2 day carbing

[nate456789]

I have a Christmas party Friday night.
I have a nut brown that I want to carb and take. It is still sitting in my secondary.
What is the best way to carb it in 2 days. Is that even possible with out just having a bunch of foamy beer?
Figured I would just bring a couple growlers and not mess with bottles.
I also have a stone to oxygenate wort. would this help pushing some co2 thru it into the beer?

I have always done the set and forget with no real issues. But never a quick carb.

Thanks

 

[SilverZero]

Carbonation comes from dissolving CO2 in the beer, which happens under pressure. You can force-carb in a keg, or seal the yeast with some sugar in a bottle. Yeast can't do it in that time frame, but you could probably force it quite quickly. This requires a keg and the gas, of course.

 

[Clonefarmer]

Purge like you normally would than turn the PSI up to 25. Shake till you can't hear any gas entering the keg. Chill the keg and set the PSI like you normally would to carb. Shake the keg a few more times while it's chilling. Try and give it 24 to settle before serving. You'll probably have to turn the gas real low while serving to cut down on foam. The beer won't be at it's best, but it should be carbed enough to serve.

 

[Brewnoob1]

If you have time to shake for a while, even better would be to set it at the PSI you want for final carb level and shake shake shake. Setting it at final carb/serving pressure and shaking avoids the chance of over-carb'd beer. You may just be stuck shaking for a while longer...but it's definitely doable.

Also, the note on chilling the keg, if you can do that first, I'd highly recommend it. Just make sure that you let everything settle out for a few hours before serving. If you do the high psi shake followed by lowering, you'll probably be serving at very low pressure to avoid foam.

 

[dzlater]

Yep get the beer cold before you try to carb it.
I set the reg. a couple psi higher then the needed pressure, lay it on it's side and rock & roll it, till I don't here anymore gas going into the keg.
I have tried several recommended quick carbing methods and this way has worked best for me.

 

[nate456789]

Yep get the beer cold before you try to carb it.
I set the reg. a couple psi higher then the needed pressure, lay it on it's side and rock & roll it, till I don't here anymore gas going into the keg.
I have tried several recommended quick carbing methods and this way has worked best for me.

Since I have a short turn around time and want to serve it Friday night I think I will try this method. If I do the really high PSI and keep shaking it, I won't have enough time to let it settle.
I don't like my beer to be carbonated like soda anyway, if it is a little under carbed, it won't be the end of the world.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[day_trippr]

If you don't have a check valve installed in the gas line to prevent beer back-flowing up into your regulator, be careful about setting the keg on its side...

Cheers!

 

[nate456789]

If you don't have a check valve installed in the gas line to prevent beer back-flowing up into your regulator, be careful about setting the keg on its side...

Cheers!

Thanks for that. The distribution block says it does but I am actually not 100% sure.
Guess I will find out for sure.

 

[Sacdan]

I wouldn't shake it. Just crank up the psi to 30 for 2 days.

 

[dzlater]

By setting at or very close to the desired pressure and shaking the keg till no more gas is entering the keg, it won't over carb.
If you use higher pressures and shake or just let it sit you are shooting in the dark.
I have tried both ways.

 

[nate456789]

Well i tried a mixture of methods. But in the end it wasn't enough time to carb an ale. Porter or stout would have been fine.
First day I set my psi to 14. Gave the keg a back and forth shake. Nothing crazy. Then rolled it on the ground for a minute.
Did that a couple times the first night and day. Second day only rolled it. Let it sit over night at 14 psi.
It was a little carbed but not really enough.
More shaking probably would have worked better but i didn't want all foam.
Now i know to not wait till the last minute.

 

[Shockerengr]

For reference, when I want to quickly carb, it takes a solid 10-15 minutes of rocking/shaking at roughly the psi I want to carb out with the beer already cold. A shake or two won't have a large impact.

 

[dallasdb]

My foolproof method is chill the keg, set at 30 psi, roll on my lap for 2 min with gas line attached. Unhook the gas and let it sit in the keezer overnight. In the morning I purge the gas, set reg to serving pressure, hook gas up and leave it all day. Get home from work, purge the gas again and serve at 2-4 psi to avoid foaming.

That is my 24 hr carb method and I don't like really carbed beer. Works well for me.

 

[nate456789]

For reference, when I want to quickly carb, it takes a solid 10-15 minutes of rocking/shaking at roughly the psi I want to carb out with the beer already cold. A shake or two won't have a large impact.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[nate456789]

My foolproof method is chill the keg, set at 30 psi, roll on my lap for 2 min with gas line attached. Unhook the gas and let it sit in the keezer overnight. In the morning I purge the gas, set reg to serving pressure, hook gas up and leave it all day. Get home from work, purge the gas again and serve at 2-4 psi to avoid foaming.

That is my 24 hr carb method and I don't like really carbed beer. Works well for me.

Does it make any difference if the gas line is attached or not while shaking? I was charging it and disconnecting then shaking. Charging. Then rolling. And then put it back un the fridge connected again. Each time i heard the gas filling back up.
I didn't want any beer in my gas lines.

 

[PJM]

Yeah, you need to keep the gas line attached while you rock it.