Blichmann Quick Carb first batch

[Richbo69]

Just got my Quick Carb and kegged my first batch with it. Was an oatmeal cream stout. Cold crashed over night to about 42 degrees. Ran the Quick Carb at 13 psi for one hour - was aiming at 2 vols. Unhooked, purged keg, and backed off pressure to 9 psi. Wow! Perfect pour and taste. Can’t wait to use on my brown ale ready next week. Great investment in my opinion.

 

[Pappers_]

I will have to look at that, it sounds fantastic. Do you know if it works on smaller 3 gallon kegs?

 

[Richbo69]

I don’t see why not. You may have to adjust the time a little for smaller batch, but should work I would think.

 

[seabrew8]

Old thread. But does this thing work well?

 

[Bobby_M]

It works but it's completely unnecessary. You can carbonate by applying pressure directly into the keg, it just takes a little longer.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

I use mine most batches. But I’ve always been impatient. Does what it claims to do. Does everyone need to carbonate their beers in 30-45 minutes. No. But as I stated I’m impatient and this makes for an easy workaround to the set and forget process.

 

[seabrew8]

Thanks guys.

I've rocked and rolled many kegs just trying to refine my process and i spend extended times away from home so i was looking for a solution that i can quickly carbonate a beer that can be sitting in the carboy for 4+ weeks. I've have some of my best beer sitting in a carboy for weeks in my 15c basement - fall/winter season - after initial fermentation.

I was looking at sugar priming in the keg but it really doesn't seem very popular. I vaguely remember trying it a few times, i think it was decent but very cloudy.

 

[PCABrewing]

Thanks guys.

I've rocked and rolled many kegs just trying to refine my process and i spend extended times away from home so i was looking for a solution that i can quickly carbonate a beer that can be sitting in the carboy for 4+ weeks. I've have some of my best beer sitting in a carboy for weeks in my 15c basement - fall/winter season - after initial fermentation.

I was looking at sugar priming in the keg but it really doesn't seem very popular. I vaguely remember trying it a few times, i think it was decent but very cloudy.

The cloudy is not likely related to the carb method.
I sugar prime most of my kegged beers and it usually works very well.
Cloudy will usually clear after some time too, if it was due to agitation when you primed.

As Bobby_M said, if you want to speed the process you can simply put 12 lbs or so pressure on the keg in the fridge.
I've found that usually does the trick in a day.
Remember to back it down for serving.

 

[seabrew8]

The cloudy is not likely related to the carb method.
I sugar prime most of my kegged beers and it usually works very well.
Cloudy will usually clear after some time too, if it was due to agitation when you primed.

As Bobby_M said, if you want to speed the process you can simply put 12 lbs or so pressure on the keg in the fridge.
I've found that usually does the trick in a day.
Remember to back it down for serving.

What and how much do you use to prime the keg.

 

[matt_m]

I built a homemade one. It does definitely worked but in reality I never used it because it was time consuming to clean and sanitize. I went back to my old method of carbing at 30PSI for about a day starting off with rocking the keg for about 2 minutes, then every few minutes while cleaning the fermenter. Then it goes in the kegerator overnight at 30PSI before getting dropped to serving pressure and purged. Its not perfect at that point but definitely servable. Within 2 days its great.

 

[PCABrewing]

What and how much do you use to prime the keg.

I use BeerSmith and it recommends an amount but I usually use a little less than it calls for because if it isn't enough I can always boost it with the tank.
So steps I follow to prep for transfer from fermenter:

Clean and sanitize keg
Boil 2 cups water and stir in 2 oz corn sugar till dissolved (now it's sterile)
Dump prime into empty keg, it cools pretty quickly that way and you can feel the bottom to be sure
Purge keg with CO2. Its heavy so it will sit in the keg unless there is a lot of air movement
Fill keg from fermenter, this also blends the prime in pretty well.
Seal keg with lid and add 2-3 lbs CO2 to kelp seat and seal the lid.
Set aside for 1-2 days @ basement temp before checking.
That has worked well for me.

Yeah I know the pressure at the end will dissolve into the brew too but it's better than having an unseated seal bleed-off a slow carbonation
I tap a small amount into a small glass to check carb and once it is satisfactory it goes in the fridge.

 

[DonT]

I built one from amazon parts for about a third of the price. Works great! Carbed drinkable beer in about an hour...
It's easy to clean as well. I use another keg with star-san in it and hook it up and let it run for a minute or two before and after a carb session.

 

[seabrew8]

I built one from amazon parts for about a third of the price. Works great! Carbed drinkable beer in about an hour...
It's easy to clean as well. I use another keg with star-san in it and hook it up and let it run for a minute or two before and after a carb session.
View attachment 747597

Thanks i'm sure i will have a look sometime. I enjoy working with pumps and tubing.

Could be my major project next year! For me. lol

I couldn't help myself. What kind of pump is it? and the tubing looks like it has a very large ID - the clear one coming from the co2 tank.

Double edit: I haven't even looked to see how this thing operates yet lol i was just wondering if it worked.

 

[DonT]

I couldn't help myself. What kind of pump is it? and the tubing looks like it has a very large ID - the clear one coming from the co2 tank.

I don't remember the particular brand, I'll have to look. It's a self-priming food grade pump and the tubing size is probably 1/4" or around there....
And it works rather well.... dial the pressure to 15psi for an hour and purge afterward, set to serving pressure and you're good to go.

 

[JAReeves]

I have only used mine once because I realized that most of my kegs have a floating diptube system, so the beer is alway being pulled off the surface and then poured right back down on top. I just do the 30# overnite and then drop back to serving pressure while the keg is cold-crashing and/or dry-hopping in the keezer.