Can This Over Carbonate?

[NorthRiverS]

Brewers,

I recently brewed a Fat Tire Clone and I am ready to keg it. After kegging the beer and cooling the keg over night at 10 psi, can I over carbonate the beer by rocking the keg back and forth to force carbonate the beer? Or will the pressure just stabilize? Thanks for any replies......

NRS

 

[JordanKnudson]

Both will work.

The shake method generally uses a blast at higher PSI (~30) followed by agitation, repeated frequently until you get to your desired carb level, then reducing the gas to serving pressure. It works quickly, but is pretty imprecise and can easily result in overcarbonation. There is also a rumor that some head-forming proteins are a one-shot deal and that by shaking the beer you will mess up your foam potential. However, I've never experienced this, nor has any brewer that I know personally. So, take it with a grain of salt.

The sit-and-forget method is less risky (less likely to overshoot CO2 volumes), but takes longer. Basically, you set your PSI based on the temperature of the beer and let it sit until the pressure equilizes, which usually takes about a week. Here's the standard chart that shows temperature-to-PSI relationships and the carb volumes that they produce.
https://www.homebrewsupply.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/carbonation_cart.png

EDIT: After re-reading your post, I guess you aren't asking about carb methods as much as you are asking about whether you will overcarb your beer doing that specifically. I think that at 10 PSI, you are not in much (if any) danger of overcarbing. Still, I always prefer the latter method for carbonating. It just gives me peace of mind, even if it takes longer.

 

[doug293cz]

If you agitate the beer at the pressure from the chart for your temp and desired carb level, you cannot over carbonate. The agitation will just accelerate the beer coming to equilibrium with the CO2 pressure. If you agitate at higher pressures, you can over carbonate.

Brew on

 

[NorthRiverS]

Thanks for the replies. You both stated what I was thinking.

NRS