Carbonation Confusion

[Boris_the_Russian]

I have read several different publications regarding the time needed to force carbonate my beer with CO2. A few say 3 days, some say 5, and yesterday I read in here that it will be up to 3 weeks before it's perfect. I prefer the set and wait method, and the pumpkin ale I just finished has been on the gas for 8 days at 38' and 10 psi.
I'm now starting to believe 3 weeks is gonna be the truth because, after 6 days when I checked, it was way under carbonated. I understand the variations of the crank and shake, mixed with the set and wait, but why is it that some say set it to serving pressure and in 3-5 days it's good? Never worked for me.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is it just my setup? Next time I think I'm gonna set it at 30psi and rock it a bit, set it in the fridge for 24hrs and then dump it back to 10psi and see what happens. Tell me what you guys think?

 

[DamageCT]

I think 3 to 5 days at full blast on like 30psi is the trick they speak of.

I tried 10 minutes on 30psi for rolling on my pumpkin...
little hint: don't try it.
My pumpkin ale is now pure foam.

 

[badmajon]

I just set to 30 psi for 3 days. Works every time. I never had any success with the rocking method, I just got foam the two times I tried it.

Which brings up another question- if I set to 60 psi, could I have carbonated beer in a day and a half?

 

[DamageCT]

60 PSI might be too high of a presure and result in pure foam.

 

[Boris_the_Russian]

So... Ignoring all the mis-information I have found stating 3-5 days at serving pressure will carbonate my beer, I should just rack to he keg and set it at 30psi for 3 days? This won't over carbonate? What about the carbonation charts and exact CO2 ppm at a set temp? Maybe 30psi gets you in the carbonation ballpark and it looks and tastes like beer, then set to serving pressure at the 3 day mark? Don't mean to be so long winded, it's just very frustrating at this point yeah know?

 

[DamageCT]

The 30psi for 3 days method is a guess, it is better to leave it at the pressure u want for two weeks instead...

with 30psi, you leave it for 3 days (or less) then start stepping down to the presure you want/want to serve at, there is no garuntee of having perfect carb this way.

 

[socalboomer]

Well, don't say it's necessarily mis-information. It's what I do.

I set it at 10-12psi and leave it. About a week is good. 3 days. . . not so much; 5 days. . . okay, maybe; 7-9 days is good. Has worked for me for 5 kegs now. . .

Have NOT had good results with the high pressure method, and went through a lot more CO2 as well. . .

 

[cricky101]

So... Ignoring all the mis-information I have found stating 3-5 days at serving pressure will carbonate my beer ...

Nearly everything I've seen says at least 7 days for MINIMUM, maybe drinkable beer. Two weeks to start to get close to correct carbonation when set at serving pressure.

 

[Boris_the_Russian]

Once you have your gas plan, attach your keg to the carbon dioxide tank adjusted to the pressure dictated by your gas table and wait. A batch of homebrew is small and the headspace pressure will equilibrate with the beer in about 3 days.
http://***********/stories/wizard/a...oper-way-to-force-carbonate-a-keg-of-homebrew


Carbonating your home-made beer can be a little tricky. This handy carbonation table lists PSI (Pressure per Square Inch) against keg temperature to give you a quick reference guide for carbonating you ales over a three to five day period.
http://www.kegerators.com/articles/carbonation-table-pressure-chart.php



Give your beer 48 hours to carbonate. It will reach its saturation point within this amount of time and the regulator will shut down altogether.
http://www.homebrew.com/articles/article12018101.shtml

 

[krenshaw]

at 12psi i've found a magic number is 10 days for the temps i'm usually at.. my first couple i had a shot glass above my keg and tried just a sip every day.. at 7 days it was "OK", though at 10 days it was at "wow, did i actually make that" .. amazing how just a couple more days makes it that much better