I can drink it, but w/ a Scottish ale, let condition at cellar temp for a few weeks at least. Give it a try. Start conservatively. You can always add more CO2.
I just posted this tonight on another thread, but it fits here too.

I put a glass of water in the fridge at the same temp as the beer, at the same time as the beer. I put the thermometer in the glass of water. It ain/t perfect, but it's pretty close.

Realistically, two days in the fridge should be cold enough. Don't forget, force carbonation is not a substitute for aging/conditioning, so an extra day or two in the fridge won't matter. I tend to let the ale age for 3-4 weeks, then put it in the kegger & put pressure on for a week.

I never heard the "get it cold first" thing before. I just put 20# on my keg, disconnect the gas and let it sit for a week or so. No rocking or anything. Has worked fine so far. I also serve it w/o gas attached until it slows a bit, haven't lost carbonation yet either. Kegging seems about as forgiving as brewing is.

david_42 said:

Realistically, two days in the fridge should be cold enough. Don't forget, force carbonation is not a substitute for aging/conditioning, so an extra day or two in the fridge won't matter. I tend to let the ale age for 3-4 weeks, then put it in the kegger & put pressure on for a week.

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I think to truly age it, you need to carb it first. Doesn't the CO2 have a lot to do with with aging. It forms carbolic acid, etc. This is just stuff I've read, but it makes sense and I've seen the results at home.

Otherwise you might as well just leave it your secondary.